Our Helper & God’s Will

About this sermon

Introduction: It is encouraging to know that in two areas where Christians struggle the most, God gives specific assurance. He not only encourages us about these two areas of struggle; He assures us that He has made provision for our weakness. He has personally supplied help for those struggles. That is what we find in verses 26-27 of Romans 8. We know weakness when it comes to our prayer life. We do not always know what to ask for. And that weakness has to do with another. We struggle to know what to ask for because we do not always know what God’s will is. These are two areas represent our weakness. We struggle in prayer, and we struggle to know the will of God. This morning we focused our attention on the question of prayer, and the Spirit’s ministry to us in that work. Tonight, we focus specifically on the Spirit’s ministry regarding the will of God. We think about the Christian’s ability to know the will of God and to pray in agreement with that will. We will consider what we are taught here under four headings. Our weakness regarding the knowledge of God’s will (2) The Spirit’s intercession regarding the knowledge of God’s will (3) The assurance received by the knowledge of that intercession (4) A practical pathway forward with that knowledge in mind OUR WEAKNESS REGARDING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S WILL (vs.27) Take note of Paul’s thought process regarding our weakness in prayer. THERE IS A WAY WE OUGHT TO PRAY The weakness, in this context, is a weakness that consists in ignorance. The weakness is NOT KNOWING WHAT TO PRAY FOR as we ought. And I want us to begin by thinking about that word “ought.” Or as “we should.” What do you pray for when you are praying as you should? WHAT IS RIGHT for you to pray for? What should prayer be aimed at? We could turn that around and ask, what is wrong praying? What kind of prayer represent praying in a way that you shouldn’t? ESV James 4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. YOU ASK WRONGLY. Wrong praying centers NOT ON THE WILL OF GOD, but ON YOUR OWN WILL. The goal of all RIGHT PRAYER is that we would ask for what God wants. This was our Lord’s example at one of the greatest testing moments of His life. ESV Luke 22:41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." THIS IS PRAYING AS WE OUGHT. Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ALL APPROPRIATE PRAYER IS SUBMISSIVE PRAYER. THERE IS DIFFICULTY IN KNOWING WHAT WE OUGHT TO PRAY The problem, of course, is that we don’t always know what God’s will is. But as soon as we say that, we need to clarify what we mean. WHAT IS MEANT BY GOD’S WILL? When we say we struggle to know the will of God, there’s more than one meaning that we have to take into account. James Boice explains it in the following way. James Montgomery Boice – “The traditional view distinguishes between three meanings of the phrase “will of God.” The first is God’s sovereign will, which the Westminster Shorter Catechism refers to as his eternal decrees “according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass” (Answer to Question 7). This sovereign will of God is hidden; it is not revealed to us, except as it unfolds in history. The second meaning of the term is God’s moral will, which is known to us because it is revealed comprehensively in Scripture. It is what God wants or desires, as opposed to what he decrees. The third meaning is God’s individual will, a term that refers to God’s plan for an individual life and is what people are thinking of most often when they speak of searching for or finding God’s will. So, the difficulty envisioned here, does not have to do with what God has clearly revealed. If God has given us clear direction about a situation in His Word, then the only difficulty in praying would be to learn what He revealed, or, to find our hearts unwilling to submit to what He revealed. Both of those are a problem, but not the problem Paul is talking about here. It seems clear that “will of God” in view here, has to do with Boice’s 3rd category. Our weakness consists of not knowing how to pray when we have decision to make and we don’t know God’s plan for our lives in that area because He hasn’t revealed what He wants. The Word of God doesn’t speak directly to our issue. Do I take a particular job or look for another?