Best Prayer Partner

Scripture Text Romans 8:18-27

Intro: As we Christians suffer pain and agony in this world of sin, we are not alone for we have the best prayer partner anyone could ever have. He is the Holy Spirit of God!

I. Suffering is the experience of all creation. (verses 18-22) Romans 8:18-22 (NLT) ¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. ¹⁹ For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰ Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. ²¹ All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. ²² For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

a.  Creation is subject to corruption (v.20) When Adam sinned, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse; that is, to futility, change, and decay. Creation is cursed because it is unable to attain the purposes for which it was made. The perfect order in the world was marred by sin; therefore, fallen people had to live in a fallen world.   b.  Creation will be delivered. (v.21) All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay as described in Revelation 22.

c.  Creation groans in labor for deliverance (v.22) Paul pictures the fallen creation groaning as in the pains of childbirth. Animals get sick and die. Some animals kill and eat others. Trees and plants die. Consider earthquakes, storms, floods, fire, drought, famine—these are surely not what creation was meant to be, but sin and evil now rule. Just as the pains of childbirth end at the birth of the child, so the groaning and pain of the creation will end at the birth of the new earth when Jesus returns. Creation groans and longs for its release and transformation into the new heaven and new earth.

II. The believer suffers and struggles for deliverance from corruption. (v.23-25) Romans 8:23-25 (NLT) ²³ And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. a. Even though we have the Holy Spirit within, we groan to be released from sin, pain and suffering in this world. (v.23) We also wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. In this process we are not alone, for the Holy Spirit groans with us in prayer, expressing our unutterable longing to God and giving us a foretaste of future glory.  b.  Hope saves and delivers the believer. (v.24-25)Romans 8:²⁴ Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. ²⁵ But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently. Until the time of our release and redemption, we must groan, wait, and hope. Hope means confident expectation. When we put our faith in Christ as Savior, we are saved and we can eagerly and confidently look forward to the freedom we will have at Christ’s return. We already have the presence of the Holy Spirit within, but we must eagerly wait for our new bodies, which we will be given. Our full redemption has not yet happened; it will happen when Christ returns for His church. That is why it is still a hope for believers. Our salvation is both present and future. It is present because the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior we are saved, our new eternal life begins. But at the same time, we have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ’s new Kingdom is completely established. While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look forward with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life. Waiting for things patiently is a quality that must be developed in us. Patience is one of the Spirit’s fruit borne in our lives. It includes fortitude, endurance, and the ability to bear up under pressure in order to attain a desired goal.

III. The Holy Spirit pleads for us in our suffering. (verses 26-27)

a. Prayer of the Holy Spirit delivers and saves the believer. (v.26) Romans 8:26-27 (NLT) ²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. In the same way that our “hope” gives us fortitude, the Holy Spirit helps us in our feebleness and distress. It is assumed that we are praying in this verse. The Spirit is not going to force us to pray. It is our responsibility to pray: to take the time to get alone and pray. When we do this the Spirit begins to act both upon and for us. At these times, when our weakness is so intense that we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray, the Holy Spirit voices our requests for us. He intercedes for us with groanings which we can't utter. We may not know the right words to say, but the Holy Spirit does. His groanings to God become effective intercession on our behalf.  

 b. God hears, delivers and saves the believer. (v.27)Romans 8: ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. The Father knows all hearts and he knows what the Spirit is saying. God can look deep, past our voiceless groanings, to understand the need we face, our hidden feelings. Even when we don’t know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for us, always in harmony with God’s own will. With the Holy Spirit helping us pray, we don’t need to be afraid to come before him. God knows the mind of the Holy Spirit. God knows exactly what the Spirit is requesting for us. There is perfect agreement between the Holy Spirit and God the Father.

Invitation: To have the help of the Holy Spirit in your pain and suffering, you must confess your sins to Jesus, be forgiven and saved by Him, and then be baptized into the family of God. At the time of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you and will be your helper the rest of your life. He will never forsake you!