God Intercedes Series

That’s the imagery of Romans 8. That’s what the Holy Spirit does when He intercedes for you. He feels your emotions… and He cries with you. He groans for your pain!

CLOSE: But there’s more than that. The intercession of the Spirit on YOUR behalf also includes this promise. The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:27-28

God intercedes for us in answer to our prayers. Notice this passage doesn’t say that everything we experience is from God, and it doesn’t say that everything that happens to us is good… but what it does say, is that… it doesn’t matter! Why? Because – if you love God and are called according to His purpose, God will take that which is wrong in your life and make everything work together for good.

ILLUS: I'm going to close with this illustration from years ago, when I was preaching at another congregation. In that congregation where was a couple who were both nurses who had a daughter who in the hospital giving birth. As any preacher would, I went to spend time with the family and prayed with them. It was enjoyable time of fellowship... until the nurse came in and said "I have some bad news. Your daughter's child has an oxygen level below 90." I had no idea what that meant... but the child's grandparents knew and they wept openly - this was a death sentence. Babies (and adults) cannot survive long with their oxygen in the bloodstream being below 90. As a last resort, the hospital was sending the child to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, but they weren't sure if the child would make it there and they offered us one last visit with the child before she was sent on to Riley.

When my time came, I walked into the baby ICU. It had warming beds on either side... and at the far side of the room was the warming bed that held his little girl. She was buck naked and had all kinds of needles and sensors on her body. A nurse was looking at the monitors, but her expression was not comforting. I came close to the nurse and asked if I could touch the child. "Of course," she replied, and then she stepped back to give me privacy.

I put my hand on the child's foot and began to pray. I'd love to tell you that I prayed a powerful prayer filled with faith and eloquent words... but I didn't. The child was going to die. I knew it, the staff knew it, the family knew it... and there wasn't a thing they or I could do about it. I sensed how powerless I was to change the course of this event, and as a result, my prayer was one of the most pathetic and worthless things I've ever uttered. I felt I had failed even in this.

I stepped away, and the nurse came back to examine the monitors again... and she became excited. Something had changed. Between the time I'd begun to pray, and the time the nurse stepped back in the child's oxygen level had gone back up. The child survived, and (as far as I know) is still living today.