July
15, 2012
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
LOCATION
Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd Floor
150 Washington Street
Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 08553
Telephone: 615-513-4464
Schedule of Services
Sunday 10:15 AM Bible Class
Sunday 11:00 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7:30 PM Midweek Service
Nothing more hinders a soul
from coming to Christ, than a vain love of the world; and till a soul is freed
from it, it can never have a true love for God.
John Bunyan
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WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO PRAY
Romans
8:25-27
We have in this passage the comfort of
every believer concerning our feeble petitions to God. As believers we know some things concerning
prayer. The object of prayer is God, for
his glory. We know we come to God through Christ who ever lives to make
intercession for us and we know something of who to pray for: ourselves and
fellow saints, even our enemies. It is a
great privilege to approach his throne of grace. But “we know not what we
should pray for as we ought.” The
infirmity of our flesh causes us to desire things that, were they granted,
would not be for God’s glory or for the good of his saints (Mat 20:20-22; 2 Cor
12:1-10).
The
Spirit Helpeth Our Infirmities
To us who have been given some understanding
of our own depravity, this is a comforting word. “The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (v26)
The infirmity of our flesh is so great that we need the grace of the
Holy Spirit to even approach Christ’s throne of grace to ask for grace to help
in time of need. God the Holy Spirit
puts true prayer in the believer’s heart.
Our flesh is so taken up with the form of things, so flattered by our
own selves, that only the Spirit of God can waken us to our true needs. It is only when the Spirit of God has made us
see our sin, that we ask God to forgive us our sin. Only when the Spirit of God makes us behold
the cloud of darkness we are under that we beg God for the light of his
countenance.
Groanings
That Cannot Be Uttered
Sometimes we cannot utter a word. As Hezekiah lay dying he said, “Like a crane
or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with
looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.” (Is 38:14) The Psalmist said, “Thou holdest mine eyes
waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” (Ps 77:4) David said, “I am feeble and sore broken: I
have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before
thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.” (Ps 38:8-9) Sometimes the depth of what the Spirit is
doing is beyond us. Supplications
created within us by the Spirit of God which are so heavy that all we can do is
groan for they concern details too great for we ourselves to even know. Our appreciation of what Christ has done for
us and of what the Spirit does in us is so shallow! But when we are brought to the place where
all we can do is groan, “Lord, thou knowest”, that is a good place to be FOR HE
DOES KNOW!
The
Lord Knoweth
“And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God” (v27)
God searches the heart. Christ
Jesus our Intercessor knows the hearts of his own. He knows the mind of the Spirit. God does not rely upon our expressions in
words to cause him to hear; he knows the heart. He sees the inward most desire
of the soul and is ready to aid and to bless. He knows the mind which the
Spirit of God has put in our hearts because the Spirit of God stirs up the
child of God to ask according to the will of God. By guiding us into all truth, God the Holy
Spirit is glorified! And the prayer put
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit is in harmony with the will of God the
FATHER and God the SON.
The
Purpose of Prayer
The purpose of prayer is not for the
believer to turn God to our will, it is God turning his child to God’s
will. It may be the burden of our own
sin, a weak brother in the church, a
great trial in our home, even an unbelieving child. All is to bring the believer nearer to Christ
our Redeemer, to teach us to submit all to the will of God our Father. At times it seems that God did exactly what
we asked him to do. It is not that we
turned God to do our will it is that the Spirit of God turned us to ask God for
that very thing which God had already purposed to do. (Rom 8:28-34) This is the great consolation and support of
believers. We do not know what is best for ourselves but the Holy Spirit brings
his saints to submit all into the hand of God and ask for God to do his will to
glorify himself and save his elect from our sins. “And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we
know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we desired of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
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2 Samuel 7:27: For thou, O
LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will
build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this
prayer unto thee.