Prayer in the Christian Life - Romans 8:12-27

Good morning everybody. If you could all turn to Romans chapter 8, I'd appreciate that.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 8, verses 12 to 27. If someone could shout out a page number, that would be great.

Romans 8:12–27

1-1-3-5 in the Red Church Bible. Thanks, Alex.

Romans chapter 8, verses 12 to 27.

Romans 8:12–27

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation.

1-1-3-5 in the Red Church Bible.

2-1-3-5 in the Red Church Bible.

3-1-4 in the Red Church Bible.

4-1-5 in the Red Church Bible.

if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who

are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you receive does not make

you slaves so that you live in fear again. Rather, the Spirit you receive brought about

your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself testifies

with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs,

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share His sufferings in order that we may

also share in His glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing

the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the

children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own

choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be

liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the

present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly

as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we

were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all, who hopes for what they already have.

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people

in accordance with the will of God. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, you know what, if Johnny had asked me a few months ago to preach a sermon on prayer,

definitely would have said no.

And the reason for it would be that I would have said I'd be the last person in this church

who should have preached a sermon on that topic.

Really, it's the area in my life that I struggle with the most, actually,

in terms of my walk with the Lord.

But when Johnny gave us the very broad series title of The Christian Life,

and when I started to pray and think about what I might preach on,

I just couldn't get away from prayer.

God really laid it on my heart as I was preaching this today.

And to be honest, that seemed very strange to me.

And I asked God, well, why are you asking me to preach on this,

seeing as I'm the one who's struggling with it?

Seeing as I've got a lot of questions that I still haven't answered on prayer.

And then I kind of realized, actually, my weakness is the very reason why God wants me to preach on this.

Because that's actually the way he operates, right?

God uses the weak people to do amazing things because his strength can be revealed.

And in such people.

So I'm excited about that.

Because if any one of our prayer lives today are impacted for the good,

it's not going to be me.

It's going to be God doing that work.

And that's what I'm praying for today.

So what I'm praying before you, really, is just my learning over the past two months or so.

As I've taken time to study what God's Word says about prayer,

and also to look at the teachings of other Christians.

So, yeah, I hope that it's helpful for you today.

And homework task number one for you guys.

I know I can't help being a teacher even over summer holidays.

I want you guys to study the Lord's Prayer this week.

I'm not going to be preaching on it today, but you guys need to study it.

It's the number one place to go to to learn how to pray.

It's such a valuable resource for you.

Number two, okay, this is a little bit more optional than number one.

I don't usually give optional homework, but there you go.

I'm going to give it to you guys.

I want to read A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

I actually forgot to bring the book with me to show you.

But I'll just ask me later if you forget the name of that.

I just will try to recommend this book to anyone who struggles to understand how prayer works

and why it's so confusing at times.

And I'll be quoting that book a little bit today, but really we're turning our attention

and our focus to God's Word as found in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

So let's just pray briefly before we go any further and commit this time to the Lord.

Jesus, Father, I thank you for this time that we could come together to sit under your Word.

And Lord, you know my weakness, but I thank you that you are strong.

And I pray that, Lord, in this week you'd help all of us to apply your Word to our lives

and, Lord, to walk closer with you and to build a strong prayer life.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So, just a quick synopsis of where God's Word is taking us today.

Firstly, we're going to start with the bedrock prayer, which is knowing who we are in God,

before moving on to some of the basics of how we are to pray,

which is by the Spirit, helpless and childlike.

And then lastly, we're going to learn about the purpose of suffering in prayer

and how to pray when we actually have no words left to say.

So that's where we're going.

Just to set that theme for Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

the context of that,

the author and apostle Paul has been teaching the Roman Christians

that they are no longer slaves to sin,

not to be controlled by it.

Rather, they are freed from sin to live according to the Spirit instead.

So this is where we pick up in verse 12.

So if you guys would follow along with me.

Verse 12 and 13.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation,

but it is not to the flesh to live according to it.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the Spirit you put to death the misbead deeds of the body, you will live.

So when Paul speaks of the flesh here,

he means our natural sinful desires.

The sinful desires offer us appealing, temporary pleasures,

but in the end just destroy us.

He says here that we owe nothing to the flesh.

All the flesh has ever sought to done is destroy us,

and it has always failed to fully satisfy us.

So Paul says, don't live by it.

Don't live by it and die.

Rather, in the Spirit's power,

put to death the misdeeds of the body and live.

Okay, so Paul continues in verse 14,

and these are some of the most glorious, amazing truths

known to believers in Christ.

Verse 14 and 16.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God

are the children of God.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves

so that you live in fear again.

Rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

And by Him we cry,

Abba, Father.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit

that we are God's children.

So, firstly, what is the better off of prayer?

Well, we have to know who we are.

We are precious and dearly loved children

of the God of the universe.

And let me say that another way,

because that's completely astounding.

The maker of the galaxies,

the sustainer of the whole universe.

He considers you to be his precious child.

Now, most scholars agree that this idea

of addressing God as Abba, Father,

was actually quite outrageous.

At the time when Paul was writing this.

How could God be that personal and close?

Well, the answer is

only through what Jesus has done for us.

Before we knew Jesus as Savior,

our sin and rebellion separated us

and actually made us children of wrath,

not of God.

But in the most beautiful

and extravagant act of mercy,

Jesus Christ took earth in on Himself.

He died for it

and in exchange gave us forgiveness of sins,

eternal life,

and all of His rights

as a son of God.

And not only that,

but those who accept Christ

are given the free gift

of His Holy Spirit,

who, as it says in verse 15,

brings about our adoption of sonship.

He makes us sons and daughters.

When we receive the Spirit,

we change from children of wrath

to children of God.

How incredible is His grace?

But in verse 17,

you know,

it actually goes even further.

And in some ways,

it's actually more staggering

than the first reality.

Follow with me,

verse 17.

Now if we are children,

then we are heirs,

heirs of God

and co-heirs with Christ,

if indeed we share His sufferings

in order that we may also share His glory.

So,

2,000 years ago,

in Paul's Greco-Roman world,

adoption was a common practice.

And the adopted son

will be given all the rights

of the other children in the family,

including an equal right

to the inheritance of the Father.

And the astounding thing is

that this is true

for believers in Christ as well.

The Father takes us in,

while we are still His enemies,

living in rebellion against Him.

And Jesus takes the judgment

we deserve to get.

And in exchange,

He gives us everything

that He deserves to get.

And this is unprecedented

eternal events

we share in the Father's inheritance.

We get to know Jesus' Father

as our Father now.

And as it says in verse 17,

we are heirs of God.

But also,

we are co-heirs with Christ.

Which means,

Christ's kingdom

is also ours now.

Try and get your head around that.

We will rule it together

when God makes the new heaven

and the new earth.

Look at this verse

in 2 Timothy 2.12.

It says,

We will reign with Him.

And then in 1 Corinthians 2.21,

it's on the screen as well.

All things are yours.

Whether Paul,

or Apollos,

or Cephas,

or the world,

or life,

or death,

or the present,

or the future,

all are yours.

And you are of Christ.

And Christ is of God.

You know,

these truths are so astonishing

that it's actually possible

for us in our own strength

to understand them.

We need the Holy Spirit's help

to make them a reality.

And I think there's just two questions

that arise from this.

As you look around today

and you see your brothers and sisters

in Christ,

who do you see?

Do you just see parents,

students,

factory workers,

office workers?

Because do you know what?

Over and above all of those things,

the people sitting around you

are the sons and daughters

of God

and the future inheritors

of Christ's kingdom.

Now I think that changes

how we look at one another,

how we respect

and love one another.

Maybe that changes

the way we speak to each other,

how we talk about each other.

You know,

the second question

I think that this raises is this.

What else could define us

as people?

What else could define us

in our lives?

I mean,

our community

culture says

that you are defined

by the job,

money,

house,

holidays,

relationships,

and the health

that you do or don't have.

And you know what God says to that?

No.

This is what defines you.

You are a precious,

dearly loved,

child of the God of the universe

and an heir of all things.

So that makes you

something incredibly special.

You are by no means

ordinary,

small,

or inconsequential.

You may never be famous

or widely known

outside of Pierre Glein,

but you're someone extraordinary

because you're in Christ today.

That changes everything

in your life.

That also changes everything

about your prayer life.

this is the bedrock of prayer.

Know who you are

as you come to pray.

But now we want to move on

and we want to listen closely

to what this passage says

about how we are to pray.

Away, wasp.

No?

Go away.

No?

You want to stay with me?

So, yeah,

I'll ask you to say that.

So, yeah,

in no way does this passage

encompass everything

that could be said about prayer,

but there's three huge aspects

about prayer

that it does touch on

and we're just going to

focus on those.

And they're actually all found

in this one small phrase.

By him,

we cry,

Abba Father.

So you can see

my nice graphics

there I did up.

We're going to split it

into three,

take them one at a time.

We're going to see

what we can get out of this

and what we can learn

about prayer.

Firstly,

by him,

we cry,

Abba Father.

which means

we pray

by the Spirit.

That's what Paul

talked about there.

Paul says in Ephesians 2.18,

Pray in the Spirit

on all occasions

with all kinds

of prayers

and requests.

And back in verse 14,

he said that those

who are led

by the Spirit of God

are sons of God.

So we learn that

close communion

with the Spirit

is absolutely essential

to constant communication

with the Father.

The Spirit is the one

who enables us to pray.

And as it says later

in verse 26,

the Spirit is helping us

in our weakness.

He's actually interceding

with the Father

on our behalf.

And we're going to talk

about that more later,

but we learn

that close intimacy

with the Spirit

is incredibly important.

And we need to be clear here,

the Spirit is never

drawing attention

to himself.

He's always pointing us

to the Father

and to the Son

for all of our joy,

all of our love,

all of our day-to-day needs.

But we can push away

the Spirit

when he prompts us

towards Christ.

We so often ignore him.

I don't know if you're like me,

but I find incredible ways

of squeezing him out

and filling up my day

with all these other noises

and voices

and never having the times

of quiet to hear him speak.

Or maybe in the busyness.

We try to do life

all in our own strength.

Ignoring God's health,

in fact.

You know what?

We need to be sensitive

to the Spirit

leading and drawing.

Which means being open to him.

Giving him space

in our day-to-day lives.

And allowing him

to move us

towards Jesus

and towards the Father.

And I don't know

what this means for you,

but for me,

if I didn't keep

checking myself,

every spare moment

of my day

would be spent

on my phone

checking sports

or Instagram

or whatever.

whatever.

I think I'm actually

addicted to sports news.

RTE can only produce

so many sports articles

in a day.

They're not producing

enough for me.

Anyway,

and God has really

convinced me recently

of how

there's so many times

in the day

where I could just be

drawn near to him

when I just have spare moments

and I said,

what's the first thing

I do?

Flick out the phone.

RTE,

whatever.

And God has really

convicted me about that.

So,

and actually,

another way,

I always used to listen

to the radio

on my way to work

in the morning.

I got a half an hour

commute to band.

And what Lurk

convinced me about that,

actually,

this was a valuable time

that I could use,

actually,

have a structured

prayer time,

which has been

really fruitful.

On my way back,

you know,

I'm calling people

doing different jobs,

but on my way to school,

I have that time

every morning,

structured prayer,

where everything else

is switched off,

no music,

no noise,

just an uninterrupted

time of closeness

and prayer with God.

And I just done wonders

for my prayer life.

It changes

how I go about my day.

So basically,

look,

the Father is waiting

for us to come.

And in what way

do you need to make

more space

for the Spirit

in your normal day?

And what unnecessary

noities

do you need to cut out?

Think about that

for yourselves.

So firstly,

we pray by the Spirit.

And secondly,

it's by Him

that we cry

at the Father.

So we're just going

to focus on that word,

cry.

Why is it used there?

I mean,

that's a word

that I often

actually associate

with weakness

and helplessness.

God's telling us

something important here

about how we are to pray.

to come to God

in prayer,

we must come

knowing our weakness

and our helplessness

without Him.

And now that's all

very well and good,

you say,

but that flies in the face

of everything

that our culture

tells us we should be,

which is independent,

strong,

self-confident,

believing in yourself

that you can do life

in your own strength.

And you only look

for health

when you really need it,

if it's really necessary.

But the rest of life,

90% of it,

you've got that covered.

You can do that

on your own.

You know what?

Jesus,

He turns those assumptions

upside down.

He modeled a life

of total dependence

upon His Father.

Have a look at this verse

on the screen.

John 5, 19.

Jesus speaking.

He says,

the Son can do nothing

by Himself.

He can only do

what He sees His Father doing

because whatever

the Father does,

the Son also does.

And you know what?

After Jesus modeled

this kind of life

of dependence,

He later tells His disciples

in John 15, verse 5,

John 15:5

I am the vine.

You are the branches.

If you remain in Me

and I in you,

you will bear much fruit.

But listen to this.

Apart from Me,

you can do nothing.

Now,

our proud heart,

we don't like to hear that.

We don't want to hear that

without Jesus,

we could do nothing

of any good

or substance

for God's kingdom.

We like to kick over this first

because we don't like

being helpless.

We can help ourselves.

Thank you very much.

And that is our nature.

Our Father, however,

wants us to come to Him

weary,

empty-handed,

helpless.

And if you're like me,

actually,

deep down in your heart,

you know that's a good thing

because you know deep down

you are a weary,

helpless,

broken person.

It's okay to be weak.

He wants us,

as it says in His verse,

to continually cry out to Him,

Abba,

Father,

I need you.

I can't go without you.

I have to have you

or else everything I do

is for nothing.

I can't be patient

with my kids without you.

I don't know what to say

to my only family members

without your help.

I can't delight without you.

That's the kind of prayer

God's looking for.

Listen to what Paul says

in 2 Corinthians

about what Jesus said to him

during a crippling trial

in his life.

It's on the screen there.

But he said to me,

My grace is sufficient for you.

My power is made perfect

in weakness.

Therefore,

I will boast

all the more gladly

about my weaknesses

so that Christ's power

may rest on me.

That is why,

for Christ's sake,

I delight in weaknesses

and insults

and hardships

and persecution

and difficulties.

For when I am weak,

then I am strong.

Do you delight

in your weaknesses?

Your weakness

and your suffering

is actually the door

to God's great strength.

Your weakness

is the door to prayer.

It's the door

to dependence

on your almighty

universe-creating Father.

Father.

I love how Paul Miller,

the guy I mentioned earlier,

how he applies this verse.

Read this quote.

He says,

If we think

that we can do life

on our own,

we will not take care seriously.

That really hit me

two months ago

when I read that.

He continues.

He says,

We tell ourselves,

Strong Christians pray a lot.

If I were a stronger Christian,

I'd pray more.

How many of you

thought that like me?

I've definitely thought that.

Well,

Paul says,

Strong Christians do pray more,

but they pray more

because they realize

how weak they are.

They don't try to hide it

from themselves.

Weakness is a channel

that allows them

to access grace.

I can't tell you

the impact

that all of this

has had on my own prayer life

in the past two months.

I've had to repent

of a lot of self-dependence

to be honest.

There was an awful lot

of things in my life

that I never

asked God help for.

I just assumed

that I had it covered.

But when those things

started to crumble and break,

I'd find myself

on my knees

crying out to God

for his help

and his mercy.

And I realized,

actually,

do you know what?

I wasn't.

I was in control

all along.

I was actually

very, very fragile

and weak

all along.

I actually

struggled myself

into thinking

that I was able

and I didn't need any help.

So more recently,

I've come a little wiser

and I started each day

by confessing

my utter helplessness

to God.

By confessing

my weakness

and my need of Him.

And I encourage you guys

to do the same.

So get on your knees

each morning

and start like that.

And ask Him

for His help.

John Pike

says it this way.

The Spirit

has worked

a childishness

in you.

A little,

desperate,

helpless.

I need help.

I can't

save myself.

I've got to have a daddy.

I can't live

without that help.

It's the Holy Spirit's

real,

childlike,

happy,

cry to the Father.

Father.

So how do we pray?

Well,

firstly,

we pray by the Spirit.

And secondly,

we cry out

to our Father,

continually embracing

our weakness

and helplessness

and inviting our Father

to be strong for us.

But the third part

of this little phrase here

is just the words,

Abba,

Father.

Let's just briefly

look at this.

I reckon that children

maybe are the best

example we have

in life

of someone

who is health

and weak.

Elodie,

who is my

11-week-old daughter.

She's back there

with her auntie

right now.

She's just a picture

of defendants.

She cries very loudly

at her parents

until her parents

give her what she needs.

She knows

that she can't do

life without us.

She longs

for our cuddles,

our attention,

our soothing words.

It's actually

the cutest thing.

In the morning,

when she's starting

to wake up,

and when we lift

our heads over her

so that she can see us,

her face instantly

just lights up

with ear-to-ear smile.

She just longs

to be with us.

She longs

for our closeness

and our attention.

You know what?

We wonder

what her first words

are going to be.

It's going to be

dada.

It's going to be mama.

Well, God says,

call me Abba.

Call me Abba, Father.

It's like God saying,

come like a child

in your helplessness,

in your simple longing

for your daddy

and his closeness.

Come like a child.

Just as you are.

No errors are graces.

Any parents here

will know that

your children

don't have to be clean,

perfectly behaved,

or in a good mood

for you to whisk them

up onto your knee

and listen to their stories.

Look what Jesus says

in Matthew 18, verse 3.

Matthew 18:3

Truly I tell you,

unless you change

and become like little children,

you will never enter

the kingdom of heaven.

God calls us

to cry out to him,

Abba, Father.

It's simple.

There's nothing complicated.

If you're worried

about knowing

the right things

to say to God,

and that's stopping

you from praying,

well, just leave

those worries

at his feet.

Because you know what?

Children don't worry

about what they're going

to say to their parents,

do they?

No, they just blurt it out.

And oftentimes

when you're in public

that can be quite embarrassing

what they do blurt out.

You know,

a lot of people

as well,

including me,

can struggle

to focus in prayer.

But just as any

loving parent

makes time to sit

and listen

to their child's

meandering,

so your Abba Father

loves to hear

from you also,

even when you go

off on tangents

and start thinking

about the rugby.

Guilty.

You know what?

If you get distracted,

don't give up.

Keep going back

to the Father

in prayer.

And while we talk

a lot about prayer

moment by moment

throughout the day,

it's also important

to set a time

in the day

for structured,

purposeful prayer,

where we're

undistracted.

And there's some

very helpful things

that we can do.

There's lots of

helpful things

we can do

to aid our focus,

such as

writing reminders

and prayer cards

to help us

just to focus

and to pray

for the specifics

of life.

But we are always

to come as a child,

knowing that

our Abba Father

longs for us

to run into his arms

even when we are

at his worst,

even when we are

at our worst.

to pray.

So we've learned

three things

from this small phrase.

Number one,

we've learned that

we pray with the

Spirit's help.

Two,

that we need to

acknowledge our

weakness and our

helplessness as we

come to pray.

Thirdly,

to come as a child.

Lastly,

in the rest of this

passage,

Paul addresses

what to do

when we can't

even find the words

to pray.

He talks about

how suffering

is actually

the door to prayer.

So we're just

going to look at that.

Paul speaks at length

about the suffering

that we as Jesus followers

will endure

in this life.

In verse 17,

we learn that

we are co-heirs

with Christ

if indeed

we share

in his suffering

that we may also

share in his glory.

So suffering

is inevitable

for the believer,

right?

It's all part of being

in Christ.

But then in the next

verse,

verse 18,

you can read it with me,

Paul encourages us

that our present

sufferings

are not worth

comparing with the

glory

that will be

revealed in us.

Now having that

perspective in suffering

is an absolute

gift from God.

Just to know that

this suffering,

though it is painful,

is totally outweighed

by millions upon

millions of years

in God's perfect

presence

without any pain

or tears.

But Paul continues

in verse 20

and he explains

that all of God's

creation has been

subjected to frustration

and to decay

since the fall

of the Garden of Eden.

And follow with me

in verse 22

and we're going to

pick it up there.

He says,

we know that the

whole creation

has been groaning

as in the pains

of childbirth

right up to the

present time.

Not only so,

but we ourselves

who have the

first fruits of the

Spirit

groan inwardly

as we wait for

our adoption

to sonship,

the redemption

of our bodies.

So we see,

firstly,

that God's

creation itself

is groaning,

yearning to be

made new.

And secondly,

we as believers,

Paul says,

are groaning.

Why?

Because we're not

in heaven yet.

We haven't fully

realized our adoption

as sons and daughters.

We haven't apart now,

but not in full

just yet.

And in all of this

he's saying that,

look,

our suffering is real.

The broken world

that we live in

has yet to be restored.

And because of that

question,

you were right.

I mean,

is God ignorant

of all our groaning?

Why did he just

put a stop to it right now?

Would that not be

the loving thing to do?

I mean,

what's the reason

for all this suffering?

But thank God

that there are

verses 26 and 27.

Read it with me.

In the same way,

the Spirit

helps us

in our weakness.

We do not know

what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit

himself

intercedes for us

through wordless groans.

And he who

searches our hearts

knows the mind

and the Spirit

because the Spirit

intercedes for God's people

in accordance

with the will of God.

Okay?

So the creation

is groaning.

We are groaning.

Look who else

is groaning.

God

is also

groaning.

You know what?

Far from being distant

in our suffering,

can you not see here

that he's actually

a God

who's feeling

everything that we're feeling?

He's a God

who groans for us

and with us.

It says here

that the Holy Spirit

is helping us

in our weakness.

He's advocating

to the Father for us.

When we are left

speechless

in suffering,

the Holy Spirit

prays for us

so we can actually

rest

even in the most

bitter of trials.

It even goes so far

at the end of verse 27

to say that the Spirit's prayers

are always in accordance

with God's will.

He knows the right

things to pray for us.

So the pressure

is off there.

He's praying for us.

And that means

that in the deepest

suffering,

all that we have

to do is this.

Cry Abba

and rest in Him.

Just cry Abba

and rest in Him.

We just have to open

our hearts up

again and again

to our Abba Father

drawing near to Him.

Not running from Him.

Even when you don't

understand what He's doing,

don't run.

Give the Spirit

the space

to lead you back

to the cross.

And when you can't pray,

the Spirit

is filling in that gap

and He's groaning

for you

on your behalf.

I hope that you can see

that there is

overwhelming hope

in suffering.

And often,

we can't understand

why

when we ask God

to take the suffering away

and He doesn't.

We ask God

for something

that we honestly

think is good,

but in return

we get something

that we think

is worse.

Prayers like,

God,

please heal this illness.

God,

please protect them

from hurt.

Lord,

I pray that justice

would be done.

Those were actually

all prayers

that I've prayed this year

and God didn't answer them

the way I thought

was best.

But you know what?

Jesus has promised

that the Father

can actually

only give us

what is good for us

and we actually

need to hold on

to this promise.

He says it here

in Matthew 7

Matthew 7:9–11

verses 9 to 11.

Which of you,

if your son

asks for bread,

will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish,

will give him a snake?

If you,

then though you are evil,

know how to give

good gifts

to your children,

well how much more

will your Father

in heaven

give good gifts

to those who ask him?

You know what?

If this verse is true,

if what he's saying

here is true,

then that means

that when God

doesn't take away

our pain,

it's because he's

working something

incredible in us.

Which is what

we would have wanted

if we could only

have seen things

from his perspective.

And when you think

about it,

actually,

suffering is

really a gift

from God

to show us

our helplessness

and weakness,

which then

causes us

to cry out to him.

You know what?

when all is calm

in life,

we can fool

ourselves into thinking

that we don't need

Jesus.

But in suffering,

we're under no illusions.

We need God.

We need our Father.

So suffering,

it's an open door

to prayer

and reliance

on our Father.

God bless you.

I'm actually going

to leave you today

with a story

from Paul Miller's book

about this very topic.

And he speaks

about a spiritual

desert time

in his life

when he and his wife

discovered that

their fourth child

had acquired

brain surgery,

not brain surgery,

brain damage,

due to medical

negligence

at birth.

Now,

the interesting thing

was that Paul's wife,

Jill,

had actually prayed

through the whole pregnancy

that God would protect

the baby from her.

But after the incident,

their daughter

grew up with

increasingly challenging

behaviours

and very complicated

health problems.

And as you can imagine,

that led to a huge

amount of questions

in Paul and Jill's life.

Why did God love this?

I mean,

we prayed for protection

from her,

but he didn't.

How can he still

be loving

and good?

Is he still in control?

And this is what

Paul had to say

looking back on his life.

Just listen.

I'm going to put a little

bit of it on the screen,

but for the most part

I'm just going to

read it out.

This is what he says.

God takes everyone

he loves

through the desert.

The still dry air

of the desert

brings a sense

of helplessness

that is so crucial

to the spirit of prayer.

You come face to face

with your inability

to live,

have joy,

or do anything

of lasting worth.

The desert

becomes a window

to the heart of God.

He finally gets

your attention

because he's the only

game in town.

You cry out to God

so long

and so often

that a channel

begins to open up

between you

and God.

When driving,

you turn off the radio

just to be with God.

At night,

you drift in and out

prayer when you're sleeping.

Without realizing,

you've learned

how to pray

continuously.

very early on,

Jill and I

were aware

that because of

our daughter Kim,

God was humbling us

and making us

more like his son.

It took us

20 years

to realize

that God

used Kim

to save

our family.

God had

kept us

from all harm.

Kim

brought Jesus

into our home.

Jill and I

could no longer

do life on our own.

We needed Jesus

to get from one

end of the day

to the other.

We'd ask

for a loaf of bread

and instead

of giving us

a stone,

our Father

had to spread

a feast for us

in the wilderness.

And Paul finishes

like this,

he says,

when we don't receive

what we pray for

or desire,

it doesn't mean

that God

isn't acting

on our behalf.

Rather,

he's weaving

his story.

Watch out

for the story

that God

is weaving

in your life

and don't

leave the desert.

So just to

summarize

what we've

done today,

brothers and sisters,

as you come to pray,

know who you are.

You are precious,

dearly loved

sons and daughters

of God,

heirs of everything

with Christ.

Secondly,

as you pray,

don't push away

the spirit.

Walk with him.

Come help us

and weep,

crying out to your Father.

Come as a child.

Don't worry

about what to say.

And thirdly,

in your suffering,

when you don't

have the words

to pray,

know that the Holy Spirit

is groaning

on your behalf.

Your suffering

is an open door

to prayer

and an open door

to God.

let's pray.

Let's pray.

Spirit,

you're the only one

who can take

the truths

of your word

and plant them

deep in our hearts

so that they

change us.

So I pray

that you do that now.

change our prayer lives.

Let us walk

closer with you.

Let us yearn

for our heavenly Father

and cry out

and continually

let us acknowledge

and realize

our moment

by moment

weakness

and our need

for you.

God,

help us

in our suffering

not to despair

but to use it

as an opportunity

to turn to you.

We commit ourselves

to you.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you, Sam.

As we finish

our time together

we're going to sing

one more song.

Classic song.

What a friend

we have

in Jesus

which I think

helps us to respond

in an appropriate way

to what we've heard

this morning.

So again,

please feel free

to stand

as we sing.

Amen.

Peace.

Appreciate it.

Jesus.

Thanks.

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

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All the magic has been healed

All the magic has been healed

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All the magic has been healed

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As him did the maker

Hail to breathe

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And everything to God is blessed

God, we call your salvation

We will never trouble anywhere

We shall never be as good

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Yeah, we find a friend so faithful

Who will know I shall share

That he is on the island

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.