Read: Romans 8:26-27 The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words (Romans 8:26).
Helen Keller lost her ability to hear and see at only nineteen months old. Eventually, her teacher Anne Sullivan helped young Helen learn to read Braille and raised type. By age nine she could also read people’s lips with her fingers and speak. Sullivan attempted to help Helen understand the word love. The teacher made several attempts to explain the concept, which only puzzled her pupil. Then one day Sullivan said that love was like sunshine—sweetness that pours into everything. That’s when Helen Keller first understood the word love.
Even for those of us who can see and hear, there are experiences in life we struggle to comprehend. Some of them and the emotions that come with them are buried so deeply in our consciousness that we’re scarcely aware of their existence, let alone able to describe them clearly. How then can we bring these hidden and often painful struggles to God?
Scripture gives us comfort in this struggle, reminding us that our prayers aren’t dependent on our ability to communicate clearly to God. Instead, we have the Holy Spirit with us in prayer. And the Spirit doesn’t simply listen to our prayers but actively “prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words” (Romans 8:26). Similarly, in John 14 Jesus says that in the Holy Spirit we find a Helper who is our advocate to the Father (John 14:26).
Perhaps like me you often try to rely on your own abilities to pray effectively. We may try our best to pray well, which isn’t wrong in itself, but find our words woefully inadequate. But we can take great comfort in the realization that when our words fail and our strength falls short, the Holy Spirit searches our hearts and intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:27).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Daniel 2:1-24
More: Read Psalm 139:1-24 for a beautiful description of the extent to which God knows us and searches our hearts.
Next: Do you often find yourself praying in your own strength? How can you become more aware of the help and presence of the Holy Spirit in prayer?
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.1 John 2:26
Why should Christians imitate Christ? They should do it for their own sakes. If they desire to be spiritually healthy--if they want to escape the sickness of sin and enjoy the vigor of growing grace, Jesus must be their model. For their own happiness' sake, if they would drink deeply of His love, if they would enjoy holy and happy communion with Jesus, if they would be lifted up above the cares and troubles of this world, let them walk even as He walked. There is nothing that is able to assist you in walking directly toward heaven like wearing the image of Jesus on your heart to rule all its emotions. It is when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are enabled to walk with Jesus in His very footsteps that you are most happy and most known to be the sons of God. Peter at a distance is both unsafe and uneasy.
Next, for religion's sake strive to be like Jesus. Poor religion, you have been fiercely attacked by cruel foes, but you have not been wounded half as much by your enemies as you have by your friends. Who made those wounds in the fair hand of godliness? The professing Christian who used the dagger of hypocrisy. The man who with disguises enters the fold, being nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing, worries the flock more than the lion outside. There is no weapon half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent professing Christians injure the Gospel more than the sneering critic or the heretic.
But especially for Christ's own sake, imitate His example. Christian, do you love your Savior? Is His name precious to you? Is His cause dear to you? Would you see the kingdoms of the world become His? Is it your desire that He should be glorified? Are you longing that souls should be won to Him? If so, imitate Jesus; be "a letter of Christ . . . known and read by all." 2 Corinthains 3:2-3
Read: Matthew 26:17–30 | Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 1–3; Luke 24:1–35
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15
Even though my friend Mickey was losing his eyesight, he told me, “I’m going to keep praising God every day, because He’s done so much for me.”
Jesus gave Mickey, and us, the ultimate reason for such never-ending praise. The twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew tells us about how Jesus shared the Passover meal with His disciples the night before He went to the cross. Verse 30 shows us how they concluded the meal: “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
Lord, help me to learn to praise You more and more.
It wasn’t just any hymn they sang that night—it was a hymn of praise. For millennia, Jews have sung a group of Psalms called “The Hallel” at Passover (hallel is the Hebrew word for “praise”). The last of these prayers and songs of praise, found in Psalms 113–118, honors the God who has become our salvation (118:21). It refers to a rejected stone that became a cornerstone (v. 22) and one who comes in the name of the Lord (v. 26). They may very well have sung, “The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad” (v. 24).
As Jesus sang with His disciples on this Passover night, He was giving us the ultimate reason to lift our eyes above our immediate circumstances. He was leading us in praise of the never-ending love and faithfulness of our God.
You are always worthy of praise, Lord, even when I don’t feel like praising You! Help me to learn to praise You more and more.
Praising God helps us recall His goodness that never ends.
INSIGHT: How might Jesus’s example encourage you to praise God during hard times?
