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Listen while you read: "O Come O Come Emmanuel"1 (Lyrics) |
Do you ever try to tell God what to do? At times, I have certainly tried to orchestrate things. I say, "God, if You could take this step, then this step, and make this person do this and that, then I think that we'd have the problem solved!" I can imagine God saying, "Thank you, Jeanie. I didn't think of that!" At times, we do need to pray very specific prayers, but He doesn't need blow-by-blow instructions every time we pray. If He can set all of the stars in place, I am sure that He can solve my small problems.
There have been times when I have been speechless, planless, and frustrated by not knowing what to pray. I had no suggestions for God; I was only hurt and groaning. At times, I have opened my hands and said, "Here it is, Lord. I don't even know what to pray." Many times, I knew that even if I were guaranteed a "yes" from God, I didn't know which way I should pray. That is why I have always loved this Scripture:
Romans 8:26 – 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 with groans that words cannot express. (NIV)
What inspires me most is the one little word, "himself". The Scripture says that the Spirit himself will intercede on my behalf. Can you imagine the Creator of everything taking the time to intercede and translate my confusion for me?
As I have been writing today, I have been interrupted several times by Larry, my dear husband. In the basement, he has a project going on that has needed my help. As he holds "thousands" of pounds (to hear him tell it) he has been asking me to get him certain tools. "Over there in the case that holds a thingamajig, there is a doohickey that I need" — or at least that's what I thought he said. I search for the tool, only to bring him the wrong thing. Grimacing, he explains again in a more annoyed voice what he needs. With eyes straining to see what he is talking about, I try again, only to let him down again. Right about now, he needs someone to intercede on his behalf and speak in a language that I can comprehend — someone who knows exactly what he needs and where to find it.
Fortunately, the Spirit himself knows what I need and where to find it. When I petition God, I sometimes talk in circles, I ramble, I do not make sense, but I am glad that there is no language barrier when it comes to God. Hallelujah! "The Spirit himself intercedes"!
I hear a voice from the basement asking me for channel locks and needle-nose something or other, so I've got to go!
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that Your Spirit knows exactly what we need and intercedes on our behalf when we don't know what to pray for. Amen.
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Thanks for the encouraging words, Jeanie. And Happy Thanksgiving.
Good one. I know the feeling.
(Manitoba)
Another good one Jeannie. Please keep them coming because I enjoy them so much.
Good one Jeannie, been there several times, both with helping my husband and wondering how to pray.
O Come Jesus into our hearts, minds, actions. Let us be kind, generous, hopeful. Amen.
Totally related to your dilemma. These days as a widow, believe it or not, I miss those days. By the way, it’s needle nose pliers. My husband used them a lot. Blessings.
Jeanie, thank you for your amusing devotional about how we often try to instruct God. Your emphasis on the word “himself” was an excellent reminder. Please continue to write devotionals!
Thank you for your writing.
I need all the reminders I can get.
God is good.
Blessings.
Thank you!
Powerful stuff.
Especially Roman’s!!
A new favourite!
Just knowing your husband’s foreign language!!
Thank you, Jeanie, for your very good and mindful words today. You gave me some “chuckles” too as it has been a long time since I’ve heard the words “thingamajig” and “doohickey”. Yes, we need be ever thankful that the Spirit intercedes for us and helps us get the right words out for us when we present our pleas to God. Also we are blessed that He has created every cell of our bodies therefore knows our every want and need.
Blessings for these special writings your deliver.
Good morning, Jeanie,
I appreciate the hope in Romans 8:26. Many times I don’t know how to pray because I am overwhelmed and cannot think. I know I can reach out to God and He is always listening and knows what I need at that moment because of the Holy Spirit within. I also know that sometimes my husband is speaking a language I don’t understand because I am not familiar with the tools he needs. Thanks for sharing your faith very openly so we can all gain understanding. Blessings.
Good morning, Jeanie.
The scripture you used in Romans is very special to me. I believe that scripture proved true when the nurse put me on hold….did not know why, I thought the Dr was coming to the phone to talk to me about tests my husband had the day before. Nobody came back on. With a bad gut feeling I started to pray in the Spirit because I did not know what to pray. Never thought of a problem. Once the urgency to pray calmed I thanked God and asked Him to be with whoever that was all about. I called back to the hospital only to find out the nurse put me on hold because they called Code Blue, and they were shocking my husband back to life!
So the only thing I can think of when I read that scripture is definitely the Holy Spirit was interceding for me and my husband.
Thank you and God bless.
Thank you, Jeanie. I have one of those prayers right now, for my daughter.
Dear Jean
I love your meditations and so often they just seem to be written from my experience and I just wanted to tell someone and you, maybe unfortunately, are the one I thought about.
I had a miracle happen this week. On Tuesday morning my husband had a spell of some kind. My niece is young and strong and was coming over. Together we managed to get him back to his bed and we called 911. He was taken to the hospital.
To get back to my miracle I know God has been working on a plan for me us. They have done a lot of tests and have discovered he has Alzheimer’s and the beginnings of Parkinson’s disease. Medication has been started. They have also arranged for me to have help come in daily to help me and people to come to the house to do therapy with him and people to visit monthly to take a check on blood pressure and other vitals that they consider necessary and will check on me as well. I want to keep him at home as long as possible.
I feel everything is working out so perfectly that only the Good Lord could have orchestrated all of it and it is surely A miracle for me. I actually have been able to say this to a couple of good friends and their reaction was positive so I will hopefully be able to continue to mention it to others and trust that they will be receptive to my sharing of God love and help in times of problems and pray and believe that you will get help when He deems it necessary in according to His will and plan for your life.
Thank you again for your meditations.
God Bless you with a happy holiday season and a wonderful 2025.