Sermon – Romans 8:22-27 – Praying in the Spirit

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Romans 8:22-27 – Praying in the Spirit
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
May 31, 2009

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This morning we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. We are all wearing red stoles signifying the coming of the Holy Spirit, as tongues of fire, on the first Pentecost, after Jesus ascended to heaven.

Pentecost was an ancient festival celebrating the first barley harvest of the season. Barley was planted at the Passover and the seven weeks or 50 days later it was ready for harvest. This festival became know as the festival of weeks and became a holy convocation when no work was to be done and everyone was to come for worship. It was there that the congregation gave thanks for the grain harvest.

So as Christians we approach Pentecost in thanksgiving for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And it is this work of the Spirit of God that we will be looking at today.

But first let’s pray. Holy Spirit come upon us as you did that day with the disciples of Jesus. Make my tongue proclaim God’s words for this congregation. May our ears be receptive to what God is saying to us today. And help us to proclaim these words to others in our community. We pray this with you, the Son and the Father. Amen.

Romans 8:22-27 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Upstairs in my office I have a computer which I use on the internet. Inside the computer is an adapter that allows the computer to attach to the internet. The computer itself cannot connect to the internet without this adapter which attaches the computer to ATT and the internet. Most of the time, it works. In addition to the adapter which connects it to the internet, my computer must also be able to communicate properly. It has to use what is called a protocol, or way of communicating. All computers that want to use the internet must use the internet protocol or IP. There is still one more thing that has to happen for my computer to connect to the internet. It must have the permission of an internet service provider, in our case it is ATT. When my computer has the appropriate connection, is communicating properly, and has permission to use the internet I am then able to check my email, read today’s news, and do research for Bible studies and sermons.

This procedure for connecting a computer to the internet is similar to what happens when we pray. We have to have the physical ability to communicate with God. We have to use the correct protocol. And we need God’s permission to communicate with him.
Physical Ability

Have you ever though about the absolute absurdity of being able to pray? We are finite creatures with very limited abilities. What makes us think that we have the ability to communicate with God, the creator of the universe? Would God pay attention to what comes out or our mouths? The theologian Paul Tillich said that it is humanly impossible to pray. Here is what he said.
“This we should never forget when we pray: We do something humanly impossible. We talk to somebody who is not somebody else, but who is nearer to us than we ourselves are. We address somebody who can never become an object of our address because he is always subject, always acting, always creating. We tell something to Him who knows not only what we tell Him but also all the unconscious tendencies out of which our conscious words grow. This is the reason why prayer is humanly impossible.” (http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=31)

But the Bible tells us that we must pray. Prayer is vital for our own spirituality. So how can we pray as we should when we are unable to pray at all? The Apostle Paul tells us that reason we can pray is because God is praying through us. God sends his own spirit the Holy Spirit to enter us and speak for us back to God. So the Holy Spirit is the adapter that allows us to connect to the God-net.

Communication Protocol

With the coming of the Holy Spirit we now have the physical ability to pray to God, but what protocol should we use? How should we talk with God? Humans have two ways of forming prayers. These are the liturgical and the improvisational prayer.

We use the liturgical prayers at the beginning of our worship services. A liturgical prayer is one that is written down and is often said in unison or responsively. Some of these prayers were written by great Christian writers and poets. They can communicate the great majesty and mystery of our God. They remind us our need to pray praises, thanksgivings, confessions, intercession, illuminations and dedications. Jesus gave us a liturgical prayer which we say every Sunday, The Lord’s Prayer. But if we use liturgical prayers over and over again they may become mechanical; we say the words but the words have no meaning. So we have to be careful when using this protocol to communicate on the God-net.

At the end of our worship services we use improvisational prayers. These prayers are not written down; rather they are spoken from the heart. These prayers are directed to a person called “God”. They are in the form of a conversation. In improvisational prayers we offer up our joys and concerns to God. We express our most fundamental needs and desires and we trust that our creator God will hear us. But if all we used were improvisational prayers we would be lowering God to the level of a best friend who listens to us. We need the liturgical prayers to remind us of the glory and honor that are do God.

So we use liturgical and improvisation prayers together to communicate with God. But what makes us think that God hears these prayers and acts upon them? Why would a group of finite humans reading some words from a piece of paper have any impact on God at all? Does God really want to be our best friend and listen as we ramble on and on?

The answer that Paul gives us is that these prayers are translated by the Holy Spirit into a God-net protocol describing this work as “sighs too deep for words.” So the Holy Spirit takes what we pray and converts those prayers into something we cannot understand, but makes perfect sense to God. Therefore we need the Holy Spirit in our hearts for our words, and thoughts, and feelings to be communicated to God.

Permission to Communicate

So God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts giving us the ability to pray and connecting us to the God-net. And this Holy Spirit communicates our prayers over this God-net, and uses a protocol acceptable to God. But why would God bother listening to our prayers? Why would God give permission for our prayers to come over the God-net?

For my computer to work on the church’s internet service, I need permission from ATT. We get this permission by subscribing to ATT Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL. We have a router to connect to our DSL line. For my computer to work it has to connect to this router. My computer needs permission to use the router. The router needs permission to use the DSL. And these permissions are granted through the use of passwords. Just as we need permission to use the internet we also need permission to use the God-net.

Our permission to use the God-net and communicate with God was given to us by Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the cost of this connection with his life, and he ensured eternal God-net service with his resurrection. So the God-net will be always on. And Christ sent his Spirit to us to ensure that our connection with God will never go down. So all we have to do to pray is believe in Jesus Christ and accept his Spirit the rest is automatic and our prayers are heard by God.
Conclusion

So I urge you to order your God-net service today. To subscribe to this free service just believe in Jesus Christ. All that you need will be sent to you. The Holy Spirit will come and connect you to God-net. Pray by yourself or with others and the Holy Spirit will convert and transmit those prayers to God. It is that easy. Order today.

Father in heaven, we are testing the God-net we just ordered. Please have your Holy Spirit take the prayers of this congregation and bring them to you. We thank you and praise you for letting us pray to you. And we pray in the name of your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.