It’s an inside job (4)

The twin pillars of a believer’s daily life should be prayer and scripture. But while praying may be simple, it’s not always easy. We lack motivation, we’re easily distracted, and we are not always sure what we should be praying for. So, recognizing our human inadequacies, God provides help for us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “The Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father…knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us…in harmony with God’s own will” (vv. 26-27 NLT). That means, no matter how you feel when you pray, the Holy Spirit is in prayer with you and for you, transforming your most feeble prayers into powerful appeals to the Father. And when it comes to the second pillar, namely the Word of God, the Holy Spirit’s role is equally dynamic. Jesus said, “When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13). Note, the Holy Spirit does three things. (1) He guides us as we study the Word of God and seek to understand it. (2) He takes what Jesus wants us to know and reveals it to us. (3) He opens our understanding about things that are still to come. No question, good reference books, scripture-based resources, and skilled Bible teachers are necessary and helpful, but they’re no substitute when it comes to hearing from the Holy Spirit for yourself and listening carefully to what He wants to tell you.