Weakness

"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26

Weakness - Sick! That's the usual meaning of the Greek word astheneia. It comes from the negative of shtenos, a word that means, "strength or power." This word is used many times to describe those people that Jesus healed. They had sick bodies and sick spirits. They just couldn't do things for themselves. Here Paul uses the word as a metaphor to describe the general condition of being human powerless!

Anyone who has ever faced an addiction knows very personally the meaning of this word. "We admitted that we were powerless." That is the beginning of recovery an admission of weakness. Powerless over the force within that ravages us. Powerless to stop doing what we know is killing us. Powerless to pull ourselves out of the spiral of destruction. But now Paul uses this word to describe the powerlessness of believers in their desire to pray correctly. As believers, we are no longer under the power of that evil grip that sought to destroy us. But that does not mean we are suddenly transformed into super-human resurrected warriors. The weakness is part of who we are. It is designed into us on purpose. God's intention is to let our weakness become His glory. As we saw yesterday, He is the active agent here. His help comes because He is glorifying himself through us, not because He expects us to share the load with Him. This was the pattern of Jesus' life that the Father might be glorified through Him.

Here we see the wonder of the Spirit in the weakness of our prayers. How many times have I gone to my knees and just not known how to express what was on my heart? It is as though my whole being ached to tell God all about my trials and burdens, but I couldn't form the right words. And most importantly, my desire to pray "according to His will" seemed so frustrated by the limit of my earthly vision. I just didn't know what His will was, so how could I pray correctly? What I love about God is that He pays attention to my motives, no matter how deeply embedded they are in all the clutter of my life. He knows what I want to say. So, precisely because of my weakness, the Spirit lifts up my own mind and voice and prays through my powerlessness to the glory of the Father. Amen!

- Taken from Today's Word