You Have the Best Attorney

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Transcript

An Advocate You Can Trust

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hello, welcome to Five Minutes in the Word. I'm Ronnie Cooksie. Have you ever hired an attorney? As we drive south occasionally across Lake Pancha Train to New Orleans, there's a billboard that's advertising an attorney's office and it has the Spanish word abogado there. And that is a cognate. It sounds a lot like the word advocate, which is what an attorney is. Today we have a very encouraging text to tell us that if you know Christ as Savior, you have the world's best advocate living inside of you. If you've come to know Christ as Savior, the Spirit of the living God dwells in you. Jesus, who was God, came to the earth, died on the cross, rose again, and as he departed to go back to heaven, he left himself in the form of the Spirit to live inside of the believer.

The Spirit Intercedes In Weakness

SPEAKER_00 0:59

And our text today in Romans chapter eight, verses twenty six and twenty seven says, In the same way the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So you have the Spirit living inside of you, and he is in effect praying for you and helping to interpret your prayers to God as you pray to the Lord in heaven. He says we have weaknesses,

Groanings Too Deep For Words

SPEAKER_00 1:38

and oh we do. We're forgiven if we've come to know Christ, but we're still growing until the day that we enter into heaven's gates. The text begins with this phrase in the same way. In the verses we looked at last time, we read about that the whole creation is longing for the day when we'll be reunited with Christ in heaven. And the Spirit of God has that kind of longing to get you prepared for that day when we meet the Lord. Scripture says that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. And so it says we don't know how to pray as we should, but it doesn't say that we can't learn, nor does it say that we shouldn't try. No, it describes the best matching funds program you've ever heard of. The Spirit of God intercedes, prays for, communicates to God for you, and the word means to happen along and to intervene. The Spirit is God Himself, and He prays for you with groanings too deep for words. That word groanings is used only in the New Testament by Stephen in his sermon when he said, God heard the groanings of Israel in Egypt. When your heart of hearts is burdened, is grieving, is stressed, overwhelmed, all of those emotions that you want to express to God, you should. But the Spirit even comes along and says, There's more to explain about what's going on in the heart of this child of God. Well, the promise is only for the believer. Verse 27 tells us that he who searches the hearts, God, knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Who are the saints? They're those who've come to know Christ as their Savior. And then he searches the hearts and he communicates with himself on our behalf. Wonder of wonders.

A Go Between Who Understands You

SPEAKER_00 3:32

In verse 34, we're going to read later that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. First John 2 1, we read that we have an advocate with the Father. There's that word. So you have the most powerful trio in the world on your side. God the Father constantly listening to Jesus interceding for you, and in having the Spirit interceding for you. And so here you have everything you could ever want in this matter of communicating your heart to God. When we lived in Japan, I was with a group of Japanese believers and a missionary friend. And my missionary friend grew up in Alabama, but he was married to a Japanese and American wife. And one night I was trying so hard to communicate something that I thought was funny, and then he finally broke in and said to our friends in Japanese, but I understood what he was saying, this American, me, he's trying so hard to make a joke. Well, he was a go-between. He understood the Japanese culture better than I did, but he understood me because he was an American. And here's the Spirit of God. He is God. And he also dwells in you and understands your heart at the deepest level. Wow, what a gift. What an amazing thing it is to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray Daily And Don’t Waste It

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Well, do you know Christ? Are you praying? Is the Spirit having to do it all on his own? Or are you praying and then He's there with you, agreeing with you in prayer and expressing the deepest parts of your heart and your longings to God? Don't pass up this wonderful privilege. Make sure that your day has a dedicated time to spend time talking to, communing with, listening to God. Go pray and have a great day. I'll see you back here next time.