Today’s Devotional: Letting the Holy Spirit Translate
In Romans 8, Paul writes that when we’re in a state of spiritual confusion the Holy Spirit will step in and translate our anguish for God. This devotional from Day by Day reminds us that God doesn’t need us to say anything when we come to Him. He understands exactly what we are feeling and what we need:
It is out of that love and knowledge that the Holy Spirit takes our concerns before the Lord. For in such a time we may find ourselves coming to God when we cannot find the words to say what needs to be said, or the words to confess our wrong, or the words to simply speak to Him because our hearts are heavy and have made it difficult to speak. We find that there are times when our circumstances are so hard, or our feelings so intense that though we wish to communicate with God, we are unable. Yet the Holy Spirit intercedes with expressions of what is within us, and effectively communicates what must be said. He will not let our needs go unmet, but ensures that our needs are sufficiently brought before the Father.
Our Father loves us so very much, and has provided for us every imaginable way to give us what is needed to keep our relationship with Him where it needs to be. In those times that our hearts are so heavy that we cannot utter a word, we can know that we can simply come into the presence of God and silently sit. And as our emotions well up within, there is One who sits with us. And without a word from us, the heaviness of our hearts and the urgency of our needs are carried to the Father by He who was sent to us to be our comforter.
When you come into the presence of God but cannot find the words, just relax and rest in Him, knowing that what you cannot say is not going unheard.
Read the entire devotional at daybyday.org.
Have you ever faced a situation in which you had to rely on the Holy Spirit to intercede for you?
When I was 5 years old, I was ticked into thinking sex was a game by some neighborhood kids. This continued until I was 7 when they moved away. I started going to church with my mom again, and the pastor spoke about sex before marraige being a sin. I instantly felt that I wasn’t wanted by God because I had let the boys tell me sex was a game. I struggled with this for years. I told friends, but never my parents. I was too ashamed to tell them. I feared that they would tell me just what I thought. That it was my fault, that I was bad and a sinner. That God didn’t want me anymore. I started going to church again in the 7th grade. It was the first time in a long long time. At first I didn’t feel like I belonged there, but after going there awhile, I realized that it wasn’t my fault, that my innocence was taken from me. Even as I started to go to church, I now struggled with the battle of masterbation. Some say it’s right, some say it’s not. I didn’t feel it was right, but I struggled with it. I continued to struggle for years. I know go to a different church, but I love it. We had a guest speaker earlier this year, that just touched my life in an unbelievable way. He spoke about different people he felt were in the room. Then he said “I feel there’s a girl who was raped when she was 5.” It hit home hard when he said that. I instantly started crying but I felt the comfort of God come around me as I cried out all the pain that I had been holding back for all those years. I’m tearing up while typing this now, but I felt so much love around me, I felt free and forgiven for the first time in years. I continued to struggle with my addiction to masterbation, but I looked to God to help me fight it. I fell many times. I’m not going to lie and say that I stopped immediatly. I struggled and I fell many many times. But I didn’t give up. I looked to God even harder and asked him silently to help me with this struggle. I know the devil was chaining my hands to this addiction. But with God’s help I was able to break the addiction and become closer to him because of it. God is absolutly amazing.
all i can say is that God is good and i hope that He and his will, will always prevail in your life, Thank you for sharing, it is encouraging, because i’m thinking maybe one day i’ll experience a release from this bad something that seems to have a hold on me.
John, I encourage you to expose “this bad something” to the Father. Ask for forgiveness. Bring it out in the open in your conversation with God. If possible, find a trusted friend to share the “something” with. What we keep inside is what the evil one uses to torment us. There’s a saying…”We’re only as sick as the secrets we keep.” I’ve experienced the healing freedom of exposing every part of me to God. He’s an amazing forgiver. May peace be yours.