The Words You Need to Hear Again

I was listening to Romans on my walk yesterday.

And by the time Paul reached those final verses in Romans 8, I stopped on the path for a moment and thought, We just need to hear these words once in a while.

To just let them wash over us.

Because here is what I know after years of this Christian life:

We go through seasons we do not know how to handle.

We face things we do not have the words to pray.

We face situations we cannot fix with our own knowledge, no matter how hard we try.

The Apostle Paul faced these same things too.

When You Don’t Have Words

I was in conversation with a minister friend who confided that he felt like nobody was praying for him. I reminded him of something I think we all need to hear: Jesus is right now interceding for you!

Christ Jesus ...who also intercedes for us”(Rom 8:34).

Jesus is continually praying and making intercession for you (also Heb 7:25).

All of heaven is cheering you on!

It is a relief to know the Holy Spirit does not wait for us to find the perfect prayer. He searches our hearts and already knows our hearts.

He knows the hopes we are afraid to speak, the dreams we have almost abandoned, and the fears we hold in silence.

He knows our abilities and our limitations. He knows where our confidence is small.

And He prays on our behalf anyway, with a power we could never achieve on our own.

So Why Do We So Rarely Turn To Him First?

I watch it in others, and I struggle with it myself.

We default to our own understanding.

We lean on our own analysis of the problem. We seek the approval of people around us before we seek His perspective. And our motives get tangled.

We want resolution, yes, but we also want to look competent, to feel in control, and to earn the good opinion of those around us.

God's way of seeing a situation is rarely our way of seeing it.

And His solution often looks nothing like the one we had in mind.

But if we seek Him with a pure and open heart, we will find Him, every time.

What We Can Know For Certain

In Romans 8, Paul does not leave us in a vulnerable desperate place. He reminds us of the unshakeable truth:

God works ALL things together for good, even the things we want to hide.

He will weave it all together and make something good of:

• The painful upbringing that left you with scars and triggers.
• The negative thoughts that circle your mind like vultures.
• The rejection from people who should have stood by you.
• The financial pressure that refuses to let up.
• The family fractures. The seasons of loneliness.
• The confusion about your purpose.

God causes ALL of it to work together when we love Him and remain committed to relationship with Him.

He is a master weaver who refuses to waste a single thread of our lives.

Because He is our Creator, and loves us without measure, He will take all the awful things that happened to us in this sinful, fallen world and create something good.

He redeems our past and our future.

How Can We See This in Our Lives?

God is always working.

Sometimes we are unaware, yet we can ask to become more aware of His working in our daily lives.

• We can ask Him, “what are you doing here?” “What do you want me to do?”
• We can maintain a teachable spirit and an open posture.
• We can lean into His Word and let it recalibrate how we see our circumstances.
• We can turn to Him continually throughout our day.

I was taking my dad to the grocery store a couple of days ago and looked over and he was praying—and my driving was not bad. Haha. My dad talks to God continually throughout his day about everything.

We were created for daily relationship with our Lord!

Our God is For Us

And nothing, Paul tells us with absolute certainty, can separate you from the love of God!

Not death, not life, not angels, not rulers, not the struggles of today, not the uncertainties of tomorrow, not any power in all of creation!

Nothing!

You are held and known and loved beyond what you can imagine!

Action Steps for Spiritual Growth

Here is my invitation this month: Put Romans 8 on audio or open your Bible, and read the whole chapter straight through.

Just let the truth of it wash over you the way it washed over me on that pathway.

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is let His Living Words wash over us!

I pray God blesses you richly, and that these words penetrate your heart and transform your mind.

Thanks for reading. If I can pray for you more specifically, reply to this email and let me know. It would be my honor.

Cynthia Johnson, Deeper Walk Ministries, Inc.