Are there times when you do not know how or what to pray? Times when the fear and uncertainty of your life knock the breath out of you so that words simply cannot come? Times when the complexity of existence leaves your head spinning and your stomach churning and you don’t have a clue as to what to say to God? Or times when your shadow self has become so dominant and when evil seems to be a cancer eating you alive and leaves you beyond personal recognition, and you wonder how you can dare approach the throne of grace again? Are there times when you are simply too tired, too hurt, too lonely, too despondent, too angry, too hopeless to pray—or even to care?
There are times for all of us when, saints and sinners that we are, we do not know how to pray or what to say. I believe that is one reason why many people do not pray. It’s not that they don’t want to commune with God; it’s more because they don’t know how or what to pray. As a minister I was called upon to pray often and in many different situations. And to be honest, there were times when I didn’t know what to pray or how I ought to pray—times when words just didn’t come—times of tragedy, crisis, frustration, anger, despair—times when I was conscious of my own weaknesses and sin and wondered why I should be in this position of spiritual leadership in the first place.
I used to think that the person who did God’s will and was committed to that will would know exactly what to pray—that such a person, so centered in God, would be on the same wavelength as the Almighty so that words would come naturally. And sometimes that happens. But at other times, it is precisely those who take God’s will seriously and struggle with the paradoxes of life who also struggle the most with prayer.
So, what do we do when we do not know how we should pray? When the words—honest, authentic words—do not come? Paul says in our passage that at such times of weakness, God’s Spirit can intercede for us, praying for us according to God’s holy and righteous will—that when we do not know how to pray or what we should pray, the Spirit of God does the praying for us, expressing that which is too deep, too personal, too intimate for words.
These words from Paul reveal a most liberating discovery. It frees us from having to find the right words—from having to know exactly what to say, when to say it, and in what manner it should be said. This hidden grace can keep us from despair as we know that the Spirit prays perfect prayers for us when we know ourselves to be such imperfect people.
The ability of the Spirit of God to intercede for us in such a perfect and redeeming manner is based on two sources of knowledge according to Paul. First, God searches the human heart. Let’s remember what the heart is in biblical thinking: It’s the seat of the will; the core of our being; the foundation from which all our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions come. God knows us from the inside out. The One who made us knows all our motives, all our intentions, all our conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind and heart. And then the Spirit of God prays to the Divine Self on our behalf, asking for the fulfillment of the Divine Will which is always in harmony with our greatest needs. In other words, when we are willing to be honest and admit our weakness, the Spirit of God prays within us the perfect prayer—a prayer too deep for mere words—the very prayer God would pray if God were in our shoes which, of course, God is because of God’s love and solidarity with each of us.
Again, I say, we need to recognize this as a most liberating discovery. The truth is, most of us do not know ourselves. We know only part of ourselves—that part psychologists call the conscious self. But even that part of who we are has its mysterious and unfathomable components. And that is only the tip of the ice berg. In what is called the subconscious, there is the bulk of who we are, and we know practically nothing about those massive parts of ourselves. We know next to nothing about what slumbers deep within us but which determines so much of who we are and what we do. But God knows. The Lord understands us better than we could ever understand ourselves, Thus, our Creator also knows what we should pray given who we are and that we are held in nail-scarred hands.
Perhaps we have some inkling of who we are. We cannot put it into words because we are too ashamed, too frightened, too timid to articulate what we fear most about ourselves. And sometimes we harbor the silly notion that God perhaps does not know the deepest secrets of our being. But God does know, and Paul says in this very chapter that even though God knows us from the inside out—even though God is aware of all our shadow, weak selves, we are still loved unconditionally and everlastingly. Nothing in all creation, Paul says, will ever separate us from that love of God found in Christ Jesus. At funerals after reading this passage, I often used a well-known quote from the Pogo comic strip: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Paul says that nothing in creation can separate us from God’s love. After using this passage at funerals for years, the light bulb came on in my very soul as I realized that I too am a part of creation. And so often, I am my greatest enemy. But my pitiful, paltry, rebellious little self is no match for God’s stubborn love and compassionate grace. And neither is yours. As New Testament scholar Paul Achtemeier said in his commentary on Romans, “The Good News of Jesus Christ is that God has known us from the first and has set us on the path of a destiny surrounded by and ending in God’s love.” In other words, God will love us, damn it, no matter what.
And that leads us to the second source of knowledge which allows the Spirit to pray perfect prayers on our behalf. The Spirit knows our destiny. The Spirit knows that we and all creation are destined by God for redemption, liberation, and healing. The Spirit has confidence in our future because that future is in God’s hands, not ours. Apart from that confidence, the Spirit has no reason to be optimistic for us. Over and over again we have proven the axiom that, left to our own devices, we will repeatedly snatch evil from the jaws of goodness. “No, our confidence is sure precisely because our future is not in our hands and does not depend on our faithfulness or ability to be true to God. Rather, it lies in God’s hands. Redemption is the powerful act of a loving God, and part of that love is not to allow us to botch it up.” (Achtemeier)
This insight helps us interpret Paul’s reference to predestination. So much misunderstanding and sick theology have developed over a misreading of these verses. In some rigid Calvinistic circles, we find the concept of “double predestination.” This term refers to the belief that God has predestined some for salvation and some for damnation and there’s nothing either group can do to thwart that end. And God has done that just so he (and such a cruel god is always a “he”) can prove his sovereignty and glory. In other words, God damns billions of people before they are ever born just to prove he can do whatever he wants! Part of the unfortunate legacy of this doctrine is the belief that since everything is predetermined, we have no free will and everything that happens is the result of God’s will. Try telling that to a Jew who lost his whole family in the Holocaust or a mother whose precious child dies of cancer. God save us from the cruel stupidity which passes for theology1
But let’s look at the word “predestine.” “Destiny” is a part of the word. By this term Paul simply points to the fact that God knows the end to which creation will be brought, and that end is redemption, liberation, healing, and joy. God created this world with a purpose and goal faithfully and patiently guided by love. Paul is not saying that God has determined ahead of time all that will happen in history or in our lives. He’s simply expressing the sure hope that a Creator as great as the God of Jesus Christ can be trusted to guide history, creation, and each one of us to an end which in MLK’s words is a Beloved Community. He trusts that when God decided to create this world, She knew that her love would be great and strong enough to bring creation to a gracious and joyful fulfillment. And that’s why Paul relates predestination to hope and not judgment. That’s why the Apostle finds reason for confidence before God and not fear. Our final destiny is under God’s control. The ultimate future is in God’s hands where we neither put it nor from which we can take it away. And that realization brings Paul confidence and joy rather than dread and despair
That’s why I say at funerals and why I should say more often in all my preaching that the Good News of Jesus Christ is this: Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Neither the coldness of death nor the depths of our sin can ever have the last word. The last word for each and all of us is always spoken by God, and that word is love. We are not forgotten by God even though we are but a single thread in the tapestry of time—an infinitesimal speck in the vast reaches of this universe. The Good News is that God has known us from the first and has set each of us on the path of a destiny surrounded by and ending in God’s love. And that’s why the Spirit can intercede for us with perfect prayers—because God knows us and our destiny. I suggest in 2021, such Good News needs to heard, embraced, celebrated, and lived.
