Life's Daily Challenge Devotional

A vision and a prayer

“For we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees; but if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,” Romans 8:24-26.

To those in need of help,

Sometimes you don’t even know how to pray as you ought. There are times when vision is the only thing keeping hope alive. Hope is tested with circumstance seeming to stand in direct opposition to what you feel God told you. At times like this, how do you keep vision alive?

In reality, vision is really not what’s being tested. Your relationship with God is being challenged. As it flourishes, the vision will stay healthy. Satan will tempt you to see if you truly believe in the character of God. Will you trust Him when what you hope for cannot be seen? The Lord allows this challenge because He is looking to see if your heart is truly loyal to Him, (2 Chronicles 16:9).

The key in times like this is to discipline yourself not to lean to your own understanding. Make your first and only goal to draw near to God. The enemy can’t keep you from God’s loving presence, so he’ll try to distract you going there. His attacks can become pretty viscous. They sometimes come in rapid succession. It’s easy to lose your spiritual bearings under conditions like this.

Fortunately, the Lord gives you a powerful way to pray, under even the most adverse circumstances. Whether things seem good, or bad, God has provided a direct line of communication from His Spirit, through your spirit, and back to Him. This type of prayer totally bypasses your understanding. The Spirit Himself will make intercession through you according to the perfect will of God.

This type of prayer requires simple, child-like faith. It begins by asking God. He’s a good Father and will not withhold His Holy Spirit from you when you ask Him (Luke 11:11-13). Believe in His character, and know that He has heard and answered you (James 1:5-8; Mark 11:24).

The same way you open your mouth to speak English, you can open your mouth and yield your tongue to the unlearned words of God’s Spirit. You must believe that God can do great and powerful things through you that you don’t need to understand. This, in fact, is the beauty of these “heavenly groanings.” They extend your prayer life into the God-realm, far beyond what you understand, or know what to pray. This type of prayer enables you to express deep burdens that you don’t know how to verbalize. You can pray accurately for the needs of others, without knowing what they are. You can also praise and worship God beyond your limited human abilities. When you yield your prayer life to the utterances of the Spirit, God builds your spirit up in faith (Jude 1:20). My experience has been that often, after I have prayed things through in the Spirit, God will give me the understanding of what I have prayed. This has become a tremendous means for bringing increased clarity to my vision.

God tells us to pray with our understanding and to pray in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15). He also gives instructions regarding how this gift should be exercised in corporate settings, so as not to cause confusion (1 Corinthians 14).

The tongue is like the rudder on a ship. The direction it goes will determine the course your life will follow (James 3:1-8). It only makes sense then, that God wants you to yield your tongue to the control of His Spirit. This also explains why satan works so hard to convince people that this precious gift is no longer valid today!