The Spirit Intercedes
| TODAY: Pray this prayer: Our Father and Creator,
in our uncertainty and fear, help us to let go of the need to control
people, places and things. We place our hope in You, in the certainty
that You know what is best for each of us, and for all of us. Increase
our trust and faith, as we relinquish our lives to Your care. In Christ
our Lord we pray. |
“In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do
not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express.”
We do not know what to pray for. That has been so true for me! Whatever
my problem, when I am immersed in it, I cannot see the solution. Sometimes
because it is a solution I could not accomplish through my own power,
sometimes because I am simply blind to some opportunities, some options.
For the past few years, I have felt mired in a job that was killing me
in every way. Constant travel left me disconnected from church, family
and friends, and physically exhausted. In the stress of constantly striving
to meet the unreasonable demands and criticisms of an insensitive and
harassing supervisor, my blood pressure soared and my self-confidence
plummeted. I knew I had to leave that job, but was frozen in panic and
despair. I kept looking for open positions, twirling in a fog of indecision,
praying for this or that solution that would leave me vindicated and superior
to my tormenters.
The morning of September 11, I was in an airplane on my way to New Orleans
— again. When I finally returned to my office the following week,
the bubbling tension erupted. I knew I could not stay there. That night,
I met a friend and we went to the prayer room at Good Shepherd. In despair,
I sobbed to God that I was helpless, that I had no solutions and begged
for God to take control of my life. I did not know what to pray for, but
the Spirit did and interceded for me.
Some of you know of the miracle granted me. Within a couple of days, a
position was created for me in a unit that required no travel, no overtime.
It removed me from a job that had been out of sync with my soul, and placed
me in one of training, using my strengths. My new supervisor is a devout
Christian, kind and supportive. God and the Spirit did for me what I could
not do for myself.
— Jimmye Warren
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