Bible Reading: Romans 8:26-30
The Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. Romans 8:27
“Dear God, please help my friend Rochelle.”
Emmy wouldn’t give up. No matter how sick Rochelle got, no matter how down she got or how many people gave up believing that God could ever heal her, Emmy simply wouldn’t stop praying for her friend. Ever since doctors had told Rochelle that she had a rare form of cancer, Emmy had felt a nudge to pray for Rochelle. And as Rochelle’s body grew more and more sick, Emmy prayed all the more. “Only God can heal my friend,” Emmy told her own parents, “so we’ve got to pray.” And she did pray. No one outside Rochelle’s own family knew her problems and needs better than Emmy, and Emmy took her responsibility to pray very seriously.
Isn’t it great to have Christian friends who pray for you? Do you sense the special privilege and responsibility you have of praying for your friends? Things happen when you and your friends pray for one another. God responds and acts when you share your friends’ needs with him.
You might wonder if you have any friends who talk to God about you. You might worry that you’re the kind of kid only a mom or dad would pray for. Well, the Bible guarantees you have a friend praying for you—a friend whose prayers are more powerful than the prayers of any human being. Do you realize that the Holy Spirit prays for you to God the Father?
Whoa. That’s huge. The Holy Spirit lives inside Christians and is constantly talking to God the Father about our needs, our hurts, and our struggles. And his prayers are even more effective than anything we can dream up, because no one knows us like the Spirit of God living inside of us—not our friends, not our Sunday school teachers, not even our brothers and sisters or our moms and dads. Because the Spirit peers into our life and spots our needs, he can pray for us better than anyone.
All of us go through times when we feel so hurt or confused or angry that we don’t even know how to pray. We bow our heads and sigh, cry, or groan, but we just can’t get any words out.
That’s when the Holy Spirit takes our sighs and groans and hurts and concerns straight to the Father’s throne. He prays, “God, please help my friend.” And we can remember this: He takes prayer for us very seriously.
TALK: What does it mean to you when a friend prays for you? How about when the Holy Spirit joins in with prayers that never stop?
PRAY: Father, thank you that even when we can’t find the right words to pray, your Holy Spirit is praying for us—and he knows exactly what to say.
ACT: Take time today to pray for a friend.
