Exceeding intercession

Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

“The groanings that can’t be uttered, and I know sometime people get weird ideas about that, but you know there are some things that happen in your life that are just beyond your ability to put them into expression and words.

“Out of that basic deep fundamental level of need, God the Holy Spirit can take His truth and penetrate right there and bring help. Now, how the Holy Spirit helps is through His Word.

“There are those levels of need. The surface level, the physical, that which we see. That calls our attention to situations. Then there’s the faith level where we’re not looking at things that are seen but the things that are not seen ‘for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.' So I’m not just looking at someone’s physical problems when I pray.

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“Ephesians 2:7 says, ‘That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.’
“Every age there’s going to be an exceeding manifestation of His grace and His kindness toward us. You’re never going to quit growing. Eternity is not going to become a static, boring thing. There’s going to be an ever-expanding, ever-expounding of the grace of God. Now if you groan in grace you understand that.

“For years I’ve told people how I’ll study and I’ll study and I’ll study and then I go away and come back and I look at the passage again and I say, ‘Who changed the words?! There’s more there than I saw before!’

“You say, ‘I didn’t see that before!’ Why? Because it was at a depth and level that I could comprehend over there but not over here yet. That’s what maturity is. You get older, you say, ‘Ah-ha, that’s what Brother Rick was talking about!’

“Maturity never quits growing. That’s one of the exciting things about being mature. Here’s Paul praying for mature saints. Phil 1:9 says, ‘And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.’ That’s why this prayer is such a fantastically important thing!

“The first thing you see there is the love there is a special kind of love. It’s not just huggy-huggy ‘l-u-v.’ It’s not, ‘There’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place,’ and you feel like you’re at the Super Bowl or the local pub. That’s what evangelicalism is trying to reproduce for you in their meetings. That’s not what he’s talking about.

“He’s not talking about a warm, personal feeling. He says that this love here abounds in knowledge and judgment (discernment). This is a mental attitude kind of love. Really the word ‘love’ is the idea of you having the ability to value and esteem a thing the way God does.

“We’ve all experienced an increase in love for somebody where we learn something special the person has done for us. You’ve got a friend and they do something special for you and you have a greater appreciation for who they are.

“When Paul says, ‘I want your love to increase,’ your love increases and abounds more and more with God’s love for you. It results in judgment—the ability to discern and take that knowledge and correctly apply it to the details of life. That's what Philippians 1:10 is about: ‘That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.’

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Hebrews 5: 13-14 says, ‘For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.’

“'Exercised' there means the the ability to discern: ‘Here’s the truth; here’s what God says. I know how to handle God’s word to learn what God says and here’s how to apply it correctly to my life.’

“Paul said, ‘That’s what prayer is all about in your life.’ It’s not about trying to get God to stop sin and protect something. It’s about giving you the capacity to understand His Word and how it can be properly applied to the details of your life so you live in line with who you really are.

“Who do you take with you when you leave here? Not your outer man but your inner man. What you’ve learned and gained in skill and development in your inner man is who you take out there.”