"prayer" from eBible.com Bookmarks made by paulwhelms

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9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

We have all have received some measure of grace in Christ (Romans 12:3, Ephesians 4:7). Some teachers deny the more apparently supernatural gifts, perhaps out of fear for spiritual pride or out of ignorance -- and yet *all* spiritual gifts are granted to us through the working of God's power in the midst of our weakness. Some of us have received and are growing in extraordinary trust in the promises of God, resulting in greater boldness and many answered prayers. Some of us find great confidence and hope in God's desire to heal and save miraculously and have tasted the great power of His love in this way (see John 14:14, 1 John 5:14 for encouragement). However, both of the gifts in this verse hinge upon prayer and, therefore, upon a broken and humble spirit. See the healing prayer of Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24) or the conquering faith of Gideon (Judges 6-8). These were not supermen, but humble servants called by God to seek His glory. Faith and healing are enabled by the Spirit for the good of the Church, and so one should try to grow in these specific gifts by praying not only for his or her own faith but also praying with others in hope that God would work wonders and miracles as we seek Him together. Ultimately, Paul doesn't teach that someone who is gifted with faith will see every prayer answered or that someone gifted with healing will have an inherent and inerrant ability to heal people. Jesus is still Lord of the church and the Holy Spirit directs the use of these gifts for God's glory. We must boast in Jesus Christ and seek to use our gifts so that others would boast in Him as well.

Bookmarked 2 months ago.

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holy_spirit prayer faith healing miracles spiritual_gifts

Romans 8:32

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32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

After meditating on the Spirit's role in our salvation throughout the bulk of this section of his letter to the Romans, Paul returns to the preeminence of the Cross and the wonder of God's love (see vv. 2, 32). The Lord has gone to the greatest length to redeem humans, even to the point of planning and procuring our spiritual lives to every end by the ministry of His Spirit. Yet it is through Jesus' act of washing away both sin and condemnation by atonement that the Spirit is thereby ours to receive in faith. When the Spirit has only begun His work in us, all of God's promises are already ours to claim in and by Christ (2 Cor. 1:18-22). While the Father lavishes His love on us through the work of the Spirit, that love is displayed for all by Jesus on the Cross and it is therefore the Cross to which we look for our soul's security (rather than the Spirit's apparent or unapparent work in us). Paul, then, is reiterating what the Lord said to the disciples in John 14 -- Jesus remains with us and will bring about our salvation through the work of the Spirit. In light of this great offering of the Son of God on our behalf, we are told to approach God boldly with our requests (Heb. 4:14-16). Jesus also follows the comforting message of His continued presence by the Spirit with the promise that "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do" (Jn 14:13-14). It remains for us to respond with faith in these great promises -- to walk by the Spirit and to ask for all things in Jesus' name. May God be glorified as we do!

Bookmarked 4 months ago.

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cross prayer grace agape love sacrifice

Romans 8:26

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26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

In the midst of trials, sufferings, afflictions, confusion, or spiritual battle, Paul reminds us that we are experiencing something similar to birth pains as we groan for the glory that is wrought within us by the Holy Spirit. We have a great treasure, as it were, in a jar of clay (2 Cor. 4:7). In light of this, we will never know how to pray as we should -- our knowledge is too limited and our faith still only a mustard seed. And in the midst of especially bewildering and hard times, we may not know how to pray at all. Paul offers comfort, then, in that the divine Comforter whom God has given us as a deposit of our future inheritance is actually guarding us in Christ as we pray and present our requests to God (see also Philippians 4:4-7). He presents our deepest needs to the Father with the full knowledge that only God could have, as Paul teaches in the next few verses. The Spirit is indeed praying for us as the guard of our souls and working in us those prayerful groans which are fragrant offerings to God our Father.

Bookmarked 6 months ago.

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providence suffering affliction confusion deposit inheritance glory prayer holy_spirit