Karaoke Night with the Spirit--May 30, 2024

Karaoke Night with the Spirit--May 30, 2024

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." [Romans 8:26-27]

Whatever it means to pray, it's not a matter of getting "the right words" in order to make your prayer life "successful."  

In fact, the apostle Paul pins a great deal of hope on the assurance that God already takes into account that we'll get the words wrong, miss the point, or stumble all over ourselves--and that God will respond to our prayers anyway.  That is possible, Paul says, because prayer is not a matter of technique, like getting a recipe for souffle correct (or properly chanting a magical incantation if you're a wizard).  Nor is it a matter of wanting what you are praying for hard enough or fiercely enough.  And neither is it a matter of being rewarded for good behavior.  Prayer, at least from the perspective of the New Testament, is not a transaction of any sort; it's not about persuading God with our effective words, or impressing God with our religious fervor, or earning a return favor from God by our morality or righteous deeds.  It's less like casting a spell to manipulate mysterious forces into doing your bidding, and more like having a friend who sings the lyrics along with you at karaoke night when you have forgotten the right words to "Come On, Eileen."

Maybe that doesn't sound very dignified--for us or for the Holy Spirit!--but I think that's actually what makes this image from Romans rather beautiful.  The Spirit intercedes when our words fail; the Spirit keeps the melody going with groanings and sighing that transcend human language, and yet which truly express our deepest needs and most heartfelt longings.  And of course, the real beauty of that image is that the Spirit--who is God--is the One enabling us to bring our prayers to God.  God is on both ends of the conversation, you might say: God is the One to whom we are praying, bringing our needs, concerns, and struggles to "the throne of grace," as the old line goes; and yet, God is also, by the Spirit, enabling us to pray, interceding on our behalf, and carrying the tune when we have forgotten how the song goes.  

Let's just hold there for a moment: as Paul tells it, God is not limited to being "up there" on the receiving end of our prayers, sitting up in heaven like a cosmic drive-thru attendant or divine Amazon warehouse taking our orders (and obligated to give us what we ask for), but is actively involved in shaping how we pray, too.  That is, God the Spirit is beside us and within us as we pray "to God," and it is the presence of the Spirit that gives us hope when our own spoken prayers are foolish, misguided, or just plain wrong-headed.  

So, for example, if I am angry at my neighbor who has a nicer house or newer car and I start praying enviously that God would punish him, God is under no obligation to fulfill my prayers like a genie granting wishes.  God reserves the right to say "NO" to my misbegotten praying.  AND at the very same time, God the Spirit also reserves the right to communicate on my behalf, "Look, he doesn't recognize it, but he's really so envious because he is insecure about his own worth and belovedness--let's do something about that, so that maybe he won't pray such bitter and selfish prayers!"  God the Spirit can intercede when my prayers are all-out wrongheaded, as well as in the times when I just don't even know what to say or what to ask for anymore.

This is the beauty of the New Testament's claim that the Christian community is indwelt by the Spirit of God.  It means that we no longer have to treat prayer like placing an online order that God is somehow obligated to fulfill, just because we said it and slapped an "Amen" at the end like clicking "Place Order Now" on a screen.  We can see the Spirit within us, and God's willingness not only to work with us when we are on the right track, but even to work in spite of us when we are on the wrong track.  There is a humbling assurance in that.  There is the comfort of knowing we are in good hands, even when we fail on our own.  We are not standing alone up on stage, forgetting the right words--the Spirit keeps singing beside us when our voices fall off, and the Spirit gives us new courage to sing again when we realize we've gotten off beat.

The Spirit assures us that we are not alone--even in the act of praying.

Gracious God, let your Spirit take our misshapen words and rough-edged prayers and bring to you our truest needs.  And let us trust that we are not along, even in the asking.