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Do you ever get tired of praying about the same thing over and over and not seeing any evidence in this world of your prayers being answered? I know I do. Sometimes we can become so frustrated with not receiving the answers from God that we have desired that we just want to quit praying. This is exactly what the enemy wants us to do. The enemy wants us to quit our good works, our prayer life, our studying the Word and getting together with other believers to worship the Lord. Yet, when we reach our lowest point of faith and doubt is taking over with unbelief along with it; that is the precise moment when the Lord uses His secret weapon on our behalf.
St. Paul writes about this in our reading today from Romans. For fuller clarity, I am going to read to you from the Amplified translation of the Bible. “So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will.” When we reach that point of spiritual despair, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, intercedes for us in accordance with the will of God.
In other words, God Himself speaks on our behalf. When God speaks, things happen. For example, let’s look at the first chapter in the Book of Genesis. All of creation was spoken into existence by the Word of God. Turn to page one in your pew Bible. Just scan over the first chapter. Look at all the times where it says, “And God said…” Now look at all the times where it says, “And it was so.” When God spoke things happened. Creation itself came into being.
The good news is that God did not stop speaking after creating the earth, the heavens and the entire universe. The good news is that God continues to speak into existence the prayers of the saints according to His will.
When I first came here to St. Raphael’s, somebody was putting pieces of a white plant on the window sills, the organ, the piano and even the altars both in here and in the prayer chapel. I found out that the plant was white sage, which is used in the occult for chasing away demons. This discovery was very disturbing to me, because it meant that a form of paganism and/or neo-paganism was being practiced in this church and more importantly that this holy place of worship for the people of God was being desecrated.
Sadly, the person or persons who were doing this probably meant to help St. Raphael’s. However, such practices go against the Way of Christ. As the priest and pastor of the congregation here at St. Raphael’s, I informed the cleaning service to remove and to destroy the white sage wherever they found it. Eventually, whoever was practicing this form of paganism apparently got the message, because the appearance of white sage in this holy place eventually stopped. The saddest part of all this is that whoever was practicing this form of paganism had misplaced his or her faith. Instead of trusting in the Lord and seeking Him for protection, he or she had chosen to put their faith in a practice that goes against God.
St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans “If God is for us, who is against us?” God is greater than any form of occultism or idolatry. I did not remove the white sage, because I thought it had power over God. Instead, I had it removed because its presence was an offense against the Holy Spirit, especially here in a place set aside for the worship of the Holy One.
If God is truly for us, then why would any Christian intentionally use spiritual practices that offend our Heavenly Father? As Christians, St. Paul tells us that everything that happens in our lives is for the glory of God. “We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was] aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.
And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being].”
A true follower of Christ has the nature of Christ within them. This is not just an outward display of following Christ, but radiates from the very nature of Christ that resides within the true believer. In other words, those who are of God will not seek to offend Him, but only to do His will. The Holy Spirit is present to guide and to direct the path of the believer to keep the believer from going astray.
Sadly, there are those who claim to be Christians, yet they are like wolves in sheep’s clothing. These people come into churches and act like they are followers of Christ, but in reality their intent is to destroy the very Body of Christ that they pretend to uphold. These false Christians use deceit and false charges against other Christians in order to accomplish their agenda of raising themselves up as icons.
The true believer seeks not self glory, but only glory for Christ. It is the true believer for whom St. Paul tells us Christ Himself intercedes. This is why no weapon formed against a believer will prosper, because Christ is the Defender and Advocate of the Body of Christ. As St. Paul states, “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect [when it is] God Who justifies [that is, Who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?]
Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?”
It is a serious thing to bring false charges against a believer in Christ, for God Himself will defend His own. St. Paul writes of this because he found out that in his zeal to attack the followers of Christ, he found out who he was actually attacking. This was when Paul was known as Saul, before he was converted to Christ. At that time, Saul believed that his actions against the believers of Christ were in the will of God. In the Book of Acts we read about Saul’s confrontation with the risen and glorified Christ.
“MEANWHILE SAUL, still drawing his breath hard from threatening and murderous desire against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
And requested of him letters to the synagogues at Damascus [authorizing him], so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way [of life as determined by faith in Jesus Christ], he might bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.
Now as he traveled on, he came near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him,
And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]?
And Saul said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and perilous resistance].’”
After this face to face meeting with the Christ, Saul became Paul and was used mightily by the Lord for the spreading of the kingdom of God. In this we have hope, that even the enemies of Christ can become true believers. May we who know Christ as our Lord and Savior be not discouraged; but continue in the faith, knowing that “all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose….If God is for us, who is against us?”
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