One of the popular verses in christian circles is this:

“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;

Isaiah‬ ‭40:31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬

The context of this verse is the description of the state of man due to the fall. Man is described to be weak and lacking strength. In fact, the strongest age of man, youth, have a time of faintness because man on his own without his creator and his source, is weak.

One thing the covid-19 pandemic should teach us is that mankind is weak. He is helpless. We only needed an invisible organism to remind us of that. It is for this reason that our ancestors sought gods in everything they saw because they recognized their weakness. They begun to see that external help is needed for their wellbeing. They turned to the various creatures like themselves who supported their existence. They also turned to rebellious created beings who promised invincibility, hope and health amongst other things. The mistake of our ancestors was that they had turned to the counterfeit rather than the real thing and as a result, heading to modern history, they got disillusioned. When you have got the real thing, you would never be disillusioned because it is always refreshening.

But the great news is that God, our creator, did not leave us wallowing in our blood in our tragedy. Rather, He has mobilised help and instituted a help system designed to assist us. I have already listed the main players of this system and today, I would address one of the big players in this system – The Holy Spirit. He is the one jesus introduced to us in His replacement, Another Helper, Alor Paracletos, the Spirit of Jesus.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

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Romans 8:26-27 NKJV

A look at the context of the above verse tells you that the weakness of man is not limited to prayer, though it is inclusive of It. The whole of creation, including the animals, the plants, the weather, the land and seas, are crying out, “This was not how i was made.” The sea was not made to overflow her banks. She was made with doors such that she would stay within her territory. The lion was not made to capture the young gazelle in the forest for supper. He became a carnivore because of misalignment. The whole system is warped because man fell out of line Into weakness. Therefore, the whole creation is earnestly awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God – the strong ones who are functioning like God and with God so that they will be restored to their previous state.

Man as heaven’s custodian on earth is to plea heaven’s help in establishment and extension of the kingdom agenda. He should intuitively, knowing the kingdom’s protocol, be able to do that but he is unable and so the Spirit of God helps him. The help the Spirit brings about is not just help In prayer but more Importantly help with the cause of the deviation – Man’s weakness. Therefore, as we pray in tongues, the language of the Spirit, the Spirit of God intercedes for the sons of God with groanings that are deep, too deep to be expressed in words. He intercedes for our weakness. When we pray, we exchange our weakness for the strength of God. This is how power is given to the weak and strength is given to those who have none. This is why whenever you find that when someone is battling with certain weaknesses, they are told to pray. It is because of this truth. In fervent prayer, you encounter divinity, and as you wrestle with groans that cannot be uttered, your weakness is exchanged for God’s strength. Your human nature is subdued more and more by the Divine nature and you become more and more like Christ.

“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”

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Hebrews‬ ‭5:7‬ ‭ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Jesus applied this principle: in the time He became man, he overcame the effects of the fall on his flesh by fervent prayer. He cried to the one who was able to save him from death. Death being the effect of sinful man, the death that occurred In the absence of life, not just the death on the cross. Therefore, He was heard and
mortality was swallowed up by immortality. Jesus lived a life that served as model for what creation was looking for. When the seas were raging with the wind, He calmed them down. They were behaving out of their normal, away from their purpose and Jesus put them in their place. Jesus lived in tandem with the help system. There were angels to attend to him in his weakness, the Father told Him what to do and say at every point in time. He did all He did in the power of the Spirit. By these, He was establishing heaven on earth.

As believers, we cannot and we will not manifest, as creation is pleading with us to. We need help. We need to engage the help system to accomplish on earth what is normal heaven. We need to engage in fervent prayer by the spirit, receiving help in the form of strength to perform our mandate – on earth as it is in heaven

Thank you, for joining us this month. Hope you were blessed.