Pray Always

Today’s podcast ws written and read by Bernice Howard.  It contains a paraphrased excerpt from Ronald Rohlheiser’s book, Prayer Our Deepest Longing. 

Our scripture for today is Romans 8:26 NIV:

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

It is in our weakness that we face the greatest temptation from our personal demons.  The temptation to give in to our emotions, our urges, our hopelessness.  Who hasn’t felt the guilt of saying or doing the wrong thing and then being burdened with a guilty conscience?!

“Inside each of us there is both a saint and a sinner.  We waver between grace and sin, angels, and demons. 

               Demons, Jesus tells us, are to be confronted in the desert.  Whether the devil is a person, an addiction, or a paranoia, in the end we still need to do battle at exactly the same place.  We meet Satan where the prodigal son and his older brother met him:  in weakness and bitterness. 

·   Grandiosity is the demon of self-preoccupation and self-centeredness, that tells us we are the center of the universe, that our lives are more important than those of others. 

·   Loneliness is the demon of unhealthy restlessness.  This is a demon of fear, which torments us by telling us constantly that, at the end of the day, we will be alone, unloved.

·   Unbridled sexuality is the demon of obsession, addiction, and lust.  It urges us to set aside everything else for a single furtive pleasure.  It is a demon with ten thousand faces, obsessing us all, whether we admit it or not.

·   Paranoia is the demon of bitterness, anger, and jealousy.  It makes us believe that life has cheated us. This demon fills us with the urge to be cynical, cold, and distrustful.

·   Woundedness is the demon that tells us our innocence and wholeness are irretrievably broken and that, for us, it is too late. 

·   And finally, the last demon in this family is the demon of self-pity that tells us that joylessness is maturity, cynicism is wisdom, and bitterness is justice.

               All of these demons are inside every one of us.  To stare them in the face is to enter the desert.  A scary thing?  Yes, but the Scriptures assure us that, if we muster the courage to face them, God will send angels to minister to us, and these angels will bring along calm, restfulness, patience, empathy, humility, joy, playfulness, and humor.”

               And as promised in Romans 8:26, when we are facing these demons and feel overwhelmed and overburdened… “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”  And if we let him, he will show us a way out of the demon filled desert.  He will show us a way to the light, a way to the right, a way to follow Jesus.

Will you pray with me…

Dear God, we need you when we are overwhelmed by our demons, when we are weak and about to fall prey to desperation.  Help us, Lord.  Help us to rely on your promises, to follow Jesus to the light and to overcome our temptation to give in to our demons.  Make us strong, Lord, as we stand under your wings and say no to the lies of the demons!  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

Today’s devotional was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.