Our Best Stress Release Valve
ICS Daily Devotions

Romans 8:26-28 (NKJV) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

‭‭‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬How do you usually release stress? As Christians, we can take comfort in knowing that the Holy Spirit is our best stress release valve.

Romans 8:28 is often misquoted when taken out of context. The prerequisite for “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” is that we have taken time to allow the Holy Spirit to intercede for us in accordance with God’s will when we were weak and under stress. The Holy Spirit, being omniscient, knows what is best for us and will speak to the Heavenly Father through intercessory prayer. However, we need to be open to the way the Holy Spirit prays through us, even when it is in a language unknown to us.

The Holy Spirit is willing to help us at any time. Yet when we are under stress, the Holy Spirit is often the last person we think of asking for help. Nonetheless, following Christ’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit is our designated Helper, Comforter, and Counsellor. In John chapter 14, Jesus said He had to return to the Heavenly Father so that the Helper could come to be with us during the church age. Romans 8:26 says we can reach a point where we are so stressed that we are helpless and speechless. What a privilege it is to have God help us pray at times like these!

Romans 8:31,34 (NJKV) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?… Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.‭‭‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

From the opening passage, we can conclude that God is not the source of our tribulation, famine, nakedness, persecution, distress, peril, or sword. Romans 8:31 further tells us that God is for us and not against us. With Jesus interceding for us at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit praying through us when we do not know what to pray, we have the assurance that our prayers are heard by the Heavenly Father because two of the three Persons of the Godhead are praying for us.

Reflection: Who or what do you usually turn to when you feel stressed and weak? How is the Holy Spirit inviting you to turn to Him first the next time you need help?

Sermon Series: The Holy Spirit is our best stress release valve