John 16:5-7 (NASB) “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, grief has filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
John 14:16-18 (NASB) I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; 17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.
2 Corinthians 13:14 (NLT) May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Fellowship — “sharing life together, participation, partnership, and communion.”
Acts 13:3 (NASB) Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the [special] work to which I have called them.”
Acts 8:29 (NASB) Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.”
Acts 16:6-7 (NASB) They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
He was an active, personal presence in their everyday lives.
Romans 8:26 (NLT) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
Helps — “to take hold of something with someone else, gripping it together as tightly as possible, and throwing your combined weight against it to move it out of the way.”
How does He help us in our weakness?
Ephesians 3:16 (AMP) May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner man…
1. The Holy Spirit helps us when we feel spiritually disconnected.
Romans 8:15-16 (ESV) For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NLT) And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people.
2. The Holy Spirit helps us overcome temptation and sin.
Isaiah 55:13 (NLT) Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of His power and love.
Galatians 3:1-3 (NIV) You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV) So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify [fulfill] the desires of the flesh. 7 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit is what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other…
3. The Holy Spirit helps us when we don’t know how to pray.
Romans 8:26-27 (AMP) In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. 27 And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will.
Help us when we don’t know what to pray.
Help us when we don’t know what we or someone else needs.
Help us when we don’t know how to articulate the burden we’re carrying.
Help us intercede for those around us.
Help us pray beyond our natural understanding and ability.
Help us pray from God’s perspective and plan.
Help us see things we might otherwise overlook.
Help us by redirecting our prayers so we can pray correctly.