Holy Spirit and Prayer – Counting My Blessings

Even when you and I want to love God more by showing Him our love perfectly 100% of the time, we can't. But He loves us so much we can pray & ask Him to help. #Prayer #LoveGod #BibleStudy #WWGGG #CountingMyBlessings

Do you ever feel frustrated with yourself when you read…

Jesus said, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
Mark 12:29–30

I don’t know about you, but I fall so far short of the “all” part.

All my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength … that’s 100% intentional love and focus 24/7. That’s ALWAYS!

And that’s where I fall short. It’s what I want! I want to obey Him. I want to show Him how much I love Him by trusting and obeying His will consistently but like Paul, I miss that mark way too often.

I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
Romans 7:18–19

And even when what I do is right, I’m often guilty of doing it with the wrong motives. And I know the loving Him with my “all” falls short!

I’m not telling you this so we can both sit around and wallow in the guilt of our failures. I don’t believe that’s what God wants for us. I believe this realization is supposed to do two things in us.

Send us running to Jesus.

Look what Paul said next…

Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 7:24b–25a

And 2. Ask God for the Holy Spirit to help us change.

Jesus promised…

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”
John 14:15–16

Isn’t that awesome!

When you and I recognize our sins and run to Jesus in repentance … He not only forgives us but He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us in the future.

And although we will never trust and obey Him perfectly this side of heaven … He will never stop forgiving us and giving us what we need through His Spirit.

And that’s why we don’t have to wallow in guilt … Jesus carried it all to the cross. You and I can surrender it all to Him and rejoice because…

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17

So, I’m praying today and asking God to:

Help me quickly run to Jesus each time I fail.
Fill me with the Spirit, my Helper, that I might more faithfully love Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Verses to Pray When You Need Help to Love God More

Those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.
1 John 2:5

Oh, Father, this is a hard word. It’s easy to say we trust You for salvation but harder to live in obedience. And it’s impossible to perfectly obey because I don’t perfectly love.

The 10 Commandments can be summed up in … loving You and loving others. Jesus said that to love is the “Greatest Commandment.” And I know I don’t love perfectly. I don’t show You my love through obedience and I don’t show others my love … I can so easily become selfish and prideful. I’m sorry. Please forgive me and help me. I want to love You with every part of me all the time. I want to love like Jesus.

“Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

“In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Luke 7:48, Luke 15:10

Father, Thank you! You are faithful to forgive. Always!

And what a wonderful word! The angels rejoice when I repent! You forgive me and the angels rejoice. It simply doesn’t get any better than that! There are no words to fully express my gratitude. And this is why my heart’s desire is to trust and obey You faithfully. Please help me!

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever … for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:15–16, 17b

Father, I do love you and I want to keep your commands. I want to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and I want to love people like Jesus loved them. It makes me sad when I realize how far short I fall of my own goal … I know I’m not even close to Yours.

So, I run to You. I lay my failures at the foot of the cross and ask that You will forgive me through Jesus. I’m so sorry! And Lord, I want to do better in the future. Will you please fill me with Your Spirit and give me all I need to love, trust, and obey as You want. Help me keep my heart and mind focused on You and trust that if You ask anything of me … You will give me everything I need to obey You in love.

I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands.
Ezekiel 36:26–27

Father, what an amazing promise! You take my stubborn prideful selfish heart of stone and replace it with a heart that loves You and wants to live by Your commands.

I am so well aware that I can’t love and obey You well in my own strength. But with Your Sprit’s help … everything changes. You give me everything I need to live in Your love each day. Help me faithfully SEEK to KNOW Your TRUTH. Help me walk in Your love. Help me love You and show Your love to others in ways that will give You glory.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
Romans 8:26–27

This promise gives me hope, Father! Thank you!

Thank you for your Spirit who not only guides and directs me according to Your will but He goes to You on my behalf and tells You my needs. Your Spirit knows my every need and the intentions of my heart. Good and yes, even the not so good. And He pleads for me … telling You what I need to grow closer to You. He knows exactly what I need to be able to love You with all my heart and soul, my mind and my strength.

There really are no appropriate words to fully express my gratitude. Thank you for hearing my prayers. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit to help me. Thank you for Your grace and mercy to help me focus my heart and mind on You. Thank you for helping me love You more and more each day. You are my greatest blessings! Thanks and praise now and forever. Amen.

We need help to love God more.

And when you and I reach that place where we recognize that we want to love God more we typically also come to the realization that we can’t do it on our own. The Good News is we don’t have to.

Our past is forgiven through Jesus. And our future is blessed through the gift of His Spirit to help us.

So, stop today and give it all to the Lord in prayer … all your faults and failures, humbling admitting that you aren’t capable of loving perfectly on your own. Then rest in the truth that when you want to love God more … He is perfectly able to give you everything you need.

May you be blessed today by His grace as you live for His glory!

Thank you so much for joining me today.

And a thank you to BibleGateway.com for sources.

Take a moment to subscribe to Counting My Blessings and join more than 7500 of us as we read the New Testament together. We will share short posts every Monday through Friday that you can read each day or save for the weekend. Let’s study God’s Word together!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

You can also…

Leave your prayer requests…

and stop to pray one or two of the requests listed.

I’m so excited to tell you about my new book!

No matter what a busy week may throw your way, God is with you in every moment. Take a breath and find peace in Him with the 52-Week Devotional Journal for Women, a weekly devotional full of Scripture passages, unique insights, and journal prompts. Strengthen and deepen your relationship with God as you focus on faith over the course of the year.
Get your copy here!

Check out our new Facebook Page/Group – #WWGGG – What Would Give God Glory. We’d love for you to join the movement!

And always remember – I LOVE hearing from you! So, please take a minute to say ‘hi’ by leaving a comment.

If this article blessed or helped you today — would you share it with someone? Send it to a friend, family member, coworker, or share it through the links below…

I’m asking God to bless you today!

^{Some church bodies focus the majority of their attention on the power of the Holy Spirit and others barely talk about Him at all. It’s easy to talk about God the Father and Jesus, but it’s harder to understand the gift of the Spirit.}

^{Jesus told His followers:}

^“I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:25–26

I love the thought of the Holy Spirit being our Advocate:

a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. often an advocate of peace.
a person who pleads for or on behalf of another; intercessor.

That He continues to teach and remind us of everything Jesus taught His followers.

When life is hard and tears flow . . . it's hard to find the words to pray. Good news. You have an Advocate for times when you don't know what to pray.

I’m especially thankful the Bible also says the Holy Spirit helps us with our prayers:

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. Romans 8:26–28

I’ve had times when there were no words. When circumstances were so overwhelming I didn’t know how or what to pray.

Have you ever been there?

When grief crippled or fear paralyzed? When you wanted to pray, but your heart was so flooded with emotion you couldn’t speak? When “Lord, help me!” were the only words available?

That’s when the Spirit who knows you and me better than we know ourselves turns to the Father on our behalf, pleading for us in agreement with God’s perfect will.

Other translations of Romans 8:27 say:

The Holy Spirit prays for those who belong to Christ the way God wants Him to pray. (NLV)

The Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (NIV)

He [the Spirit] keeps us present before God. (MSG)

The Spirit speaks for His people in the way that agrees with what God wants. (ERV)

Isn’t it comforting to know you don’t need the perfect words. You can bring everything and anything to God in prayer. The Spirit knows what we need and He knows God’s will.

The Advocate. The Counselor. The Comforter. The Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Life. The Help when you don’t know what to pray.

How’s your prayer life?

If you’re like me, it’s never what you want it to be. But we have an Ally, who teaches, reminds, counsels, and comforts. Who invites us to come and pray.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Ephesians 6:13–18

You and I don’t have to lift up powerful prayers. Because when we pray in the name of Jesus, we pray with help to the One who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present . . . the One who knows and loves always and forever.