"We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; and we know what it is to pray in accordance with the Spirit; but we don’t often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.

"He," the Holy Spirit in you, "makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27). And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.

The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. ". . . your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit . . ." (1 Corinthians 6:19). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, ". . . He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple" (Mark 11:16). The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer . . . . But you have made it a ’den of thieves’ " (Mark 11:17).

Have we come to realize that our "body is the temple of the Holy Spirit"? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a "temple of the Holy Spirit." He will be responsible for the unconscious part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible." My Utmost For His Highest

Wow! You are so awesome, Lord! Of course I expect to find new insights through Your Word, but how could I have missed that beautiful picture?!? Yes, my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, but until now I had thought just of my "temple" as his dwelling place. And yes, I knew the Holy Spirit interceded for me, but I hadn't considered him praying in my "temple". How is my temple looking, Spirit? Besides the fact that I am sick, tired, and sore... Does partaking in the elements at communion give You nourishment? When I take in too much food or bad food, do You feel defiled and smothered? Willard says:

"How does this fulfillment take place? It comes through interaction of our powers as bodily beings with God and his Kingdom - an interaction for which our bodies were specifically designed. Such bodies have the health and wholeness appropriate to them when we through thought, worship, and action draw upon the spiritual realm that encompasses and underlies them along with the rest of creation. Thus the apostle Paul boldly asserts that "the body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1 Cor 6:13), and that our bodies are "members of Christ." (6:15) Later chapters will be devoted to interpretation of Paul's view of the body both as the subject of and as an instrument in the process of redemption. But we must proceed no further without some brief elaboration of the truth that the body is fulfilled in the spiritual life. There is an essential continuity and union between the person and the body. In an important sense to be explained, a person is his or her body." The Spirit of the Disciplines, pg 76

I've wondered more than once how my body represents the Lord. When I see Pastors and lay people who seem consistently overweight, I find myself wondering if they are struggling with their weight, or if they feel helpless to overcome, or if they don't have a clue that their body's condition is directly linked to their spiritual life. Whether I become fat from overindulgence, or I become lazy in my choices and lifestyle because of a hormonal/abnormal body condition, my spirit is affected. The problem is the spiritual component much more than the physical! Likewise, how can I view depression as strictly clinical or biological? And if I really think honestly about it, how can I view a headache as devoid of spiritual cause and/or effect? I do believe that we can overspiritualize things. But do we swing too far in the other direction to avoid that possibility? No, I don't believe that every cold or every cancer is a punishment from God. But I DO STRONGLY believe that every cold and every cancer can be an avenue through which: we learn more about God, depend on Him more, grow in perseverance that leads to maturity, practice the disciplines, serve others, and bring glory to His Name. That's a LOT of benefit to each of our seemingly insignificant bodily trials! How can we not then praise the Lord for a cold, a headache, morning sickness, miscarriage, surgery, etc?

Father God, I need to be constantly aware of Your greater purposes for my life. When I view pain or sadness as the ultimate evil, I will act in fear or NOT act with short-sighted ignorance. You have not designed my body to be totally pain free, and totally happy all the time. That's Heaven - not earth! And what a body You made! The intricate systems within us are only just now beginning to be discovered in all their amazing complexity. Yet You made them the most elaborate Temples for the Holy Spirit - no architect could ever conceive. To You, the Ark, the tent (Tabernacle), and Solomon's Temple are all such pale structures in comparison to the temples You designed! Yet we marvel at our own imaginations and monuments to human glory. We are astounded at the tallest buildings, the decadent artistry of millionaire's mansions, the massive zoos and botanical gardens. These are beautiful, yes, and lift our heads a little higher and set our hearts to yearning for Home. But Your Works are beyond compare. We don't even come CLOSE!

Perhaps that's why we love to take pictures of people. How many tens of muscles make up the human mouth? It is seemingly impossible for animators to get the mouth right in their otherwise fairly life-like creatures. We instinctively know that we are one of Your best designs. We also tend to worship ourselves. We see the likeness of You and we want to lay claim on myself or others I love. I know that there have been times I was tempted to make idols of my children. They seem to be MINE - I carried them, bore them, and house them - yet they are YOURS! You knit them together in my womb, gave them a purpose, fit them into Your plan, You intend to inhabit them, and take them to You when You want them with You in Heaven. The question "would you be willing to give them to God" is not even the right question. They aren't mine to give. Parenthood is only the illusion of ownership. We are simply stewards. And we will be held accountable for how we took care of the things You distributed to us while we lived on this earth.

Thank You Lord, for trusting me with as much as You have! I am so excited for the season to come. We are on the cusp of something big and it's looming large right now. But You are orchestrating everything in accordance with Your Master Plan, so I am not afraid. I will praise You for this cold, for the dreary weather, for our financial crunch, for weird beginnings of relationships, for unbelieving parents, for a sick baby and hubby, for the renewed temptation to overindulgence... All these things are opportunities to grow and bring You glory! You are worthy of my whole self, but SO MUCH MORE worthy than that! Holy Spirit, intercede for me, pray for the needs You know I have that I may not even know I have. Thank You thank You thank You for the way You showed Yourself to me last night! I LOVE that song, and I know You introduced it to our worship leader just for me :). I love You so much, Lord!