A friend told us he was visiting a lighthouse and said to the keeper, are you not afraid to live here? It's a dreadful place to be constantly in. No, replied the man, I'm not afraid. We never think of ourselves here at the lighthouse. You never think of yourselves. How's that? Well, we know that we're perfectly safe and we only think of having our lamps brightly burning and keeping the reflectors clear. so that those in danger may be saved. We never think of ourselves. That's powerful, isn't it? Amen. Keep your light shining. Try to rescue some poor lost soul. Amen. Church bells are making a comeback. Years ago, before phones and internet, Communities used the bells of the church to send out messages. Some sounds would warn about bad weather and some would let you know when someone had died. Some would ring out that a person needed help. Of course, most churches switched to mechanical bells, but they don't sound like the real clanging bells. And now there's bells are making a comeback in different countries. We've got schools for bell ringers and they already graduated the class in Spain. Thank God for bells, music. I thought that was interesting. I remember my mother said that she remembers when World War II ended. They rang the church bells at Bethel just for I don't know how long, maybe an hour or two. And she was three years old, but she still remembers that. That's been 80 years ago. So. That's why God made music to glorify him. That's why God made language. That's the purpose of language. To glorify God. Amen. All right, we're in Romans chapter 8 for a few minutes. Please invite your attention to Romans chapter 8. I'd like to read a verse or two, share it with all of my heart. By the help of the Lord, I trust you'll pray for us. Romans chapter 8, what a wonderful chapter. Many people would say it's their favorite chapter in the whole Bible. I invite you to stand if you will and enable for the reading of two verses in Romans chapter number eight, as we speak on the subject, our partner in prayer. The choir practice is sung, someone's praying for you. And thank God, sometimes that someone is God himself, as we shall see. Romans 8, 26, likewise, the spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we all, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings, which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. I'd like to talk about our prayer partner, the Holy Ghost. 20 times the Holy Ghost is mentioned. in these opening verses of Romans chapter number 8. He's called many names. He's called the Spirit of Life in verse number 2. He indwells us. He quickens us. He does so much for the Christian. Each one would be a study in itself how He leads us in the journey. It says that those who are saved are led of the Spirit. Verse 14. It says those who are saved are witnessed to by the Spirit. In verse 16, that inward witness. You see, you need to have more than somebody else tell you that you're saved. You need to have the Holy Ghost telling you that you're saved. And He will, that inward witness. And He enables us to overcome sin. That's what this chapter is all about. Contrast Romans 7 where Paul is defeated by the old man, but in chapter 8, he is experiencing victory over the old nature through the new nature and the indwelling spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. So you move from defeat to victory when you let the spirit have control. Amen. I think you don't have to be saved very long until you realize that battle. You recognize the flesh warring against the Spirit. You realize whichever one you feed becomes the strongest and wins the battles. And more and more, you starve that old man and feed the new man and yield to the Holy Ghost. Well, there's more. There's so much more that He does for us. And in this text that I just read, he's our able and unfailing assistant in prayer in two ways. First of all, he comes along beside of us and he lays upon our hearts what to pray for. Sometimes when we pray, our praying is very selfish. Without divine assistance, our praying can become very narrow. Have you ever found yourself just praying for you? There's nothing wrong with praying for you, but there's a whole lot wrong with praying just for you. Sometimes we're just praying. One boy said it in a prayer. He said, Lord, I pray for our four no more. Oh, wow. Sometimes our praying becomes selfish. Lord, I want this, and Lord, I want that, and Lord, not power, not wisdom, not compassion, not understanding the scriptures. I want this worldly thing and that worldly thing. Sometimes our praying becomes even ignorant. Oh, it does. Like Elijah, Lord, take my life. I ain't died yet. went to heaven in a whirlwind. Aren't you glad God says no sometimes? Aren't you glad he knows better than you do? How wise then to pray thy will be done and not my will. And so we need divine assistance. We need the Holy Ghost to come along and say, pray for this. You need this. Amen. And sometimes we just saying something was said earlier. Sometimes God lays it on somebody else's heart to pray for you. Isn't that good? God knows when you're down, when you're up, when you can pray for somebody and when you need prayer. And it says right here, we know not what to pray for. He's the comforter, that word parakletos. Means if you can imagine a courtroom and you're sitting there and your lawyer comes and he sits right here beside of you, he's at your elbow. And he says to you, now they're gonna put you on the witness stand. You be sure you explain clearly this. You be sure and you say that. He's telling you legal advice. He's telling you what to say. He's at your elbow. That's what it means. Advocate, the same words advocate in 1 John. The Holy Ghost, as you listen to Him, He leads you in your praying. It'll help you praying to get the Holy Ghost leading you in your praying. Amen. See, we make it too quick, you know. There ought to be a waiting period there. Amen. And nothing to help you praying more than the Bible. That's God talking to you and then you'll want to talk back. Yeah. So he's our prayer partner, our comforter, to quicken our minds, to direct our petitions. Our prayer lives always need a little bit of help. Amen. Sure they do. If you urgently had a need, who would you call? Who do you think could get a prayer through? I'm afraid that some Christians, they'd have to say, I got 30 minutes of sin I got to confess, and then I can help you. Amen or oh me. Yeah. One man said to the other, I was confessing sins for two hours last night. He said, oh, really? All right, yours? No, he said yours. Yeah, we're good at confessing other people's, aren't we? We need to confess our own. Stay right with God at all times so we can get a prayer through immediately. That should be our desire. It says He helpeth our infirmities. Helpeth is the word for hug. Amen. Everybody needs a hug every now and then. Yeah. And the Holy Ghost is a person. He loves you. He's equal with the Father and the Son. He's deity. He's God Almighty. And He sees your need. He knows your weakness. And He says to you, ask for grace. Ask for some wisdom. Because we don't know what to pray for sometimes. He's right there at your elbow. And sometimes He'll just give you a big old hug, amen? That's right, and the juice will come out your eyes. Amen. I hope you know, I can't explain what I'm talking about, but I hope you know what I'm talking about. Amen. I like it when the Lord just blesses. You go down the road, just you and the Lord in the car. You listen to a song or praying or something. And you just, I tell you, wave your hand, shout, and you just, I thank these people beside of me, behind me. How in the world am I going to explain to them what was going on? I'm just going to make them wonder. Amen? Don't it make people wonder when they see a Christian rejoice? Don't they scratch their head and say, what's ailing them? Old-fashioned salvation, that's what's ailing them. Amen? And that's all right. That's in your Bible. He helpeth our infirmities. He knows your weakness at all times and in all ways. So don't we need to pray more? Don't we need to pray more and grumble less? Don't we need to pray more and worry less? Prayer is a shield to your soul and a sacrifice to God and a death blow to the devil. But that's not all. That's not all Parakletos means. That's not all because when you're in the courtroom, your lawyer not only tells you what to say, sometimes he stands up and says it himself. Hallelujah right there. And that's what the Holy Ghost does. He makes intercession. Sometimes He tells you what to pray, and sometimes He just stands up and prays for you. Amen. Like Jesus. That's what Jesus does all the time, makes intercession for us. Amen. The whole Trinity is involved when you pray. You're talking to God through Jesus by the Holy Ghost. What a privilege. Big business. Amen. And by the way, the Trinity cooperates in everything. Study of creation, the Word of God, salvation, everything. Who raised Jesus from the dead? The Father. Amen? The Father. Romans 8 says the Spirit did it. John 2 says Jesus did it. Hebrews 13 says the Father did it. They all work together. Amen? And in prayer, they all work together. And the Holy Ghost Himself presents our needs and petitions to the Father. You are a prayer request of the Holy Ghost. I wonder how many times in the courts of heaven the Holy Ghost has gone to God the Father and said, Dallas needs something today, Father. Amen. Yeah, Dawson needs this today. Your name has been called out. Amen. Jesus praying for you, the Holy Ghost praying for you, God's for you, and nothing can separate us and no condemnation. Hallelujah. You could shout on Romans 8 to your horse as I am. Amen. Brother, God's got this thing covered. Amen. Thank God for a policy. Thank God for a policy with no loopholes in it. Every policy out there is just about is going to fail you in some way or another. But I tell you, God's got it all covered. Amen. Sometimes I remember being in the hospital and a fellow was very sick and his wife said, brother Alan, would you quote the 23rd Psalm to him? and pray for him. He's so weak, he couldn't pray for himself. There may come a point you can't pray for yourself. There'll come a time you won't know where you are, but aren't you glad? Thank God, He'll never leave you or forsake you. And when you can't pray for you, He can still pray for you. And when you can't hold His hand, He'll hold your hand. Amen. You may not always have Him on your radar, but He's got you on His radar. Amen, and I give unto them eternal life and they'll never perish. Our wonderful friend and partner in prayer, the Holy Ghost, who helpeth our infirmities and makes intercession and says, according to the will of God, amen. If he lays something on your heart, it's gonna be right. It's gonna be according to the will of God. That's what prayer is all about, getting God's will done on earth as it is in heaven. Some people mistakenly think prayer is getting your will done. No, sir. God forbid. Prayer is getting God's will done. That's the best thing that could happen to you, God's will. Amen. God knows a lot more than we do, can see further down the road than we can. It says, He prays according to the will of God. for the saints and I want God's will, don't you? So notice it says he groans. It says with groanings which cannot be uttered. Groanings, that means deep yearnings, longings, inexpressible and unspeakable. Some things just can't be expressed in words. It talks about the groaning of creation. It talks about the groaning of a Christian. It talks about the groaning of the Holy Ghost when He prays. And I'm glad that God the Father can discern the groanings of the Holy Ghost. Sometimes words are not necessary. Amen. Amen. What a love He must have for us. What a burden God, the Holy Ghost has for us, that He would groan in prayer to the Father for us. Brother, that's holy ground right there. If there is any holy ground, that's holy ground right there. That's holy ground. He watches over us. He's anxious over us. He cares for us. Folks, some of us wouldn't be in church tonight if it hadn't been for the prayers of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let's be honest, there ain't a whole lot of Christians doing a whole lot of praying. No. Give credit where credit's due. It's God Himself, His love and grace on our part. So He prays for us with great intensity. So pray on. That's what I'm saying tonight. Pray on because God answers prayer. Pray on because God's helping you. He's laying it on your heart. I guarantee you, you get along with God, you and the Bible in 15 minutes, and let the Holy Ghost start inspiring your prayer and directing your praying, and you'll find yourself praying all day long. Amen. And if we pray without ceasing, that means we never say amen. We never stop, always in the attitude, always listening, Lord. Thy servant heareth. So pray on because God can do anything. Didn't Abraham's servant pray and Rebekah appear? Didn't Elisha pray and the child's soul return? Didn't Elijah pray and the rains descend? And Hannah pray and the child was born? And Nehemiah pray and the king's heart was softened? Whatever you need, big or little, take it to the Lord in prayer. Leave it there. Amen. If God can't handle it, we're all shipwrecked. but God can handle it. Amen. And He will handle it. So I hope you take this little text home with you and get to know the Holy Ghost. I remember the day He became a person to me and not just a doctrine. And as to a lot of Christians, I'm afraid He's just an it. He's just a doctrine. He's a teaching. No, He's a person. He's a person. Just as much a person as Jesus. And all these things He does for us, our teacher. Amen. Our enabler. Jesus said, you'll be my witness when the Holy Ghost comes upon you, gives you power. So much He does for us. What a debt we owe to Him. Our partner in prayer. The Holy Ghost. Call unto me, I'll answer thee. Show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. We're not just invited to pray, we're commanded. It's a sin not to pray. Yeah, prayerlessness. God can't answer prayers that don't get prayed. You got to send them up. You ought to be sending up a thousand prayers a week. Amen. Some of them won't be answered for 50 years. That's okay. Amen. God can keep up with all that stuff. Amen. That's right. Some of us are here living on the prayers that were prayed a long time ago. God can keep up with that.