October 12 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words" (Rom. 8:26).

Devotional

We are used to thinking that we have one Intercessor. But the believer has two courts with which prayer has to do. In the court below, where prayer is offered, the Spirit is his Intercessor. In the court above, where prayer is presented, Jesus is his Intercessor.

Then, what an honored, privileged one is the praying believer! On earth—the lower court—he has a Counselor instructing him for what he should pray, and how he should order his suit. In heaven—the higher court—he has an Advocate presenting to God each petition as it ascends, separating from it all that is ignorant, sinful, and weak, and pleading for its gracious acceptance, and asking for its full bestowment.

Here, then, is your vast encouragement in prayer. The requests of the Spirit—the Intercessor of earth—are always in agreement with the mind of God. In prayer we need just such a Divine counselor.

Is it temporal blessing that you crave? You need to be taught how to graduate your request to your necessity, and how to shape your necessity to your heavenly calling. Supplication for temporal good is, we think, limited. And this is the limit, "if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content" (1 Tim. 6:8). What child of God is warranted in asking worldly wealth, or distinction, or rank? And what child of God, in a healthy state of soul, would ask them? "And," says the apostle, "my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). Should God, in his providence, send either of these temporal things undesired, unasked, and unexpected, receive it as from him, and use it as to him.

But with regard to spiritual blessings, your grant is unlimited. Your requests may be boundless. "Ask whatever you wish" (John 15:7) is the broad, unrestricted warrant. When you ask to be perfected in the love of God, you ask for that which accords with the will of God—for "God is love" (1 John 4:8). When you ask for an increase of faith, you ask for that which accords with the will of God; for "without faith it is impossible to please him" (Heb. 11:6). When you ask for more conformity to Christ, you ask for that which is in harmony with God's will; for he has said, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16). And when you ask for comfort, you plead for that which it is in his heart to give—for he is the "God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3).

Oh, to possess a Divine Counselor, dwelling in your heart, who will never compose a wrong prayer, nor suggest a weak argument, nor mislead us in any one particular in the solemn, important, and holy engagement of prayer. O to possess a Counselor who is acquainted with the purpose of God; who knows the mind of God; who understands the will of God; who reads the heart of God; yes, who is God himself.

What an encouragement this is to more real prayer! Are you moved to pray? While you muse, does the fire burn? Is your heart stirred up to ask of God some especial blessing for yourself, or for others? Are you afflicted? Oh, then, rise and pray—the Spirit prompts you—the Savior invites you—your heavenly Father waits to answer you. With such an Intercessor in the court on earth—so divine, so loving, and so sympathizing—and with such an Intercessor in the court in heaven—so powerful, so eloquent, and so successful, "let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer pray'r;
he himself has bid thee pray,
therefore will not tell thee nay.

(John Newton, 1779)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.