Day Nine: Holy Spirit, Advocate and Guide
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES: ...those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but... a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him. I consider the sufferings of the present time as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us…We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we our-selves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within our-selves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved.... we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And He who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will. (Romans 8:14-27)
INTERCESSORY PRAYERS: Spirit of God, Faithful Advocate and Heavenly Guide, lead us in our blindness, comfort us in our weakness, and with inexpressible groanings plead our cause before the throne of “Abba”, our heavenly Father. Holy Spirit, you have anointed us as adopted children of God and made us heirs with Christ to the heavenly kingdom. Do not let us fall back into the slavery of sin but remain with us always, even until the end of time. Holy Spirit, we groan inwardly as we await the redemption of our bodies. We long for the day of Christ’s coming when our mortal bodies will take on immortality, and our corruptible frames take on incorruptibility. Our hearts are filled with fervent hope as we contemplate the glorious mystery of our spiritual adoption in Christ Jesus our Lord and the promise of everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven. Come, Holy Spirit.
Come, Spirit of Jesus. Anoint us as children of God, our Almighty Father.
