God tells us in Romans 8:26 that we don't really know what to pray for, but that the Holy Spirit is inside there interceding with groans for in ways we are unable to speak ourselves.
Oswald Chambers reflects on this verse*. He says that when God searches our hearts, He isn't searching for our conscious prayers, rather to find out what the prayers of the Holy Spirit are. Why? The answer is that the Holy Spirit cares way more about us than we do. He also knows what we really need and what our true desires are. He knows our design.
And this is what gets me. This is where the individual personalities of the Trinity make sense to me, even though they don't make sense to me. The tenderness of God is that He dwells inside of me. He knows everything. He knows the pain, he knows the junk, and he knows the dreams. In addition, He is continuously having this conversation with Himself, from Spirit to Father. It is something that looks like this:
The Father says, "Can you tell me what is wrong? What are his needs? What is his pain?" The Holy Spirit says, "Father, these are his pains, these are his self-destructive and other-destructive behaviors, these are his dreams. What is there that we can do for him? He is my beloved and he's in so much pain."
The idea that God dwells inside us can often feel so vague. We aren't aware of these conversations. To get a picture of what is going on in conversation among the Trinity look at how Jesus cares so tenderly for the downtrodden in the Gospels and you'll see how He feels about you, yet He lives inside of your heart.
The Holy Spirit, deep inside our innermost parts, is not dead. He is alive. He is emotional about us. He is continually talking with our Father about our sins, our joys, our fears, our dreams, and our desires. He is not without solutions. I know them. Believe me, I'm still messed up in a lot of ways, but I have hope because I've seen some of the results of these conversations. They take time, but I know some of them. I've seen some of it happen in me and others. I know God is having these sorts of conversations all the time. We are His joy.
The grace of God is that He dwells inside of us the moment we let Him and He never leaves. All of the sin has been atoned for through the cross. From one messed up person to another, let me remind you that He's now in the business of caring for us and always has been**. He's wrapped Himself up inside of us. This is who He is. This is His glory.
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*My Utmost for His Highest Nov. 8 entry
**Romans 5:8
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