Lord, I Need You
By Brita Crouse
“And the Holy Spirit
helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray
for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in
words.”
Romans
8:26 (NLT)
This past year, I had the opportunity to nanny for a family with
a precious baby girl. Now I will readily admit…babies are not my favorite.
Their fragility and dependency frighten me (and so do their protective
mothers). But after spending several weeks and months with baby L., I became
more comfortable looking after her and making sure her needs were met. She went
from lying on the floor, to rolling over, to crawling, to pulling herself up to
stand, to finally taking steps. And I was witness to it all. Amazing!
There is one day with baby L. that I remember in particular. She
was playing with her brother in the living room, and I was in the kitchen. I had my back to the kiddos, getting them
something ready to eat. When I suddenly turned around, L. was sitting in front
of me: smiling. I said, “Hi.” And then I went back to what I was doing. Moments
later, L. crawled over to me, reached up, and tried grabbing onto any part of
me she could.
She wanted to be held. She wanted to be comforted. In that
moment, L. needed me.
The reason this moment struck me as so profound is because I do
the very same thing with my Heavenly Father. I approach him… sometimes quietly,
sometimes abruptly, wanting to interact, wanting to be held, wanting to be
comforted. I need Him.
We all have our own unique ways of coming before God - - of
recognizing our need for Him. We see it daily, in our own lives, as we
encounter difficulties. We see it in the outstretched arms and the “amens”
during worship. We see it in the bent-over-crying-till-it-hurts days of trial.
We see it in the faces of loved ones suffering with terminal illness. Abba,
we need You.
Some days we may not know how to pray for what we need. In these
moments of need, we have the Holy Spirit intervening for us, coming before God,
to communicate our needs that we cannot adequately express.
How fortunate we are to have Someone who will intervene on our
behalf when we cannot find the words to say. Even when we aren’t sure what to
ask for, we still have a God who knows and hears our needs.
GOING DEEPER:
1.
Listen to “Lord, I
Need You” by Matt Maher. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA)
2. In Greek, “Abba” is a
term of affection for Father, similar to “Papa.” How are you expressing your
daily need for God in this way?
FURTHER READING:
Brita is currently working toward her Master’s in Counseling at
the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has called Oakwood her home church
for the past seventeen years.
