3.3. AS SUPPORTER OF YOUR NEEDS AND DESIRES

The Holy Spirit in His role of Supporter to every believer, is involved in your asking and fosters desires in your heart that can be met with God's abundance. As Supporter He makes all-knowing, practical, prevailing intercession for you.

Romans 8:26-27 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

Applying the truth of the Holy Spirit as Supporter to those whose calling is business, it is important to remember this ministry of the Spirit takes place in all who are in God's family, by a new birth. What a privilege to be supported by the Holy Spirit. The word "likewise" indicates the introduction or the strengthening, supporting ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

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AS SUPPORTER HE HELPS BY SHARING YOUR LOAD

The word "helps" (sunantilambanetai) pictures someone helping another to carry a heavy load. Martha gives an example of its use when asking Jesus to tell Mary to take up her part of the domestic load. A request usually understood. Jesus showed Martha that she was distracted from availing herself of the communion that brings strength - defrauded by worrying and troubling herself about the domestic details instead of, like Mary, taking profitable time out to renew her strength by feeding on His word (Luke 10:38-42 ).

Instead of allowing your duties and responsibilities to overcome you in worry and anxiety - learn the better part of responding to the Supporting Spirit who strengthens you through communion with the Lord in His Word, so that you can take up your end of your burden, and experience the divine Helper bearing the heaviest part of the load. He is the willing, loving sharer, often bearing all and you. You can depend on His faithfulness. His support will always be available, His help will exceed your need. It is wrong to think of Him coming temporarily to aid you, He is the indwelling, providing, continuing, unfailing Help.

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AS SUPPORTER THE HOLY SPIRIT KNOWS YOUR WEAKNESSES

Wuest translates Romans 8:26, "The Spirit lends us a helping hand with reference to our weakness." The word for "weakness", ‘astheneia', may include physical, emotional, and spiritual disability. The word is translated often as "infirmity" indicating an inability to produce or accomplish results - in this case it is your frailty and ignorance and lack of comprehension of God's will in the situations you pray for. Neither can you analyse what God intends to do in you and through you for His glory. Without the ministry of the divine Supporter your infirmity would render you incapable of intelligent prayer that would bring the answers demanded in your personal, family, community, and business concerns.

We shall go on to consider how the Spirit, knowing our lack fills us with His sufficiency. But do you thankfully appreciate the love of the Spirit manifest to you in your state of infirmity? The Spirit's love is a neglected truth.You should make much of His love so evident in His abiding in you with full knowledge of your weaknesses.

In your business the Spirit wants to lift you to His own level of love (Romans 15:30 ) so that you share in the labours of others. This is easy when it is an honoured, able workman like Paul. But the love of the Spirit in you should make you willing to help the inability of others. Your aim should be to improve them, not dismiss them without a helping hand. There is no possibility of this serving others in love without the Supporter, the Spirit of love.

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AS SUPPORTER HE INTERCEDES IN ASSOCIATION WITH YOU

He adds His all-knowing to your "do not know", and His ability to our "as we ought" (Romans 8:26 ). His support is the answer to your not knowing what and how to pray, including the perplexing problems of business. Those without the indwelling intercessor are described as "having no hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12 ). They wrestle in the dark with their insurmountable problems - little wonder they resort to desperate measures and dark despair.

The Lord's people know how impossible it is to be in business without the Supporting divine Intercessor. He acts in association with you in intercession. The Spirit makes intercession for us through us, we are channels of His asking, He intercedes with us. We are not excused from praying because of our weakness, rather in our weakness we are to give ourselves to supplication because we know, as Supporter, the Holy Spirit Himself will stand alongside exercising His ability. Christ our great High Priest represents us and makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25 ). In daily experience it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who comes to our rescue continuously with His intercession. He expresses with groanings inarticulate (stenagmos alatetos) the deep longings He has breathed within our spirit. His intervention prevails . They are the longings and desires according to the Father's will, as expressed by the Holy Spirit, such will be achieved (Romans 8:27 ), and our daily lives and business will be affected for good and God's purposes (Romans 8:28 ).

In business you need the Holy Spirit as Supporter to give substance to real petitions that without Him you cannot express. In your humbly accepting the work of the divine Supporter you are acknowledging that God answers prayer not according to your intelligence or human wisdom, but according to His own all-knowledge and wise purpose.

3.4. AS SUPPLIER, SPEAKING HIS INVINCIBLE AND PROTECTIVE WORD

The Holy Spirit speaks His Word in your spirit that you can give voice to in faith. The interesting New Testament word ‘rhema' is from ‘rheo' meaning to speak - a word spoken or uttered. W.E.Vine explains:-

"The significance of rhema (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take "the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God" Eph 6:17: here the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the individual Scripture which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with Scripture." An Expository Dictionary of N.T. words.

In business you need every piece of the protective armour of God, also the sword of the Spirit the spoken word of God, by the Spirit, to overcome the enemy.

	Do you have a realistic knowledge of the struggle you are in? (Ephesians 6:12 ).
	Do you know that the armour you are to put on is the same God wears Himself (Isaiah 11:5; 59:17 ).
	Are you putting on the complete or "full armour" (NIV), (Ephesians 6:13-17 )?
	Do you wear truth, righteousness, peace, and use faith as a missile quencher?
	Are you making a stand against the enemy, holding off the enemy from overtaking your business, or making you ineffective as a witness?
	Do you agree that affirmative answers to the foregoing questions will make you more effective in wielding the sword of the Spirit?

As Supplier the Holy Spirit can give victorious words to overcome the temptations of the evil one, just as Jesus did (Matthew 4:1-11 ). There is a common tendency in business to rely on natural wisdom - face your situations expecting your Supplier the Spirit to speak a word of direction or sustainment, wisdom, triumph. A further danger is to be occupied with living for bread alone.

Matthew 4:4 "But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.''"

Read and digest the written Word. By being full of the Word the Holy Spirit can then take from the store and speak the needed word from your spirit into your mind when you most need it. The spoken word may be a prophecy edifying and building you up, or inspiring you to action, always, there will be encouragement. What a privilege to have the Supplier as resident with you.