April 6

Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? — Luke 18:7 BSB

“Behold, he prays,” the Lord said to Ananias to assure him that Saul of Tarsus, once a feared persecutor, had been made alive by the Spirit. And what a mercy it is for the quickened soul that the Holy Spirit helps its sinking, trembling heart, giving it life and energy in its prayers, holding it up and keeping it firm at the throne of grace. The Spirit helps the soul persevere in its cries for mercy, mixes faith with its prayers, and graciously intercedes within it and for it with groanings too deep for words. This is what it means to “pray in the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 14:15) and “in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20). It is to pour out the heart before God (Psalm 62:8), to pour out the soul before the Lord (1 Samuel 1:15), and by this release, the burdened heart finds relief.

This is the distinguishing mark of a soul quickened by the Spirit, different from the guilt and remorse that sometimes stir the natural conscience. Cain said, "My punishment is greater than I can bear," but there was no repentance or prayer in his heart, for he “went out from the presence of the Lord”—the very presence the living soul seeks to enter, and which the Spirit leads it into (Ephesians 2:18).

Saul, distressed when God didn’t answer him by dreams, Urim, or prophets, turned to a witch and eventually took his own life. Judas, filled with remorse for his betrayal, went and hanged himself. Neither of them prayed or sought the Lord’s mercy. Similarly, in the last days, it is foretold that people will gnaw their tongues in agony, cursing God for their pain and suffering, yet refusing to repent (Revelation 16:10-11). But the elect cry out to God day and night, and their prayers, offered through their all-powerful Intercessor at the right hand of the Father, are heard by the Lord of hosts.