Keep my steps steady according to your promise and never let iniquity have dominion over me. [1]
Secure and content in God’s love
Romans 8:26-39 NRSV
Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Adam Clarke
From all this we learn that a fluency in prayer is not essential to praying: a man may pray most powerfully in the estimation of God, who is not able to utter even one word. The unutterable groan is big with meaning, and God understands it, because it contains the language of his own Spirit. Some desires are too mighty to be expressed; there is no language expressive enough to give them proper form and distinct vocal sound: such desires show that they came from God; and as they came from him, so they express what God is disposed to do, and what he has purposed to do.[2]
Matthew Henry
The whole human race deserved destruction; but for reasons not perfectly known to us, God determined to recover some by regeneration and the power of his grace. He predestinated, or before decreed, that they should be conformed to the image of his Son. In this life they are in part renewed and walk in his steps. Whom he did predestinate, them he also called. It is an effectual call, from self and earth to God, and Christ, and heaven, as our end; from sin and vanity to grace and holiness, as our way. This is the gospel call. The love of God, ruling in the hearts of those who once were enemies to him, proves that they have been called according to his purpose.[3]
Warren Wiersbe
There is no need to fret over what God will do, for God is for us and not against us. The proof is that He gave His very best on the cross. Surely, He will freely give us anything else we need.
Can anyone indict us for sin? No! We have been justified, and that standing before God never changes.
Can anyone condemn us? No! Christ died for us and lives now as our Advocate (lawyer) at God’s right hand.
Can anything separate us from God’s love? No! Not even the devil himself (“principalities and powers”—v. 38).
No condemnation—no obligation—no separation! “Yet, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”.[4]
Origen
God pays less attention to the words we use in prayer than he does to what is in our heart and mind.[5]
Ambrosiaster
To “call” is to help somebody who is already thinking about faith or else to address him firmly in the knowledge that he will listen.[6]
O Lord, all knowing, most wise God!
Our Father, you have searched me and known me. You have looked into the deepest desires of my heart. You know my secret loyalties as well as my hesitations. You know my doubts and my reservations.
All knowing and still all loving Father, have mercy on us, for we have gotten confused. We love you and we love your ways, yet we have loved the world, too.
O Lord, our Father, have mercy on us. We have been wayward. We have fled your presence. We have even made our bed in Hell, and somehow you discovered us there, too. All knowing and still all loving Father, have mercy on us.
O Lord, all knowing, most wise God!
Our Father, have mercy on us! Grant to us purity of heart. Focus our erratic desires. Unite us in Christ. Grant that in him we may find integrity, that our hearts may be yours and yours alone.
To Christ, our Savior, then, be all praise, all honor and glory, together with you, O Father and the Holy Spirit. One God, now and evermore. Amen.[7]
In Christ Alone
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. [8]
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 119:133.
[2] Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition, vol. 6 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014), 101.
[3] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ro 8:28.
[4] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 390.
[5] Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 177.
[6] Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 178.
[7] A prayer of confession from Hughes Oliphant Old, based on Psalm 139. Used in worship at Cayce Presbyterian Church, Cayce, SC, on Sunday July 26, 2026.
[8] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 105:3–4.
