code: protected String evaluateSpelExpression(String value, PortletRequest request) {
          if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(value)) {
              String result = portletSpELService.parseString(value, request);
              return result;
          }
          throw new IllegalArgumentException("SQL Query expression required");
      }
docs: Substitute any SpEL expressions with values from the PortletRequest and other attributes
  added to the SpEL context.
  
  @param value SQL Query String with optional SpEL expressions in it
  @param request Portlet request
  @return SQL Query string with SpEL substitutions