The Holy Spirit intercedes for us

Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Christians agree that prayer is a necessary discipline of a dedicated Christian life.  Yet, most of us struggle in how to pray and what to pray for.  We often don’t know what words to use or exactly what we should be specifically praying for.  For example, how do you pray for someone close to you or even someone not so close who is seriously sick?  What words do you use to express exactly how you feel for that person and what you hope that God will do?  And, if you are asked to pray publicly, your stress level significantly increases, as you want to say the right words, yet don’t really know what to say.  And because of these struggles, many Christians do not pray as much or as fervently as we should and certainly avoid public prayer.  Be honest, how much time do you pray each day?  How difficult is it to pray specifically for prayer concerns you know exist around you?  Do you like or dread praying in the presence of others? 

This passage addresses these struggles of knowing how to pray and what to pray for.  The verse starts “in the same way” where Paul is referring to the groaning of creation that started when Adam and Eve committed original sin that, in turn, caused groaning of humankind because of God’s penalty for sin.  We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for eternal reunification with our Creator and the ultimate redemption of our bodies to incorruptible and eternal bodies. 

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.  Oh my, we know that we are weak in so many ways—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Yet, the weakness Paul is referring to here is our weakness in knowing intellectually what to ask God as we pray.  I have already indicated one area of weakness in knowing how to pray for someone to be healed when we know that death eventually occurs for everyone.  How do you pray for needs versus wants, especially in the use of your finances?  How do you pray for someone when you are not exactly sure what he/she is going through?  How do you pray for wisdom to make right decisions?   Indeed, the main concern in many of your prayers is saying the right words for something to happen or not happen in the future of which you have no control over.

The beauty of the promise of this passage is that the Holy Spirit will intercede for you to pray the right words.  To intercede means to speak and/or do on your behalf.   The Holy Spirit will interpret what is in your heart that words many times cannot describe.  You don’t need to worry about what words to say.  Many times, I have prayed something like, “Lord you know what the situation is with (provide person’s name) and you know what I am trying to say but don’t know how”.  The groaning that the Holy Spirit provides may not be words at all.  Think about it……..does God really hear your words in English or whatever your language is?  The Holy Spirit in you takes your words and the thoughts of your heart and translates those words/thoughts into some kind of prayer language that God understands.

Note also that the Holy Spirit prays in accordance to God’s will so you don’t need to worry about this.  Often you need to make a decision and want it to be the right decision (within God’s will) but you don’t know how to pray effectively for that right decision.  Don’t worry about it; the Holy Spirit takes care of this for you.   He knows God’s plan for your life and knows what needs to be done in order for that plan to be carried out.

God knows that you have limited capabilities and perspective about your future and the future of those for whom you are praying.  Yet you are to pray and with your prayers the Holy Spirit augments or supplements what you are saying or even thinking and properly interprets those prayers to God.  The purpose of prayer is to communicate with our Father in Heaven and for your will to conform to His will.  Prayer changes you with the Holy Spirit helping to make this happen.  God loves to answer prayer, but according to His will and His timing.  You do not need to worry about how to pray or what to pray for, but simply to open your heart to the Lord and through His Spirit in you and interceding for you, your prayers will be heard.  This is why, after you pray, you always feel so much better.  What you may not have known until studying these verses is that everything you pray about is being augmented, supplemented and presented by the Holy Spirit.

May you feel great blessings from now on as you pray knowing that you have a spiritual helper who intercedes on your behalf to allow what is really on your heart to be clearly and effectively communicated to almighty God.