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.
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