“26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
As we face the many challenges presented to us by the coronavirus, we may not know how to pray to God. And we can lose that sense of hope that says things will get better. Maybe you are feeling that way now. Maybe you have an ache in your heart over a loss of some kind. It may be the loss of connections with people through social distancing. Or your loss may revolve around finances… a job… a friendship … your own health… or the loss of a loved one.
Romans 8:26-27 tells us, “26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” These verses are telling us that if you are a Christian, you can have hope through the indwelling Holy Spirit Who “helps us in our weaknesses” (8:26a). When we encounter pain and suffering (Rom. 8:18-25), we may not know exactly how to pray to God, so the Holy Spirit helps us by praying on our behalf (“makes intercession for us”) to God the Father (8:26b).
The word “groanings” expresses feelings of compassion for our weak condition. The Holy Spirit requests the Father’s help for us with deep compassion (cf. Eph. 6:18). However, we should not confuse these “groanings” with praying in tongues. These “groanings … cannot be uttered” by the Hoy Spirit. This is not an audible prayer language to the human ear. Besides, this passage promises all Christians God’s help, not just those who had the gift of tongues. Furthermore, the Scriptures never connect the gift of tongues with intercessory prayer. The main point of verse 26 is that even when “we do not know what we should pray for,” the Holy Spirit prays to God the Father on our behalf, telling Him exactly what is on our hearts (8:26).
Even though we cannot hear the Holy Spirit’s intercession for us, God the Father can hear and understand Him. So not only does the Holy Spirit pray on our behalf, but we have a heavenly Father “who searches” our hearts and “knows what the mind of the Spirit is” (8:27a).The Holy Spirit makes our hearts understandable to the Father. We can be assured that the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are effective in securing God’s help for us, because the Spirit prays on our behalf “according to the will of God” (8:27b).
For example, when our children were infants, my wife would tune in to each child’s wordless cry. She learned to distinguish a cry for food from a cry for attention, an earache cry from a stomachache cry. To me the sounds were identical, but not to their mother who instinctively discerned the meaning of the helpless child’s cry. The Holy Spirit has resources of sensitivity beyond those of the most discerning mother. The Spirit of God can detect needs we cannot articulate. So as the Spirit prays for us, He gives content and expression to our heavenly Father as to the deep things of our hearts. He makes us understandable to the Father. When we do not know what to pray the Holy Spirit fills in the blanks.
I remember visiting a church member in his home several years ago after he had battled an illness that made it difficult for him to put his thoughts into words. He told me there would be times with the Lord that he would be unable to finish his prayers and this greatly disturbed him. So I turned to Romans 8:26-27 and explained to him that even when he was unable to finish his prayers, God the Holy Spirit would finish them for him. The Spirit would pray to God the Father on this man’s behalf, telling the Father exactly what was on his heart. The Holy Spirit made him understandable to the Father. And not only that, the Spirit prayed on his behalf according to the will of God. These truths gave this man hope that God truly did understand his deepest longings and needs that he was unable to put into words.
So when we feel uptight about our inability to pray about a particular need or situation, we can rest in the promises found in Romans 8:26-27. We are assured that God will help us in our weaknesses because the Holy Spirit makes our needs and longings known to the Father by praying to Him on our behalf. During difficult times, we need to know that God understands us. Even if we can’t express ourselves well, our compassionate Father in heaven will understand how we feel and what we need because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. When we feel understood, we really begin to experience hope. Because if God understands our hearts and our needs, then He can do something about them.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, during these uncertain times, it can be difficult for me to find the words that express my deepest longings and needs to the Father in prayer. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for praying to the Father on my behalf according to God’s will even when I do not know what to pray. Knowing that You make my heart’s desires understandable to my compassionate Father in heaven gives me hope in the midst of these difficult times. Because when my heart’s deepest longings and needs are understood by You, then You can do something about them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.