“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. 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 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit is our Divine helper and prayer coach. He helps us to overcome our inherent weaknesses as humans seeking audience and fellowship with the Almighty God. Prayer is so intensely a spiritual necessity that our Lord Jesus made it a priority in His life. Mark testified of this truth: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35 NKJV). One day His disciples became so enamored with Him at prayer that they begged Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Imagine what an intensity of prayer that resulted in His glorious transfiguration. Here is the record of that beatific experience, “Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9: 28-30, NKJV). For our Lord, praying was not just a passing fancy; Not one of those things one does while chatting with friends, but a pilgrimage in glory. This reality of prayer explains why we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit to pray as we should. As humans, we are not strong enough to bear the glory of God’s Presence, unless as enabled by the Holy Spirit. Hence, Jonathan Edwards correctly observed, “The true spirit of prayer is no other than God’s own Spirit dwelling in the heart of the saints. And as this Spirit comes from God, so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings. It naturally leads to God, to converse with Him by prayer.”
Holy Spirit helps in prayer weakness – guides, intercedes as, for, through us. Yield to Him, pray according to God’s will in Jesus’ name.
Prayer is the life-wire of the spiritual life of the believer. This must have informed our Lord’s famous injunction that “men ought always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). Believers pray to live as well as live to pray. The quality and depth of your prayers reveal the degree to which you are spiritually alive or otherwise. Our Lord taught His disciples to “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Paul exhorts believers in Christ to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is practically impossible for any of us to habitually and sustainably pray without ceasing in the busy world we live in. Added to the fact that our desires and God’s are often too far apart, and it is a non-negotiable condition that it is only as we pray according to the will of God that we should expect to be heard, then we must need divine help to pray effectively. “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. 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.” We need help both in determining the subject of our prayer and its content. In giving the needed help, the Holy Spirit prays as us, for us, and through us ceaselessly and intelligently according to the perfect will of God.
The Holy Spirit prays as us because when we trusted Jesus for our salvation, we became one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). He lives in our hearts because we are His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). He knows us so completely that we need to depend on Him to help us understand ourselves (Psalm 139:7-16). Knowing us as He does and being so intimately involved in our lives, He certainly can pray as us by taking our place in praying either for our needs or for those of others. People have reported having someone pray for them in their dreams or visions and the reality of the prayer manifests in the normal life. That is a good example of the Holy Spirit praying as us. Also, the Holy Spirit prays for us as our Intercessor. He takes up our case and presents them in the court of heaven such that the Father could not but assent to His demands because He intercedes for us with unutterable groaning, that is in accord with the holy will of God for us. Sometimes we are conscious of this activity of the Holy Spirit, but most times He does it outside the realm of our conscious awareness. We simply have to trust Him and know by faith that He is up to everything the Bible affirms that He is to us. Then the Holy Spirit prays through us by making us the vehicle of His prayers for others. He loads us with burdens for people we may never know or ever have the opportunity of meeting, and moves us to pray in the spirit for them. This is a unique privilege to co-labor with the Holy Spirit for the wellbeing of members of the family of God. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to compensate for your weakness in prayer if you will let Him. Yield to Him to help you pray as you, for you, and through you as you ought to in Jesus name.
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