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 heart 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
Lord, we are so grateful for this study. We long to have power and victory in our prayer life; so please help us as we enter the study of Your Word; for Christ’s sake; Amen
Yesterday we ended on the note that we truly need the aid of the Spirit to enable us to pray as we ought: with the understanding and with the power. Today, we will look at the Spirit’s intercessory role when we pray.
“But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” The act of intercession is defined as: “pleading on someone’s behalf,” also, “trying to resolve conflict: the action of attempting to settle a dispute” (Lookup dictionary). The two definitions fit the functions described in the work of the Spirit, on our behalf, as we pray. Our promise says that the Spirit intercedes for us with “groanings,” which cannot be uttered. That sounds very much like pleading which originates deep in the bowels of the Spirit! Could it be that the Spirit recognizes and feels our needs even more than we do? Does He see that we are so weak in the flesh, that try as we may, we cannot articulate our true need? He then tells God, on our behalf, what we would say to Him, if we could!
How can the Spirit do this for us? “Now He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.” Who searches the heart of men and women? Listen to the prayer of the Psalmist: “Oh Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off…Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139: 1, 2, 23, 24). God knows our thoughts, and so does the Holy Spirit. So when we pray, both God the Father and the Spirit, communicate, and unravel our prayers between the Two. They resolve the conflict between what we say, and what we truly want to say. They settle the disputes that exist within us, and they can hear the deepest desires of our heart! The end result is, what we should pray for, and how we ought to pray for it. God the Father can answer such a prayer, because it is in accordance with His perfect will for our lives!
The next time you pray, remember, that the Spirit of God is taking your prayers to the Father in understanding, and power! And God who hears your prayer, brought before Him with groanings which cannot be uttered, and in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, will answer it according to His perfect will, and for your blessing!