Spiritual Help in Praying
In an earlier blog, I started a look at prayer. I wrote about the spiritual discipline of prayer and what it looks like compared to the physical action of praying. I want to return to those two key verses in Romans and learn something else about prayer. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26-27. Paul pointed out our physical weakness in terms of spiritual praying, now he turns his attention to our mental weakness. How do we pray when we do not know what or how to pray.
When it comes to our weakness, Paul has emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in helping us to pray. The Greek term for the Holy Spirit is literally “One who comes along side or beside”. It is a comforting presence reflecting the nearness of God. The term for help is made up of three words, “with” “in place of” and “take up or take a hold of”. When combined, they indicate one who comes along side to lift the weight or burden of another. With his use of Spirit and help, Paul is reminding us that God is with us, even in the struggles of life and prayer.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is a guide that can help lift our burdens when we do not know what the content of our prayers should be. The term groaning indicates a loss of vocabulary and understanding. When life gets hard and things get bad, we sometimes struggle to articulate our feelings and fears. At other times, we cannot understand the situation, so we do not know what words to put with our prayers.
If you struggle to find the words to pray, or to have difficulty understanding the situation, do not get discouraged. There are plenty of good, righteous people who struggled with their prayers. Job is a righteous man and yet he is confused by his circumstances and struggles with knowing what to pray for and how to pray (Job 13:3, 42:7-8). Elijah is a power and bold man who God uses to turn the hearts of nation and demonstrate divine power with fire falling from the sky (1 Kings 18:37). However, Elijah becomes exhausted and prays to die when Jezebel seeks to take his life (1 Kings 19:4)
The point Paul is emphasizing, is our reliance on the Holy Spirit to step in at our points of weakness and take over our prayers. This is important for two key reasons. First, only the Holy Spirit can know the will of God. Second, the will of God is often more about internal transformation than external modification.
Notice how Paul says the Spirit Himself intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit is able to understand and comprehend our struggle and lack of understanding. That means God knows exactly where you are in your weakness and difficulty. The picture is one of the Holy Spirit communicating to the Father.
However, the other picture is one of the Father communicating to a believer. The Holy Spirit can help us understand the situation and what God desires to do both in us and in the situation. This is where so many of us come up short in our prayer life. Since we do not know what to pray for, we do not pray. But that is a physical response to prayer and not a spiritual discipline.
What if God is not so interested in changing your situation, but changing you through the situation? It is the difference between saying, “God I do not know what this means, why I feel this way, or what You are doing, so I do not know how to pray. Because of that, I just won’t pray.” Rather, we should say, “God I do not know what this means, why I feel this way, or what You are doing, but I know You are all wise, all powerful, and good. Because of that, I am praying that You will help me know Your mind, see Your power, and experience Your goodness.” This type of prayer does not focus on telling God how to change the situation, it seeks to discover how God wants to change us in the midst of the situation. That is why Paul would write in the next verse, “because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” Romans 8:27. The intercession is not for our will or desire, but for the will and desire of God.
I know that for many people who struggle with confusion, endure difficulties, and suffer through loss. We all struggle to understand why we hurt or struggle. Our human nature is to seek answers that comfort us and take actions that correct the situation. But when our physical praying does not produce what we want, we are prone to blame God and give up.
Let me encourage you to take a Biblical and spiritual approach. Take some time to recognize your weakness, to seek the nearness of a Holy Spirit, and to request the Spirit help you pray, even when you do not know how or what to pray. Trust that in that moment of surrender and prayer, God knows exactly where you are and what you are feeling. He is also ready to reveal to you more of His will, power, and purpose. Even when you do not know what to pray, pray, and the Holy Spirit will go to work transforming you.