Romans 8:26-27
This passage was part of a study I just completed and its truth resonates and comforts. Here is what it teaches:
- We are weak and don’t know how to pray. I believe that every Christian can relate to this. In fact I don’t think that it is an exaggeration to say that in most instances we don’t know how to pray. We may know what we would like to see happen or we may think we know what is best, but when it comes down to it we are limited in our knowledge and shortsighted in our perspective. This weakness can, and often does, result in frustration and apathy. We know that we don’t know what to pray and so we don’t pray at all or we pray reluctantly, constantly hedging our bets. This in turn only reemphasizes the fact that we are weak and don’t know how to pray. That was the part of the verse that resonates—here is where it comforts.
- The Spirit intercedes for us and His intercession is far more passionate than our own. We are told in vs. 26 that the Spirit intercedes for us and His groanings are too deep for words. This reveals to us that the Spirit of God passionately intercedes for the people of God. The Spirit of God was sent to be, among other things, our helper and our comforter. There is no depth of despair or frustration that we experience that He does not know. And because of His perfect knowledge of all circumstances and His abiding love for us, He goes before us to the throne of grace and intercedes on our behalf. We are assured by this verse that this is not half hearted intercession but rather it is intense and ardent. On its own this is certainly a nice sentiment and a great comfort, but the story gets even better.
- He intercedes for us according to the will of God. In verse 27 we are introduced to another; one who searches the hearts (the hearts of believers) and knows the mind of the Spirit. This is Christ. It is by His righteousness that we are allowed to approach the throne of grace and He is the one who directly intercede on our behalf (Romans 8:34). We are told that He knows our heart and he knows the mind of the Spirit. This means that He understands not only our desires but He also understands our weakness and inability to pray as we should. But He also knows the mind of the Spirit who intercedes for us. The Spirit certainly knows what ought to be prayed and when He intercedes for us He prays what should be prayed. The outcome of this dual intercession is remarkable and it is revealed at the end of verse 27. Our prayers, offered in weakness and ignorance, are brought to God, through the ministry of the Son and the Spirit, in accordance with the will of the Father.
I think that it is safe to say that every Christian, when they pray, wants to pray according to God’s will. But the trouble is that we aren’t always able to know God’s will in the specific circumstances that we face. How then do we pray in accordance to the will of God? We pray. And when we pray we pray knowing that the prayers offered by us in weakness and ignorance are brought to the throne of grace by the Spirit of God in accordance with God’s will.
