The Spirit’s Role In Prayer

‘…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans…he…searches our hearts…because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.’ (Romans 8:26-27 NIV)

Do you find prayer difficult?

I have to hold my hands up and say that I do.

Other things can easily encroach on my prayer time and even while praying it’s not uncommon for me to get distracted on to what I will be doing next. When a crisis hits or a situation crops up I have to be reminded that my first port of call is to pray. After all I don’t always know what to say or how to say it.

That’s why I am glad that I am not on my own in my prayer adventure and am grateful for the work of the Spirit in prayer.

However weak and feeble my prayers seem to be, the Spirit helps me in my weakness (v.26). It’s good to know that I am not alone when I pray but ‘God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along’ (Romans 8:26 The Message).

The Spirit is my prayer partner and as such he doesn’t just join me in prayer but he prays for me. I think he must make this intercession (v.26) for me often considering my need for help in praying.

In my innermost being I have desires, feelings, yearnings, concerns, worries, fears, love, and intimacy’s I want to share with God but my limited vocabulary is unable to express them adequately. This is where the Spirit is able to take these groans and express them for me: ‘He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.’ (v.26 The Message).

The Spirit cuts through my inability to pray effectively and gets to what is really on my heart as he searches deep inside of me (v.27); and ‘He knows us far better than we know ourselves… and keeps us present before God.’ (v.27 The Message) I find that encouraging because when I’m not praying as often as I ought, I can feel far away from God, and yet the Spirit keeps me in his presence.

I don’t know about you, but when I do pray my prayers are mix of my own selfish wants and desires coupled with my wanting God’s will to be done. Here again the Spirit takes the imperfections of my prayers and aligns them with God’s perfect will, which I may not grasp, bringing them into harmony (v.27).

If you, like me, struggle with prayer, bring this struggle to the Spirit, commit it to him, ask for his help, encouragement and involvement.

It will make a significant difference to your prayer life.

Have a good week praying with the Spirit’s help.

Pastor Barry