• 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 intersession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercessions for the saints according to the will of God.

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul and the verses we study today deal with emotional needs and longings so deep we are unable to articulate them – or in many cases even be unaware of them. All creation and all men suffer because sin entered the world and both groan for ultimate restoration. At the moment of faith believers are sealed with the indwelling Spirit who intercedes for us with the Father as sort of supernatural intervention. The Spirit helps us in our sufferings and weakness and does so on an emotional level and conveys our hurts and cares – we may even be unaware of our needs – to the Father. The bottom line is we need to pray; we are commanded to pray. We may not be sure how or what to pray for but we are guaranteed the Spirit does and will – the basic principal is that prayer must be in harmony with the will of God. What the text is saying is that the Holy Spirit prays FOR us, not that He prays THROUGH us to the Father. What these verses are saying is God Himself, by the Spirit, comes to our aid whenever we need help – we are assured that we will get assistance. Prayer can help us to trust that God’s will be done and this will become apparent in time.
Don’t be discouraged as our present afflictions are of comparative insignificance; we must wait for salvation in patient and joyful expectation. We don’t know what is best for us but the Spirit gives our desires a language heard and understood by God. The Spirit dwells in believers as a principle of life most especially in emotional desires which we are unable to articulate. We have all known emotions too big and overwhelming for utterance and the Spirit reads the unexpressed emotions of the souls. The Spirit dictates or intercedes our petitions and stirs in us the desires which are consistent with the divine purpose and suited for our wants.