"Likewise The Spirit also helpeth our weaknesses: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but The Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of The Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." [Rom 8:26-27]

All of us know the weakness of these frail bodies which we inhabit. They are, as Paul says, “vile [bodies],” and “earthen vessels.” [Phil 3:21, 2 Cor 4:7] The fact that they are broken and failing is natural, and a direct result of sin, which inhabits these fallen bodies (as Paul says, “sin…dwelleth in me..that is, in my flesh…” [Rom 7:17, 18]). Yes, the “outward man is perishing,” but God is to be praised because, “the inward man is being renewed day by day,” [2 Cor 4:16] and that is the part that shall endure. The outward beauty of these bodies, whether male or female, “is vain” [Prov 31:30] and very short lived. Even Christ, when He took upon Himself flesh and walked upon this earth, had “no form nor comeliness.” [Isa 53:2] It is our common suffering as men and women, that our bodies are failing and often grieve us. And too often these bodies prevent us from or make it hard to pray. Though we would pray; though we would earnestly seek God, yet these bodies can often tug us down to the earth and keep us in silence; or, they are such that they make it hard to think and form words, making us feel as though we cannot or should not approach the throne; yea, and if we do but chance a look at Christ through prayer, these bodies often make us feel silly, weak, and fruitless.

Though the situation of our bodies is dire, yet The Lord has given us victory. Though prayer is hard, and sometimes exhausting, yet The Lord has given us a Helper. For it is written, “likewise The Spirit also helpeth our weaknesses;” that is, the weaknesses of our bodies. [Rom 8:26] And though “we know not what we should pray for as we ought,” yet “The Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us…according to the will of God.” [Rom 8:26, 27] The very Spirit of God, of whom it is written that He “searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God,” [1 Cor 2:10] searches us too, and knows just how and what to pray. Though we are weak, and though we have but one feeble word to utter to our God, yet The Spirit never grows weary nor discouraged and is continually interceding for us, praying in exact accordance with God’s will. Though we feel our prayers are fruitless and ineffective; though we hardly can form two words together at times; yet, The Holy Spirit, The Comforter and Helper, knows us deeply and prays for us. He helps us to pray, and He also prays Himself. With a perfect knowledge, and with perfect words – with all the power of God, The Spirit prays for us and with us. Have you come today, dear Christian, with a heaviness about prayer? Have you come weary, not able so much as to pray? Have you come with little desire to approach that shining throne of grace? Fear not, nor be discouraged, for your God has provided a Helper. A Helper who shall pray for you, and help you to pray; who shall scoop up even the littlest and weakest prayers, and present them to God as if those feeble, poor prayers of yours had been formed and produced by the best and most profound accumulation of thoughts by a thousand of the best scholars. For The Spirit of God knows how to pray. Is there any who could pray better? Any who could pray with more power and with more zeal and with more personal initiative? God forbid; for The Holy Spirit is God Almighty, and with that same zealous love that went to the cross, The Spirit does intercede for us, “with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Praise be to God. And therefore, dear brother and dear sister, pray. Lift up your voice with confidence, not for confidence in your own words, but with a powerful expectation that The Holy Spirit will take your words and present them faultless before The Father.

Click here for more posts from Daily Meditations on Jesus’ Glory, Volume V