Let’s look at Romans 8:26-27 which reads, “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 intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (NKJV).

In verse 9 of this chapter we read, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” This is a marvelous truth for believers in Christ; the Spirit of God lives in us! One of the chief benefits of having the Spirit dwelling in us is that He “helps in our weaknesses.” We are a weak and needy people, dear fellow-believers. We see this in verses 17-25 where we are taught that we will suffer in this present scene as we make our way to the glory. We also learn that all of creation suffers because of sin and its effects. Paul makes this clear in verse 22, “For we know that the whole creation GROANS and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Paul links us with this groaning creation in verse 23, “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Do you get the picture? Though our souls have already been saved through faith in Christ, we are still living in a world of suffering as we wait for the Lord to come to give us our new bodies and to take us home to heaven. While we wait, the Holy Spirit gives us a foretaste of the coming glory and this creates in us an earnest desire to be with Christ, but it also causes us to “groan within ourselves” because of sin and its terrible effects all around us. This in turn makes us realize how utterly weak we really are, yet as we have seen, “the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.” He knows what we’re going through and He helps us! How does He help us? He prays for us when we don’t know what to pray. And isn’t it precious to read that the Spirit “makes intercession for us WITH GROANINGS which cannot be uttered? We saw that “we groan within ourselves”; here we learn that the Spirit groans within us too! He feels our burdens and sufferings and thus He groans along with us. And we can rest assured that His prayers for us ascend to God’s throne in perfection, expressing exactly what we need and for God to meet our needs according to His perfect will.

In verse 27 we see the beautiful harmony and intimacy between the Spirit of God and God the Father. The Father “knows what the mind of the Spirit is,” even though it is being expressed in “groans.” And He knows that everything the Spirit prays for is “according to the will of God.” Thus each prayer is heard and will be answered in the Father’s perfect way and in His perfect timing, according to His infinite wisdom and boundless love. (238.9) (DO)