Romans 8:26–27

Sons and heirs

Faith and hope combine to work patience in Christians as they wait for God’s good time to come. But faith often wavers, and hope tends all too easily to wane as the time gets long, particularly in suffering. Aware of this, the apostle introduces a second, and infinitely greater, defense against weariness. He returns to the central figure of this chapter, the Holy Spirit.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Just as hope proves to be a buffer against weariness and discouragement in times of suffering, so the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness when we don’t know what we ought to pray for. Time and again Christians find themselves at their wits’ end, wondering what the will of God is for them in this or that situation. They find themselves lamenting, “If only I knew what the Lord wanted me to do; if only I knew what to pray for.” At such times the Holy Spirit steps in and does for us what we’re at a loss to do for ourselves. “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

In verse 23 it was the children of God who were groaning; here it is the Holy Spirit. Bible interpreters are divided as to whether the Holy Spirit’s petitions are framed without words, that is, unspoken, or are spoken in words that surpass human speech. The point becomes unimportant when we realize that the petitions are understood perfectly by him for whom they are intended, regardless of their form. God the Father, who searches our hearts, “knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

The “saints” for whom the Holy Spirit intercedes are not some especially pious and good Christians but are those who are holy by their faith in Christ—in other words, all believers. Therefore, help in prayer is a service the Holy Spirit renders to all Christians. That does not release us from God’s command and encouragement to pray, but it does cover for us when we do it poorly or too little. And unlike many of our bumbling prayers, the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are always on target, always “in accordance with God’s will.”