To some people, even some believers, the title of this blog post may seem strange. They know what it is for their pastor, church members or family members to pray for them. But the Holy Spirit praying for us? Many people don’t regard the Holy Spirit as a person. To them, He is but an inanimate phenomenon.
The Bible says otherwise. The Holy Spirit can and does lead us (Romans 8:14), for instance. We can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
“The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words”
Romans 8:26, NASB
The latter quote is the focus of this post. We all have the weakness referred to above. We don’t always know how to properly pray for what we need to pray for. Sometimes, this is because we don’t know the will of God for a particular instance in our life.
An example of the will of God is found in Paul the apostle’s second letter to the church at Corinth. He shares about a time he prayed to God three times with a specific request (see 2 Corinthians 12:8). But God chose to not grant the request. Instead, He gave Paul ample grace to endure his affliction.
To help us in the area of our infirmity mentioned above, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us. Why is that important? Because the Holy Spirit always perfectly knows the will of God for our life. And He always prays accordingly!
The Proper Context for the Holy Spirit Praying for Us
What is the proper context of the Holy Spirit praying for us? To answer that question, let’s follow the flow of chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. Verse 4 refers to those “who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” According to verse 14, “All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (NASB).
Get it? The context of this entire chapter is that of walking according to or being led by the Spirit. Those who live accordingly are the ones whom the Holy Spirit makes intercession for.
I am saying that one of the benefits of you and me living the Spirit-led life is that the Holy Spirit is praying for us according to the perfect will of God! To me, that is more powerful than we could ever imagine.
We all acknowledge the benefits of others praying for us. That is especially true when the going in life gets tough. Even Paul the apostle requested the churches to pray for him at times. But the Holy Spirit praying for us takes intercessory prayer to another level.
We don’t always know how to pray for what we need to as we should. But the Holy Spirit always does. Thank God for this awesome work of the Holy Spirit.
Copyright © 2022 by Frank King. All right reserved.