WHEN WE KNOW NOT HOW TO PRAY, HOLY SPIRIT MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US.

ROMANS 8:26-28 (AMP)  So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearning, and groanings too deep for utterance.  And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is] because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.  We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor all things work together and are [fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

PURPOSE - TO HELP US TO PRAY

One of the Holy Spirit’s responsibilities is to help us pray.  In Roman’s 8:26 we see 

in the KJV it says, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought…”

HELPETH -  in the Greek this word is a compound of 3 Greek words.  This word conveys the idea of a real partnership and cooperation and paints the picture of two individuals working together to get the job done.  

sunantilambano - means to take hold of something with someone else, gripping it together as tightly as possible, and throwing your combined weight against it to move it out of the way.

The Greek word sunantilambano conveys the same idea of partnership and cooperation that it takes to remove an obstacle.  This word tells us that it is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to become one with us in helping us remove every obstacle.  When we are weak we are inadequate to get the job done.  So the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and says, “Let me grab hold of that hindrance with you, and you and I will push against it together until it is moved completely out of your way.”

When I study this definition I think of my husband.  He is a very strong man and he has always amazed me at his strength and his ability to move HEAVY pieces of equipment or obstacles.  But there are times he will ask me to help him move something.  In my mind I am thinking, "Really? What good can I do?"  But somehow my being there and doing the little I can do gives him what he needs to be able to move the equipment.

It seems there are people who believe God will just take care of things for them, and yes He is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present, but by His design and purpose He needs us to come alongside Him to cause things to happen in prayer.  Yes, He could move mountains without our help, but He has chosen to give us His Spirit and His language that together we can pray about situations, even when we don't know how to pray. 

Prayer becomes a twofold partnership between you and the Holy Spirit.  When this becomes a revelation in our hearts, it will change the way we pray.  It will give us hope when we are praying.  We will recognize the power that is with us when we pray and behind us when we pray.  It takes the focus off our ability and causes us to focus on who Jesus is.

v. 26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities…..”

infirmities is the Greek word asthenia.  It is used to describe people who are sickly or ailing in their bodies, minds, or emotions.  It can also describe people who are spiritually weak.

We can see that the Holy Spirit comes to help us because we are weak.  We do not have what it takes to get the job done because of our weakness whether it be due to a physical weakness, mental weakness, or spiritual weakness. Or even a weakness in our understanding.   We need the partnership of the Holy Spirit to help us.  He comes to help us or assist us throwing His weight against our weaknesses to remove them from our lives.

v. 26 “ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought…”

know not what is a Greek phrase that means a very little thing.  We don’t know the fine point, the hidden problems, the intricate details of what is involved in a manner we are praying about.  

as we ought - this comes from the Greek word dei, which means necessary. This refers to something must be a certain way.  

Verse 26 could be translated “…We do not know how to pray according to the need, as is necessary to pray, or as that need exactly demands.”

We do not know the end from the beginning, but God does.  We don’t know the details of every situation, but God does.  He knows what pieces of the puzzle fit together.  He knows the design and purposes of our lives.  So the Holy Spirit can help us pray according to God’s will and pray out the details that our needs demand.

The Holy Spirit comes in to remove our weaknesses and to help us in our inadequacy to know what to pray!

The Holy Spirit partners with us in prayer, grabs a hold of the obstacle and with us He pushes against it to remove satanic blockades.

v. 26 “…..but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

intercession - to fall into with.  

This Greek word gives us several pictures of how the Holy Spirit helps us:

1. A person is trapped and another swiftly swings into action to rescue and deliver the one who is in trouble
2. Coming together in an experience and meeting with.
3. to supplicate - a rescue operation in which one snatches and pulls a person out of imminent danger.  

I love this!  Here we have a picture of us walking in life.  Satan has set up a trap and we have fallen into one of his holes.  Or perhaps you have just made some wrong choices and you don’t know how to make some right choices.  Or you don’t know how to get out of the hole.  You can do 1 of 2 things.  Stay there and feel sorry for yourself.  Have a pity party and stay at the bottom of the pit.  Or you can say “Holy Spirit this is where I am at.  I don’t know how to get out of this place.  I don’t know how I got here.  I need Your help.  Come help me!”

If you make the 2nd choice and ask the Holy Spirit to come help you this is what happens.  He comes to meet you in your common experience and in the bottom of the hole.  He supplicates for you - He moves on your behalf to rescue you.  Then at the bottom of the pit, the Holy Spirit takes hold together with you in prayer against the hindrances that are preventing your deliverance.

 This word for intercession paints a picture of a rescue operation.  

This passage of scripture could be translated as “…the Spirit itself [Himself] maketh intercession for us…” like this  “The Spirit Himself falls into our situation with us, meeting us in a common experience and rescuing us from our weakness.”

v. 26….the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

groanings - deep inward sighs and can be translated to vent.  

This word paints the picture of a tea pot full of water setting on a stove.  As the flame is turned on and the water comes to a boil it lets off steam and whistles.This Greek word stenagmos gives us insight into how the Holy Spirit prays with us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  

We fall into a situation from which we need rescuing.  We think our world is falling apart.  We think our trial is unbearable and that we are going to be consumed by the fiery trial or test.  The devil comes and stokes the flames with his thoughts of doubt, unbelief, and lies.  You think you are not ever going to change.  Or that your pit is too deep to get out of.  

But as you ask the Holy Spirit for help and the flames are heating up on the outside the Holy Spirit on the inside of us is getting angrier and angrier about the looming obstacle the enemy has placed before us.  Then suddenly the Holy Spirit vents!  The Holy Ghost sighs, and incredible prayers come rising up out of us.  The Bible describes it as groanings which cannot be uttered.

But what if the tea kettle didn’t have a spout or if the cover over the spout did not give way to the weight of the steam?  It wouldn’t whistle would it?  Likewise I believe there are groanings and utterances the Holy Spirit wants to vent out, but we keep our spout closed - our mouth- and we don’t let the groanings of Holy Spirit come forth.

We are told in scripture “forbid not to speak with tongues”, “do not quench the Spirit”,  and “do not grieve the Holy Spirit”.  (1 Cor. 14:39, 1 Thess. 5:19, Eph. 4:30)

The Holy Spirit is our Helper, not our dictator!  We must do our part in yielding to Him.

Let’s go back to the word helpeth.  We saw in studying it that it was a partnership between us and the Holy Spirit.  One of the biggest lies that satan has fed the body of Christ that sounds so sweet and so humble - but it is a lie - is that “God doesn’t need me, but I sure do need Him.”  Bologna!  

2 Corinthians 6:1 says that we are co-labors (partners) with Christ

A spirit must have a body to operate with here on earth.  That is why Jesus was made flesh so that He could take up residence on earth in a body - His earth suit- and fulfill the purposes and plans of God.  That purpose and plan of God was that Jesus would bare the sins of the world,  pay the penalty for sin, so that anyone who would believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ would be saved and rescued from the kingdom of darkness.

Then God’s plan was to bring Jesus back to heaven - restore HIm to His former glory - and send His Spirit back to earth to live inside many bodies.  He still had a work to do on earth.  In order for His work to be completed on earth He has to have bodies of believers for His Spirit to work in and with.  The Holy Spirit helps us - but it is a partnership - we have to do our part as well.

So there are prayers, there are groanings, that He needs to bring forth and He needs people who believe that He can work through and with.  He has words that need to be released so that He can create.  Remember how the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the earth when God created order out of chaos?  God still wants to create order out of chaos. It will takes us working together with Holy Spirit.  A partnership consist of 2 or more people.

Groanings which cannot be uttered can also refer to speaking or praying in other tongues.  This phrase in the Greek simply indicates that what is uttered doesn’t make sense to the human mind.  But just because it doesn’t make sense to our human mind does not mean that they are not powerful sounds.

Think about a high note that an opera singer sings that it is so shrill that it causes glass to break.  We can partner with Holy  Spirit and the groanings He brings forth out of us will break things in the realm of the spirit to cause hindrances and blockades to be removed.

The groanings in Romans 8:26 are supernatural utterances that proceed from your spirit and come forth from your mouth as the Holy Spirit rises up within you to lift you up and rescue you from your plight.  This is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit as our Partner in prayer!

The Holy Spirit is not temperamental or independent of us.  He isn’t domineering.  We have a choice to pray with our prayer language or not to pray.  It is important that we yield and allow Him to use our tongue to pray in the spirit and with our understanding.  

1 Corinthians 14:14 in the Amplified helps us see our relationship with the Holy Spirit in praying.  It says, “For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays….”  The Holy Spirit gives the utterance or the words and you do the speaking. 

Paul told us in 1 Corinthians that he prayed more than everyone in tongues, but that he also prayed with his understanding. 

I hope these teachings have helped you gain understanding about praying in tongues and its purpose.  There are many more benefits that could be looked at.  So I hope that you will continue in your study.  But honestly there are things that you can't learn by studying.  You have to put into action what you have learned and then you learn more.

If you enjoyed the Greek Word studies, then I would highly recommend Rick Renner's book Sparkling Gems.  He also has some teaching material on his website, renner.org, that you might want to check out.  I love Rick Renner's teaching and he has some sermons available about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for taking the time to study with me.  I am honored.  Be blessed!  May the Lord keep you and shine His face upon you.

Kathy Crowder