And in like manner the Spirit joins also its help to our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as is fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
Romans 8 has already described a groaning creation. Here another groan rises inside the believer, and it is God's own Spirit. Two questions follow: why does a Christian still not know what to pray for, and how can a wordless groan be prayer at all?
Our weakness in prayer
The problem here is not sin. We see only part of the picture, so our prayers fall short.
Hamilton SmithAs we look at the growing sorrows of this groaning creation, and feel our own need, we may find relief in prayer. Even then we do not know how to pray as we ought. While we are down here, we know only in part. We cannot take in the greatness and glory of Christ, or the weakness of our own flesh, or the sorrows of the groaning creation.
That gap does not shut us out of prayer. It is where the Spirit comes in.
L. M. GrantOur ignorance of how to pray as we ought surely shows us our need of the Spirit's work, and should make us submit ourselves to Him all the more.
Why the prayer has no words
A groan is not a failed prayer. It is feeling that has outgrown speech, and it needs a listener who reads hearts rather than sentences.
Hamilton SmithMoved by the Spirit of God, we present our needs with an earnestness that no human words can express. A groan always assumes a depth of feeling beyond the power of words to utter. For this reason only God can interpret a groan. That is why Scripture says, "he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit." The Spirit expresses that mind in us by a groan.
The source of the groan
The believer feels the groan as his own, yet Scripture credits it to the Spirit. That settles a fear many have — that their groaning is only selfishness or unbelief.
William KellySo it is my heart that groans, while it says, "the Spirit intercedes" — oh, the wonderful ways of God! It is a great comfort to know these are not selfish groans in me. While I groan along with everything around me, I might think, "Careful, there may be unbelief in that." But it is the Spirit's groan in us. Selfish groans we find in Romans 7. There it is all I, I, I — no Christ and no Holy Spirit until the end of the chapter. Romans 8 is full of Christ and of the Spirit.
Intercession from within, not from outside
The Spirit does not stand apart from the believer and plead on his behalf. He works inside, so that when God looks into the heart He finds the Spirit's own desires there. (The ESV reads "intercedes for us." The writer below follows older manuscripts that leave out "for us.")
The Bible TreasuryThe words "for us" in Romans 8:26 are not in the best texts. Like many well-meant additions to Scripture, they only spoil it. Adding "makes intercession for us" here would suggest that the Spirit and the saints are two separate parties. It would make Him someone outside of us, praying on our behalf. The next words show that this is not the meaning. God looks down into the heart. He sees there the desires and prayers the Spirit has worked in. That intercession, made inside the saints and on their behalf, is according to God.
Held up on both sides
Christ intercedes in heaven, and the Spirit intercedes within. One writer pictures this double support in a scene from Israel's history, where two men held up the arms of Moses during a battle.
C. StanleyAaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side… What divine strength this gives in the hour of strong temptation. On one side is the exalted Son of God, in the very presence of God, holding up the hands of faith and making intercession. And on the other side, down here, in the believer, the Holy Spirit is making intercession. How doubly we are held up!
What God answers
This is why misdirected prayers are not a disaster. He does not answer at the level of our understanding.
F. B. HoleGod searches all hearts, and He knows the mind and desire of the Spirit. The Spirit's desires and prayers match the mind of God exactly, whatever our own desires might be. So God hears according to the Spirit's desires, not ours. We can be very thankful for that.
Summary
- Weakness — Not knowing what to pray for is the admitted condition of every believer here; we know only in part.
- Helper — That very ignorance is where the Spirit steps in. The weakest prayer is not left to its own strength.
- Groan — Feeling too deep for words is not failed prayer; only God can interpret a groan, and He reads it perfectly.
- Within — The Spirit prays inside us, not from outside. When God searches the heart, He finds the Spirit's mind there.
- Answer — God answers the Spirit's desires, not ours. Christ prays above, the Spirit prays within, and the believer is held up on both sides.