What does it mean that the Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26)?

In its communion, or experiences, the same renewed or quickened soul is conscious of "infirmities" — it knows not how or what to pray for as it ought. The relief comes through the Spirit: "The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered, and He that searcheth the heart, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God." This is Divine teaching of the greatest comfort. Jesus ends the conflict — The Holy Ghost perfects the communion of the poor saint; and in this 8th of Romans I must suggest one other thing: it shows us the Holy Spirit's presence and grace with the saint in two respects. First, When the saint is strong, being in that communion which the dispensation calls us to, and is crying, "Abba Father," then the Spirit joins in this, and by His testimony. Second, When the saint is weak, unable to conduct the communion in full intelligence or power, not knowing what to pray for as he ought, then the Spirit helps the infirmity, and puts His perfect communication with the mind of God in the place of our imperfect communion. (See Rom. 5:16, 26.) This is the twofold office of the gracious Spirit noticed here, so that whether we be strong or weak, He is for the saint, warranting our confidence — helping our weakness.

"For we, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption," that is, the full manifestation of what we are as sons of God, now hidden. That involves the body being glorified. We wait, therefore, for the adoption, that is, the redemption of the body. The firstfruits of the Spirit would seem to imply that after all what we possess in this way is but a pledge in anticipation of that which is to come, and we who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, on that very account, are made to groan. The hope we have of a condition so different from the present makes us only the more groan over the present. Our salvation is in hope, as to the full character of it. Of course, there is a salvation of which we can say already that God hath saved us. If it be a question simply of guilt and condemnation, then we are already completely saved; but salvation is very commonly looked at in a very different way from this, and it implies deliverance of the body itself and the fulfilment of all God's purposes as to us. We are saved now in hope, but then that means that we have not got before us that which we hope for. If we behold it, how can we still hope for it? "If we hope for what we behold not, then do we with patience wait for it." How beautiful a thought it is that this hope is so perfect, there is such complete assurance with regard to it, that the not having it only produces patience in us — not doubt, but patience! All human hopes may possibly disappoint, but die hope which God has given us is as sure as if we already possessed it. We wait with patience, and the patience itself is holy discipline for us. We wait upon His will, but all that He can give us in the way of assurance is already ours.

We have now finally, in this part, the Spirit Himself entering into this groaning condition. The Spirit joins His help to our infirmity. In such a condition of trial and sorrow, our weakness is made fully evident, but that only opens to us more the heart of God and produces in us a healthful dependence upon Him every step of the way. Notice, therefore, that in connection with the Spirit helping our infirmities, prayer is that upon which the apostle dwells. Prayer is the expression of dependence. It is the expression of the creature-place which we have with God. It is the expression, also, if it be that which can rightly be called prayer, of our confidence in God. Prayer is thus, as one may say, a large part of the Christian life, or rather, it is that which links itself with every part of it. If the Lord, in the sermon on the mount, would give us a special example of righteousness Godward, He illustrates this by prayer; but the very prayer itself manifests our infirmity. We do not know even what to pray for as we ought. How blessed to know that here we have a divine Intercessor; as we have Christ before God for us, so we have the Spirit of God in us, and He makes intercession for us according to God. The prayer that He makes is, of course, absolutely according to God; yet as wrought in our hearts it may be on that very account simply a groaning which cannot be uttered intelligibly, — a wonderful thing to realize that these groanings which are the evidence of our own infirmity may, nevertheless, be the fruit of the Spirit within us; that in the ear of God they may speak intelligently, and in absolute accordance with His mind concerning us. We do not know what to pray for, and yet we pray; and God who searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, little as we may know it and blunder as we may. "He maketh intercession for the saints according to God." That does not mean simply that it is God's will that He should make the intercession, as our common version might lead some to suppose, but that the intercession itself, as being; His, is of necessity in complete accordance with His thought and character. We are not, however, to suppose by all this, that the Spirit's prayer is simply groaning. The groaning accompanies the prayer and is part of the prayer. "With groanings that cannot be uttered." Nevertheless, these groanings express, as it were, after all, that which is higher in character, it may be, than the very prayers themselves, however intelligent. Our intelligence fails to accompany them. They go beyond it. But if they go beyond it, all the more they express the power of the Spirit in them — of Him who has come to join His help to our infirmities, and to carry us along the lighted road which leads to God.

When Christ was with His disciples He taught them to pray; John had similarly taught his disciples. But now all that is changed. It was expedient for the disciples that Christ should go away in order that the Holy Ghost should come; and He, being there, takes the office of forming our minds and hearts in prayer. Truly, we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but - as dwelling is us - the Spirit Himself maketh intercession. The words "for us" in Romans 8:26 , are not in the best texts, and like many well - meant additions to Scripture, only mar its perfectness. Maketh intercession for us inserted in this verse, would rather give the idea of the blessed Spirit and the saints as two distinct parties, and that He, externally to us, makes intercession for us. That this is not the sense, is clear from the next words "But he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for saints according to God"(v.27). Thus then, God who looks down into the heart, sees there the inwrought desires and prayers of the Spirit; and the intercession which the Spirit there makes, for and on behalf of the saints, is according to God. The structure of this scripture (Rom.8:26,27) is remarkable. As regards ourselves, the Spirit is so identified with us, that God, in searching the hearts, finds there the mind of the Spirit; and this is what He graciously takes up, not the workings of the flesh. But as regards God - whatever may be the Spirit's condescension to us - the Spirit stands in all His own power and dignity as a Person of the Godhead, to plead for the saints. What solemnity, what divine value, clothes the prayers of saints, when the form in which they come before God is that of intercession by the Spirit Himself! On our side this may reach down to an inarticulate groan; Godward it rises to the height of the Spirit's own intercession.

The bearing of this upon prayer is most encouraging. Here we find the Holy Spirit as dwelling in us, graciously identifying Himself in tender sympathy with our weakness, with our infirmities. The church which Christ has purchased with His own blood, is so precious that the blessed Spirit must come and dwell there and look after it. Being here He is our Paraclete; that is, Manager of our affairs. He opposes the flesh in us (Gal.5:17), helps our infirmities, condescends to our ignorance, and enters into our sorrows with groanings which cannot be uttered. We do not think enough of the sympathy of the Spirit of God with us. He is that "other Comforter" who, the Lord said, was to replace Himself on earth. Jesus took our infirmities; and the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; Jesus groaned at Lazarus' grave, and the Spirit intercedes for the saints with groanings which cannot be uttered. How great must be the interest of the Holy Spirit in us when He can come and dwell in us, not discontinuing His stay, albeit, alas, our ways so often grieve Him (Eph.4:30)!

In the meantime the groaning has to be continued, and even we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan within ourselves waiting the redemption of the body. And just because we have the Spirit of God we feel the depth of the misery around us more acutely than others, and the pressure is sometimes so great we are able to descry no way out of the troubles that beset us, and though we know our resource is in God we know not what to ask Him for when we go to Him. Here the Spirit comes in, and joins His help to our weaknesses, making intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. He identifies Himself with us in all our sorrows, and gives intelligent utterance to them in the ear of God. And we are told that He who searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession according to the will of God. He intercedes on that line, not with the object in view of making easy the circumstances of our lives down here, but according to the object the blessed God has in view in all the circumstances through which we are passed, for all our pathway is marked out for us by the finger of God, and is destined to prosper the work of God in our souls.

Also the Spirit helps our infirmities. This word helps us to see that a clear distinction exists between infirmities and sins, for the Spirit never helps our sins. Infirmity is weakness and limitation, both mental and physical, and therefore if unassisted we may very easily fall victims, ensnared by sin. The help of the Spirit is that we may be strengthened and delivered.

Then again, such is our weakness and limitation that very frequently we find ourselves in circumstances where we simply do not know what to pray for. Then the Spirit indwelling us takes up the role of Intercessor, and utters His voice even in our groanings which baffle utterance. God who searches all hearts, knows what is the mind and desire of the Spirit, for all His desires and intercessions are perfectly according to the mind of God, whatever our desires might be. God hears according to the Spirit's desires, and not according to ours, and we may well be very thankful that this is so.

Prayer is now mentioned. We need it in the midst of the groans, the sorrows and sufferings with which we are surrounded and which is our lot as long as we are in this mortal body. And prayer is our refuge, the expression of our dependence upon God and our utmost confidence in Him. But while we know how to pray, we often do not know "what we should pray for as we ought." Then the Spirit Himself maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered. "Prayer is most commonly the witness of our infirmities. The burdened heart may find itself too full for speech, too much perplexed, for the ordering of its thoughts. But there is an utterance of supplication that makes no sound. It is the Spirit, as the helper of our infirmities, who makes these desires known to the God. Groaning in sympathy with the tried and longing heart, He makes His intercession for the Saints according to the will of God." Thus the mind of the Spirit in us is known of God-- and heard by Him. And then we must remember that besides this intercession of the Spirit there is the intercession of Christ at the right hand of God (Verse 34). The believer is therefore hedged about and made secure and if he walks in the Spirit, constant peace and joy will be His daily portion.

A. The meaning of the passage appears to be this: we do not know what to pray for as we ought, and therefore the grace of God gives us, not only an Advocate on high for us, but the Holy Ghost within us to identify Himself in grace with our sorrowing suffering condition, so as to put us in fellowship with God as His redeemed ones in bodies withal and a creation not yet redeemed. He accordingly intercedes for us — within us of course — according to God, so as to give a divine and sympathetic character to what otherwise would have been but selfish sorrow. Thus we are entitled to know that our very groanings as Christians is not without the Spirit, though these cannot be expressed in words, and they rise up acceptable to God, and will be surely answered by the revelation of the glory by and by, for which we who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, and all creation also, wait. How sweet to think that the Holy Spirit, who gives and directs the joys of our hearts and makes us bid the bridegroom "come" (Rev. 22) takes equal part in our present griefs and travail of spirit! And if we do not know what to ask for, we do know that all things work together for good, as the apostle proceeds and proves so triumphantly to the end of the chapter.

Meanwhile, as we wait for the consummation of our hope, how incapable we are of measuring our present dependence. But here we realize the great value of the indwelling Spirit. He joins His help to our infirmity. Whatever sense of need there is in our souls it has been produced by the Spirit. But our sense of need is never in the full measure of the Spirit's sense of it. Hence in expressing our need to God we never do it as we ought; we always come short of the measure of the Spirit. But it is He who is working in us, and He is at work according to God. In our inability to lay hold of His full measure, so far as His mind is concerned, there is a longing with Him that is never fully expressed by us, though what we do express is by His power (verse 26).

But the God who searches our hearts knows perfectly the mind of the Spirit — what He is working in us. Our imperfect, defective utterances go up to Him, reach His ear; and, inadequate as they are as expressions of what the Spirit means, He gives them all the value of His own mind (verse 27).

Furthermore, being a Divine Person, the Spirit makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. There may be much weakness and defect in our intercessions. We may intercede for one another according to what we think will be best for one another, or according to the course we should like the answer to take, and therefore our requests may often fall short of "the will of God".

If our infirmities prevent us knowing how to pray as we ought, the Spirit comes to our help. First, He makes intercession for us; secondly, He intercedes with groanings; thirdly, He intercedes according to the will of God.

We are weak and ignorant, and He who dwells within us has been graciously pleased to become the Helper of our infirmities. By reason of our weakness we cannot grasp the things of God firmly, and the Holy Spirit is a power within the new man to lay hold of these things for us, so that we may receive the fulness of their blessings. Weakness is essential to God's people. Power belongs to God. And the Almighty Spirit of God is our Helper in our weakness and infirmity, so that thus our very weakness becomes by grace the occasion of constant and priceless blessing to our souls. Our danger lies in self-sufficiency.

The Spirit is our Intercessor. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought.” We may have only the true desire, being ignorant of the right way, and then it is that He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, and hears His groanings which cannot be uttered. It is a far deeper thing to have the right desire than to have the right words. Speaking practically, it is the smaller thing to have intelligence respecting the Father's will; the great thing is to have true desires to do that will. There are children of God living in known transgression of their Father's will, whose consciences are becoming seared as with a hot iron, and whose souls are losing their sensitiveness while on the other hand there are the children of the Father with but small intelligence, whose consciences are tender, and whose souls are true. It is the latter who enjoy the manifestation of the love by the Spirit. The solemn question to be answered, in the presence of the great Searcher of hearts, concerns our practical state, and where this is as God would have it be, then follows the availing intercession of the indwelling Spirit. “He makes intercession for the saints according to God,” in entire uniformity with the character and will of God. How much uttered prayer is after all no prayer at all! How vain is eloquence, in the view of these groanings which cannot be expressed! And how frequently we pray out the wishes of our own wills, so that numbers of our requests are, after all, not according to God, and therefore, not made in the Spirit, nor helped by His intercession.