Rom 8:26-27 | MHM | STEP | The Believer's Privileges In this section, Paul explains two more special privileges that true Christians receive. First, the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray. Second, God uses every situation in our lives for our good. Even though we may go through hard times, God has given us these great comforts to encourage us. v. 26 : Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray. He says, We do not know what we should pray for as we ought (Romans 8:26 ). We often do not know what is best for us, and we may ask for things that are not truly good (Ecclesiastes 6:12; Matthew 20:22 ). Sometimes, our prayers are weak, our hearts are distracted, or we cannot find the right words. Even Paul, a great apostle, includes himself among those who feel weak in prayer. But the Holy Spirit comes to help us. He gives us strength to pray and helps us with our weaknesses. The Spirit guides our thoughts, stirs up holy desires, and gives us comfort, especially when we are suffering or discouraged. The Spirit does not pray instead of us, but helps us as we do our best. He works in our hearts, making us want to pray and helping us to pray well. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26 ). Sometimes we cannot express our feelings in words, but the Spirit understands even our deepest sighs and silent prayers. This happened with Moses and Hannah, who prayed from their hearts even when they could not speak aloud (Exodus 14:15; 1 Samuel 1:13 ). The Spirit’s help is not about fancy words, but about real faith and strong desire. Even if all we can say is, Abba, Father , that is enough, because the Spirit is working in us.

‏ Romans 8:26-27

The Believer's Privileges

In this section, Paul explains two more special privileges that true Christians receive. First, the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray. Second, God uses every situation in our lives for our good. Even though we may go through hard times, God has given us these great comforts to encourage us.

v. 26: Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray. He says, We do not know what we should pray for as we ought (Romans 8:26 ^a). We often do not know what is best for us, and we may ask for things that are not truly good (Ecclesiastes 6:12; Matthew 20:22 ^b). Sometimes, our prayers are weak, our hearts are distracted, or we cannot find the right words. Even Paul, a great apostle, includes himself among those who feel weak in prayer. But the Holy Spirit comes to help us. He gives us strength to pray and helps us with our weaknesses. The Spirit guides our thoughts, stirs up holy desires, and gives us comfort, especially when we are suffering or discouraged. The Spirit does not pray instead of us, but helps us as we do our best. He works in our hearts, making us want to pray and helping us to pray well.

The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26 ^c). Sometimes we cannot express our feelings in words, but the Spirit understands even our deepest sighs and silent prayers. This happened with Moses and Hannah, who prayed from their hearts even when they could not speak aloud (Exodus 14:15; 1 Samuel 1:13 ^d). The Spirit’s help is not about fancy words, but about real faith and strong desire. Even if all we can say is, Abba, Father, that is enough, because the Spirit is working in us.

v. 27: Paul says, He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:27 ^e). God sees into our hearts and understands the prayers the Spirit inspires in us. This is comforting for sincere Christians, because even if we cannot speak our prayers clearly, God knows what we need (Matthew 6:8 ^f). God always listens to the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us, because the Spirit always asks for things that agree with God’s will. This means our prayers, guided by the Spirit, will be answered in the best way.