“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

Romans 8:26
Many of us recall times when we desperately ran to the Lord in prayer. The situation we were praying about was so overwhelming we could hardly find the words to utter. Was the Holy Spirit speaking through our agonized groaning somehow? We know that prayer is supposed to involve the Holy Spirit, but how? What exactly is “praying in the Spirit”?

“To pray in the Spirit means to pray in harmony with the Word of God, which He has inspired… Praying in the Spirit is praying along the same lines, about the same things, and in the same Name as the Holy Spirit” (J. Oswald Sanders, 1997). When we are students of the Bible, we have at hand a wealth of words and phrases that can form our prayers when we do not know what to say. Even in our wordless pleading, the Lord is hearing us.

“Holy Spirit, walk into our lives and alongside of us. Minister to our intimate, personal needs, the pangs of the heart, the deep yearnings known only to you, the bottled up pain. Please grant fulfillment to our desires according to your will. Amen.”



Scripture Focus

Romans 8:22-27

Insight

“Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.” (Psalm 102:1-2a)

Bible In A Year

  • Ezekiel 23-24
  • Psalm 142
  • 1 Thessalonians 1-2

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