Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered.–Romans 8:26
I’ll never forget the things I experienced in the first year of my Christian life. Back then we had actual “prayer meetings”. The men would gather in one room and the ladies in another, and after taking the prayer request we would choose a prayer partner and go off into another room to pray. During the week we would keep in touch with our prayer partner and pray for each other and for the church. I have had several great partners in prayer, but I never had one that I could call perfect. Then I discovered Romans 8:26-27. I’ve had the perfect prayer partner ever since.
Prayer is not as simple and easy as we sometimes think. There are times when I don’t even want to pray and I need encouragement. Then there are times when we don’t even know “what we should pray for as we ought”. It is then that we see our need for a Perfect Prayer Partner. And, we find Him in the person of the Holy Spirit. And no other can take His place.
The Holy Spirit not only encourages us to pray, and enlightens us as to what we should pray, He also engages in “intercession for us“. When the burden is so heavy and our heart is so full that we can’t even put our feeling into words, it is then that our Perfect Prayer Partner, “with groanings which cannot be uttered–maketh intercession for us”, and He does so “according to the will of God”(Rom. 8:27). So when you go into your prayer closet and shut the door, you are not really alone. Your Perfect Prayer Partner is right there with you! The fact that God Himself is with you, and interceding for you, should motivate you to spend more time on your knees— it will perhaps be an experience that you will never forget.
