Bible Study Minute – Romans 8:26 – Holy Spirit

As often happens in my Bible study time, I’ll begin reading one section of scripture, only to be lead to another which was what God really wanted me to see at that time.  So it happens today, when I was reading Romans 8:28 and I accidentally read Romans 8:26 (I guess at 5:30 in the morning, my eyes have trouble with the small print).

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress.  For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray.  But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. -Romans 8:26

After my initial confusion, since it wasn’t what I was expecting to read, I realized, that God was speaking to me in that verse.  My Bible study took a decidedly different turn than what I had set out to do.

The Holy Spirit seems to be forgotten quite often.  I know I often forget about the great gift that God gave us in the Holy Spirit.   Jesus tells us God is sending the Holy Spirit to us.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. – John 14:16

This promise that God will be sending us the Holy Spirit who will never leave us, who is with us always should show the importance and power of what God has given us, yet I tend to forget that He is there.  Looking back on Romans 8:26, we see that the Holy Spirit will pray for us when we don’t even know how to pray.  Moving on in verse 27;

And the Father, who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. -Romans 8:27

So when we don’t know what or how to pray for a situation in our lives, the Holy Spirit does, and the Spirit knows what God’s will is and will pray in accordance to God’s plan.  So we can be assured that whatever our issue is that we are trying to pray about, the Holy Spirit will make sure it get’s before God on our behalf.

There are times when I’m praying about something, that I find myself fumbling for words or how to pray about it.  At those times, I often would just say “God, you know what I’m trying to say” and at that point I usually find a peace about it.  I believe that at those moments, the Holy Spirit takes over, puts my prayers before God and comforts me by giving me a peace about it.  I now believe that what is playing out, is exactly what Romans 8:26,27 are talking about.