Romans 8:26
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Within his teaching on hope and waiting, Paul describes the Spirit's help in prayer, assuring believers that the Spirit intercedes when they are too weak to pray well.
What Does Romans 8:26 Mean?
Paul offers comfort to the struggling believer: the Spirit helps us in our weakness, even praying for us when we do not know what to pray. He acknowledges a reality every honest person of faith has felt -- we often do not know how to pray rightly. In confusion, grief, or weariness, words fail and we are unsure what to even ask for. Into that weakness the Spirit comes alongside to help, not standing at a distance but actively assisting where we are weak.
Remarkably, Paul says the Spirit "maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." The Spirit Himself prays on the believer's behalf, expressing what lies too deep for human words. These groanings reach beyond language, carrying the believer's truest needs before God when the believer cannot articulate them. This is a profound assurance: even our halting, inadequate prayers are taken up and perfected by the Spirit. We are not left to manage our prayer life by our own strength or eloquence. The God who searches hearts understands the Spirit's intercession perfectly, as the next verse explains. So the believer can pray honestly, even falteringly, trusting that the Spirit fills the gap between human weakness and the will of God.
In the Original Language
"Helpeth" translates the Greek "synantilambanomai," to take hold together with, to assist. "Maketh intercession" renders "hyperentygchanō," to plead on behalf of another, and "infirmities" comes from "astheneia," weakness.
Cross References
“And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
- Romans 8:27
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
- Ephesians 6:18
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
- Hebrews 7:25
Application
When believers do not know how to pray or feel too weak to find words, they can take comfort that the Spirit prays for them, carrying their deepest needs to God.