Romans 8:27
“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.”
The one tool that every Christian has in their arsenal is prayer. Prayer is what opens the doors of Heaven to allow the Saint of God to do God’s will. It is only through prayer that you will succeed in the Christian life. The verse above shows us several things that will help your prayers.
First, you need God’s help to pray. Verse 26 says, “…we know not what we should pray for as we ought…” This shows that there is a right and a wrong way to pray. We should not pray as we want, but we should pray “as we ought.” The only way we will pray the right way is to ask the Holy Spirit for help.
Every time I go to prayer, the first thing I do is ask the Holy Spirit to help me pray. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me word my prayer as I ought. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me pray in the attitude that I should. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in my prayer. Literally, I am asking the Holy Spirit to be my personal assistant as I pray. The Holy Spirit wants to help you, but you must ask Him for He will not intrude into your prayers.
Second, the Holy Spirit will intercede for you as you pray if you ask for His help. It says in verse 26, “…but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” What God is teaching us is that the Holy Spirit will be in the background telling the Father we truly need that for which we are praying. For instance, when I pray to ask God to help with a financial need, the Holy Spirit is in the background saying to the Father, “Father, he needs Your help with his finances.”
Let me illustrate this thought. There have been times when someone has come to me for advice on how to approach someone about something they need. At times I have told them to go to the person in charge and ask for their need, then I will also go on their behalf to assure that person to help. I go because I have more power with the person being asked for help. I assure them that this need is sincere. That is what the Holy Spirit does for us. He has more power with the Father than we do, so as we go to ask for our needs, the Holy Spirit also goes and intercedes to assure the Father that we need that prayer answered.
Third, Jesus also intercedes according to God’s will. The verse above says, “…because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” The key is God’s will. You will never get the help from the Holy Spirit and Jesus unless you pray according to God’s will. Your prayers should not be self-centered, but they should be centered on God’s will. There is nothing wrong with telling the Father what your will is, but you should assure Him that you want His will to be done. This is what opens the doors to answered prayers. When you pray according to the will of God, and the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ intercede for you, then you will see your prayers being answered.
Friend, you don’t have to pray alone. You have two people who want to help you to pray, but you must ask for their help to intercede for you. I encourage you to specifically ask the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ to intercede for you every time you pray. You will find that They will help you to pray right, but you will also find more of your prayers being answered because They help you to pray according to God’s will.