Help of the Holy Spirit
[Romans 8:26-27]
Look at Romans 8:26-27: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Our Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit who helps us. The gracious Holy Spirit, the comforting Holy Spirit, and the omnipotent Holy Spirit, how grateful and blessed are we that God is helping us? The Holy Spirit helps us, so we are satisfied without lack.
First, who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit helps us who are already adopted. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we have already received the spirit of adoption and cry out to God, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15). The Holy Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (v. 16). With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are not only adopted, but also heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (v. 17). The Holy Spirit helps us who are to be adopted, who are waiting for the redemption of the body. Here, “the redemption of our bodies” (v. 23) means that when Jesus comes again, the Holy Spirit will also give life to our mortal bodies (v. 11). In the blink of an eye when the last trumpet is sounded, the Holy Spirit will raise the dead to incorruptibility and we will be all changed (1 Cor. 15:52). When the Lord comes down from heaven with a shout, the sound of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, those who have died while believing in Christ will be resurrected first (1 Thess. 4:16). This is the redemption of our body. After that, we who are still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and we will be with the Lord forever (v. 17).
Second, what does the Holy Spirit help us with?
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Rom. 8:26). We are weak in body and mind. Originally, God made us strong, but we were weakened by the sin of the first Adam. Jesus was also weak. While Jesus was in the boat with his disciples, suddenly a great storm raged and waves crashed, causing the boat to sink (Mk. 4:37). But Jesus was tired and slept on the cushion at the back of the boat (v. 38). Jesus fasted for 40 days and became very hungry (Mt. 4:2). Thus, when Jesus was weak in his body, the devil tempted him. At that time, Jesus overcame the temptation of the devil with the word of God. We need to know our weaknesses deeply. We need to understand how weak not only our body is but also how weak our mind is and how weak our determination is. Even through hardship and adversity, we must fully realize and know our weakness. So we need to know how incompetent and helpless we are. Then, like the Apostle Paul, we can experience the power of God being perfected in our weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9). When we are weak, the Holy Spirit works powerfully in us. Therefore, like Paul, we have no choice but to boast about our weaknesses. The reason is because the power of Christ may rest upon us (v. 9). We must keep in mind that Satan tempts us when we are weak. We must overcome the temptation of Satan with the help of the Holy Spirit who helps us when we are weak. For that we must pray. Look at Matthew 26:41 – “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Also, like Jesus, we must overcome Satan's temptations with the Word of God (Mt. 4:4, 7, 10).
The Holy Spirit helps us in prayer (Rom. 8:26). It is said that prayer is like breathing. If we don't breathe, we die. To that extent, prayer, which is spiritual breathing, is very important. We have so many things to pray for. But we can't pray for everything. There are many times when we cannot pray. A lot of times we groan. What should we do? We must seek the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers, and He Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (v. 26). Most of the time when we pray, we do not know whether this is God's will or not. Therefore, there are many times when we pray according to our will while praying according to what we see. This is praying as if we are beating the air (1 Cor. 9:26). Because the Holy Spirit knows the will of God, when we are weak and do not know how to pray as we ought, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God (Rom. 8:26, 27). Also, the Holy Spirit helps us to know God's will so that we can pray according to God's will. Therefore, we must not lose heart and pray to Abba Father and Father with the help of the Holy Spirit, who Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Also, we must pray to God the Father with the help of the Holy Spirit, believing that Jesus is still interceding for us (Heb. 7:25). The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), and we can pray various kinds of prayers to obey this word (Prayer at a set time, regular prayer, early morning prayer, Wednesday prayer, intercession prayer, fasting prayer, etc.). My personal suggestion is to make prayer a life. Just as we still live by breathing, we must live by praying, which is spiritual breathing. We must strive to make every moment of our life a life of prayer to God. We must spend countless hours talking to our Abba Father God. In particular, I want to encourage you to have a habit of praying with the praises.
The Holy Spirit helps us! The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and helps us in prayer. The Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God's will. We have come this far with the help of the Holy Spirit (Ebenezer). Even now and in the future, we will have to live a victorious life as we experience the powerful work of the Holy Spirit while praying with the help of the Holy Spirit.