Take It from Here

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with

groans that words cannot express.”

Romans 8:26 (NIV)

There was a good reason why my daughter Leigh did not talk until she was 2 years old. She didn’t need to. She had an older brother who took it upon himself to speak for her.

She struggled with her words as she tried to explain what she wanted but Tyler was able to tell by her few syllables and her gestures what she was trying to say – even when I could not.

The word “Mommy” was clear to me but the rest of her words did not sound remotely like any language I was familiar with and daughter and parents were all frustrated on a regular basis.

Until brother Tyler took over.

Not only did he understand and interpret what little sister Leigh was saying, he also had a special name for her: “your baby.” Tyler would come to me and say “your baby” and then finish the sentence with whatever he believed she wanted or needed.

He interceded for “your baby.”

The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, too. Look at today’s Scripture from Romans 8:26. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” How amazing is that!

We’ve all been there: the heartache, the grief, the weight of a situation in our lives that is almost more than we can bear and we reach a point where we don’t even know what to pray.

It is at that exact moment that the Spirit steps in and lovingly says “Let me take it from here.” He lifts our tears, jumbled thoughts and aching hearts into a beautiful prayer before our Father on our behalf.

And our special name? “Children of God.” (I John 3:1)

I pray that you are encouraged and renewed with hope by realizing that when we come to the place of not knowing what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us, the children of God.  

Father, thank you for allowing the Holy Spirit to intercede for m, lifting up my jumbled thoughts to you when I don’t know what or how to pray. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Have you ever reached a point where you didn’t know what or how to pray for a person or situation?

Application

• When you find that you do not know what to pray in a situation or for a loved one, turn to Romans 8:26 in your Bible.
• Read it aloud and then ask the Holy Spirit to intercede and speak for you to God the Father.

Power Verses

• Romans 8:26 (NIV) “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
• John 14:16 (NIV) “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever . . .”
• Hebrews 7:25 (NIV) “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
• John 14:26 (NIV) “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
• Romans 15:13 (NIV) “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”