The Holy Spirit and Prayer

When I consider seriously who I am, where I am going, and what I am doing, I quickly realise how much of my life is limited, hung-up, and in various ways, muddled and inadequate. As a Christian, praise God, I know that I am not condemned by these facts about myself as I am unjustifiably made perfect by our saviour, Jesus Christ (also see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Nevertheless, inwardly I still groan and yearn for something better, and hope for a new me which has utterly shaken off these limitations. These groanings and yearnings express something deep or primaeval about my condition, and so cannot even be properly reflected in words, however well articulated.

So, how do I pray then, acknowledging what lies deep within me? According to Paul in Romans 8:26 we must submit to the Holy Spirit and recognise that these groanings and yearnings are, indeed, from the Spirit. And that the Holy Spirit prays for us through these groanings and yearnings, and given our limitations. So, whilst we must confess our limitations, we should not feel desperate or downtrodden, but instead be full of hope, assured that our deepest unspeakable groanings and yearnings are, through God's Spirit, leading us into even deeper blessings:

"So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness: for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it as worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads on our behalf with unspeakable groanings and yearnings too deep for utterance." Romans 8:26 (Amplified Bible)

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