In

Romans 8, the apostle Paul explains that believers have a weakness

when it comes to prayer. This involves much more than simply

neglecting prayer or praying with wrong motives. Our weakness runs

much deeper.

The

best way to understand it is to compare it to the work the Spirit

does to help us. We need the Holy Spirit to pray on our behalf

because “we do not know what we ought to pray for.”

This

does not mean we never know what to pray for. Many of us have long

lists of valid prayer concerns. Our weakness, though, is that we do

not understand how the things we pray for fit into the mysterious,

sovereign will of God. It’s best understood as a spiritual

disability.

So,

as Paul describes it, “the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in

accordance with the will of God.” Though there is much

we do not understand, the Spirit understands completely. The Spirit

situates the weakness of our prayers within the strength of God’s

intentions. Our broken prayers are taken up and incorporated into

divine purposes that we know nothing about.

We

can trust the mystery of prayer! God is at work. As we pray, the

Spirit is also praying. There is much we do not know, but we can know

this: “that in all things God works for the good of those who love

him.”