1. REVIEW

2. REVIEW Life is hard but we endure it with Christ (v. 17)
Life is hard but we endure it with God’s People (v )
Life is hard but we endure it with the Promise in Mind. (v ; James 5:7)
Life is hard but we endure it with the Spirit (26-27)

3. ROMANS
The Spirit & Prayer
ROMANS 8:26-27

4. The Spirit’s Help
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 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.

5. The Spirit’s Help 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
What is Infirmity?
An infirmity is a weakness, a suffering – something that we perceive causes us to function at a deficit.

6. The Spirit’s Help Why prayer?
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
The Spirit helps us, not necessarily by taking away suffering but by praying on our behalf.
Why prayer?

7. The Spirit’s Help Why prayer?
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
The Spirit helps us, not necessarily by taking away suffering but by praying on our behalf.
Why prayer?

8. The Spirit’s Help Why prayer? PRAYER is PRIORITY - Acts 6:1-8
- The apostle prioritized intimacy with God

9. The Spirit’s Help Why prayer? PRAYER is PRIORITY - Acts 6:1-8
PRAYER is POWER - Mat 6:1-9
“The only real religious people in the world are people of prayer” – E.M. Bounds

10. The Spirit’s Help Why prayer? PRAYER is PRIORITY - Acts 6:1-8
PRAYER is POWER - Mat 6:1-9
OUR PRAYER is PITIFUL – Rom 8:26
- Vs for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:

11. The Spirit’s Help
The carnal Christian might suppose “if God really wanted to help, why not just take away the suffering so that we can get on with life?!”

12. Bad Prayer Assumptions
That God’s primary objective is to deliver you from discomfort so you can be happy.
2 Cor 12:7-8

13. Bad Prayer Assumptions
That God’s primary objective is to deliver you from discomfort so you can be happy.
That God is withholding comfort and that prayer is nothing more than a necessary means to to get what we want.
2 Cor 12:9-10

14. KEY POINT #1
God purposes our weakness so that we might display the strength of his helping hand.

15. The Spirit’s Intercession
26b…for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us

16. The Spirit’s Intercession
26b…for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us

17. KEY POINT #2
We need the Spirit to help us because we don’t always have the appropriate words to say.

18. Groanings?!
These groanings do not refer to speaking in tongues as some would suppose.
The groanings “cannot be uttered,” which tells us that Paul is not referring to any type of verbal language.

19. Groanings?!
These groanings do not refer to speaking in tongues as some would suppose.
The groanings “cannot be uttered,” which tells us that Paul is not referring to any type of verbal language.

20. Groanings?!
The verse refers to the deep groanings that arise when we are deeply burdened over something and we cannot find expression in language

21. The Spirit Prays Right
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.
“He that searcheth the hearts” = God the Father
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings.

22. The Spirit Prays Right
27 …because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The Spirit intercedes for us in a way that aligns our  hearts and minds with the will of God.

23. KEY POINT #3
The Spirit turns our general prayers of groaning into decisive requests that match the will of the Father