Weakness in Prayer
Devotions with Pastor Jason Lim

The Holy Spirit is our great prayer partner. Regarding the Holy Spirit and our prayers, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our… weakness.” The weakness he refers to here is not about ‘how’ to pray, but about ‘what’ to pray. Paul says, in Romans 8:26, "For we do not know what to pray for as we ought." The reality is that we often do not know what we are exactly to pray for in various circumstances.

Say, for example, when a friend is ill, our natural impulse will be to pray to God for his or her healing. That will be natural and indeed appropriate. However, we also know that it is not always God's will to heal every sickness. There are times when He graciously heals, and there are times He chooses not to, for reasons beyond our limited understanding. And because we do not have the full picture of God's plans, we may not ask according to His perfect will. Perhaps, in such a case, God has chosen to glorify Himself and grow our friend's faith through his or her sufferings. This then is our weakness- we do not know what to pray for as we ought. If we don't understand this, we can be frustrated and doubt that God answers prayer. 

But herein is the beauty of it all- that even when we do not know what we ought to pray for as we ought at all times, we can be encouraged that the Holy Spirit is our prayer partner! Paul says, "And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." So get this- the Holy Spirit takes our flawed prayers and perfects them and presents them according to the will of God! Praise be to God for our perfect prayer partner- He truly helps us in our weakness.