The Spirit's Work of Intercession

About a month and a half ago, I visited a friend in the hospital. She had just had surgery and I was able to visit with her for a good while. A few days later, I saw her again, and I could tell that she was feeling down. She had struggled for ten years with pain and difficulty from a wreck ten years earlier. I felt the Spirit nudge me to pray with her. I began to pray, and I can remember standing next to that hospital bed, asking God to heal her, if it was His will, and I asked God by faith, that He would make her well. I prayed this earnestly, never knowing that six days later, my friend would pass from this life into eternity.

It just occurred to me through the reading of God's Word, that even though I didn't know how to pray according to God's will, the Spirit did! Romans 8:26-27 teaches the believer much about prayer when it says, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints, ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD."

Notice three things the Spirit does! 1)He helps our weakness, 2)He prays for us, 3)He searches our heart, but knowing God's mind, prays according to God's will. This is truly amazing! When we pray, the Holy Spirit is right there, praying according to God's will. We may pray with a humanistic view of what should happen, when God knows exactly what should take place for HIS glory.

Maybe this was the case with my prayer for my friend. I prayed that she would be physically healed. Maybe the Spirit was praying that day, that God would spiritually heal her to the point of glorification in heaven. What a rest the believer can find - in the Spirit's work of intercession!