Romans 8:26-27 | The Spirit Helps Us In Our Helplesness

We all know the significance of keys; they unlock doors, granting access to what lies beyond. But have you ever considered the deeper symbolism behind these everyday objects?

This key opens the door to a house I call home (wife, children, rest)

This key opens the door to the church building (meetings, sermon preparation)

This key opens the door to the local gym (exercise, friends)

What if there was a key that unlocks a deeper relationship with God? What if God had keys available for each of us, how many of us would take one?

Imagine for a moment that you're standing in front of a locked door. In your hand, you hold a key, but it's not just any key—this key represent helplessness. Yes, you heard me right: helplessness.

Our helplessness is the key that unlocks the door to a vibrant prayer life.

“Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray.” Ole Hallesby, Prayer

The reason why many of us are not able to unlock the door into a vibrant prayer life it’s because our pride gets in the way.

“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only works when we realize we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. The very thing we are allergic to - our helplessness - is what makes prayer work. It works because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own.” Paul Miller, A Praying Life

My goal for us this morning is to be humble to get a hold of this key called helplessness. It will not only transform the way we pray, but also the way we do life (relationships, parenting, decisions, forgiveness, our fight with sin, etc).

Remember:

Our helplessness is the key that unlocks the door to a vibrant prayer life.

I want to share three wonderful promises based on our passage today:

1. We can pray with confidence even when we approach God empty-handed

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” (Ro 8:26)

Our weakness is not a hindrance to the Holy Spirit. It’s quite the opposite. The Holy Spirit brings deep spiritual transformation to those who acknowledge their daily helplessness.

Weakness

ἀσθένειαa, ας f: a state of incapacity to do or experience something—‘incapacity, weakness, limitation. (Greek-English Lexicon of the NT)

Isaiah 57:15 “15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Contrite - who acknowledge & confess their sin

Lowly in spirit - those who come empty handed and recognize their need of Jesus.

Matthew 5:3 “3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

This is the first beatitude describes a correlation between our helplessness and our entrance into the kingdom of God.

Notice, I did’t include the passage that says, “God helps those who help themselves.” It’s not in the Bible!

Romans 5:6 (CSB) 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

Jesus didn’t die for you because you had it all together and therefore deserved his mercy.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 “7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This passage and all the other ones takes the pressure off of trying to impress God with our prayers. We can pray with confidence even when we approach God empty-handed.

There is never a day when you have it all-together.

“We tell ourselves, “Strong Christians pray a lot. If I were a stronger Christian, I’d pray more.” Strong Christians do pray more, but they pray more because they realize how weak they are. They don’t try to hide it from themselves. Weakness is the channel that allows them to access grace.” Paul Miller, A Praying Life

2. We can pray with confidence even when we don’t have words to pray

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Ro 8:26)

V.26 begins with “likewise, the Spirit helps.” The word “likewise” is a connection with the previous two verses:

Romans 8:24–25 “24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Likewise, just as hope helps us, so does the Holy Spirit, specially in those times when we don’t know what to pray for as we ought. We find ourselves in situations where we experience deep personal trials, or wrestling with hard decisions, or facing our own sins and failures.

You and I have the best prayer partner. The Holy Spirit is our personal interpreter. This is awesome news! Human language is insufficient, but the language of the Holy Spirit is perfect. The Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

What an amazing reality, humans get overwhelmed by life but God doesn’t.

When you don’t have words to pray, you can also pray your tears.

Examples:

Hannah was “deeply distressed” so she prayed and wept before the Lord. “Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard.” (1 Sam 1:13)

David, “I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart. You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh.” (Psalm 38:8-9)

December 2014. “I won’t let go of you until you bless me.”

September 2020. “I just want to feel normal again.”

3. We can pray with confidence even when we don’t know God’s will

“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.” (Rom. 8:27)

We are extremely limited in our knowledge of God’s will that we are often tempted to simply not pray.

These two verses invites to pray because twice we are told that the Spirit intercedes for us as we pray even when we don’t know God’s will:

God the Holy Spirit asks God the Father (Abba) for things we don’t know how to ask ourselves.

God the Holy Spirit asks God the Father (Abba) for things that are in accord to the will of God.

John 14:13–14 “13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

1 John 5:14 “14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

Romans 8:27 is encouraging because it invites me to pray with confidence even when we don’t know God’s will because God the Father searches and knows our hearts. When I come to him in prayer, he knows my desires, my fears, my motives and the the same time the Holy Spirit is interceding for me. Like a translator who explains exactly what I’m trying to say.

Expectant Prayer: We believe that God hears and answers our prayers and we are confident that God is always working on our behalf, for His glory.

High school and college students: You don’t need to have the next 30 of your life all figured out.

All, when seeking God’s will simply pray, “I want Christ to be magnified in my life and through my life.”

24 years ago, I was also a senior in high school. All I wanted was to tell others about Jesus in Spanish. I was convinced that God could only use me among the Spanish speaking community because my English was too broken.

Application: Pray! Find a time and a place to pray. Pray with confidence even when you don’t know God’s will

“God ordains prayer as a means to change history. There are things that happen because of prayer and things that do not happen because of no prayer.” John M. Frame

Let me finish by asking the question I asked at the beginning of the message.What if there was a key that unlocks a deeper relationship with God? What if God had keys available for each of us, how many of us would take one?

Imagine for a moment that you're standing in front of a locked door. In your hand, you hold a key, but it's not just any key—this key represent helplessness.

Our helplessness is the key that unlocks the door to a vibrant prayer life.