As we prepare for 21 Days of Prayer + Fasting 2025, it’s a good time to remind ourselves that we are not alone in our intercession. We have a Helper who has been sent by the Father to strengthen us in many ways, but none more important than our ability to pray effectively.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul bluntly tells us, “We don’t know how to pray as we should” (Rom. 8:26, ERV). He means none of us do. Left to our own thoughts, all of us tend to miss the mark. He doesn’t say that to shame us, but to alert us to an important fact: We need God’s help in knowing what to say to Him.
But before we discuss the ways the Holy Spirit does this, let’s first acknowledge that there’s nothing wrong with just freely talking with God. He loves it! It’s good to have those free-flowing conversations on a regular basis. But, as we all know, there are situations where we are at a loss for words. The need is too big or complex or longstanding.
We have a Helper who has been sent by the Father to strengthen us in many ways, but none more important than our ability to pray effectively.
In such moments, we need the Holy Spirit’s help to pray “according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27, NKJV), because when we do, “He who searches the hearts” (God the Father) hears our prayers. And let’s remember what the apostle John said about the prayers God hears:
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, NKJV).
So, how do we pray prayers that say the right things? How does the Holy Spirit bring our requests into alignment with God’s will? Here are three ways:
First, the Holy Spirit groans with us.
Romans 8:26 states: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (NKJV).
Until we die, or the resurrection takes place, you and I must live out our lives in aging bodies and wrestle with our rebellious flesh in a fallen world. But Paul says our greatest weakness is not our bodies or our flesh or the world; it’s the ineffectiveness of our prayers. He says we’re weak because we tend to ask for the wrong things, not the things God wants to accomplish in and through us. So, to make up for this, the Holy Spirit continuously and wordlessly communicates our true needs to the Father.
Paul’s choice of words here is very interesting. He specifically says this supplication is done without speaking. Obviously, God doesn’t need words to communicate. In some wonderful, mysterious way the Spirit continually expresses our deepest yearnings, and that means we can be confident He will answer us. Why? Because those Spirit-assisted prayers arise from transformed hearts that love God and long to obey His will.
Second, the Holy Spirit gifts us with the ability to pray supernaturally.
1 Corinthians 14:14-15 says: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding” (NKJV).
If we look closely at what Paul says, we discover that he’s indirectly revealing the content of what’s being said when a person speaks in tongues. We learn that our human spirit is praying in an unknown (to us) language that bypasses the limitations of our intellect. We’ve been set free from the control of our shyness, shame and even our confused theology in order to freely pour out to God our longings, thanksgivings and intercessions. I think when we pray this way, we pray with a level of abandon that would amaze us if we knew what our redeemed spirit was saying.
Finally, the Holy Spirit prophetically guides our prayers by the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom and discernment (see 1 Cor. 12:8).
When we seek His leadership, He gives us insights that focus us on the right target. There’s a real difference between praying generalized, theologically sound prayers and recognizing the spiritual root of a matter and then focusing our prayers on the underlying source of a problem. And there’s a notable difference in results. All prayers are comforting, but Spirit-directed prayers are powerful.
So, as we prepare to intercede during these first weeks of 2025, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to groan with us, gift us and guide us. And remember, “He who searches the hearts” is listening. We’re about to see some mountains move!
