The Spirit's Intercession

He approves of the graces and good affections of His people
in the midst of those manifold weaknesses and imperfections which are mingled in with them.

He knows them so as to accept them.

Some may question what Spirit is meant here when it is said that:
"God knoweth the mind of the Spirit."

Is it our own spirit or is it the Spirit of God?
God knows what is Spirit and grace in us,
distinct from what is flesh and corruption in our prayers.

The text speaks of "the mind of the Spirit."
What a mind that is!

His mind always reflects the will of God
and is free from all the errors which may pervade our prayers.

Praying in the Spirit is to prevail with God.
It is not our crying, our begging, or anything of ourselves that prevails with God.
It is praying in the Spirit.

"The mind of the Spirit" in this instance
is not the mind created and fostered in us by the Holy Spirit as in Romans 8: 6.

It is the mind of the Holy Spirit Himself
as is made apparent by the emphasis upon the intercession of the Spirit in verse 26,
and particularly by what follows in this verse:
"Because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." (Verse 27)

This is a wonderful truth for us!

When we have sighs and groans that we cannot express in words,
does the Lord reject our prayers because of the defect in us?

No! He knows the mind of the Spirit.

Not only do we have difficulty of utterance, but our own spirit gets distracted.
But our gracious God knows the mind of the Spirit in His children.

Even in our times of forgetfulness, where important matters are left out of our prayers,
the Lord knows the mind of the Spirit in this respect also.

We are often selfish in our prayers concerning petitions and purposes,
but God knows the mind of the Spirit in this sense also.

So, here in this verse is added another great comfort and encouragement
which belongs to us as God's children.
It is such a comfort that the Lord passes over that which is flesh in us,
and looks only at that which is Spirit.

There is no experience of life that we can rely on for divine aid
with more confidence than when we are praying in the Spirit,
even when we feel too weak to pray.

We can be confident that we have a divine Intercessor,
a Helper, a Comforter who is voicing the longings
for which we lack the ability or knowledge to express.

We have an advocate above, as well as an advocate within,
and between these two advocates there is no discord.
The Spirit's intercession is an effect of Christ's intercession and flows out of it.
He makes intercession within when our prayers are in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6: 18)

The Spirit's intercession is not carried on apart from us, but in us and through us.

The presence of the Spirit and the first fruits are proofs that the age to come has dawned,
and that its consummation cannot be long delayed.

The intercession made by the Holy Spirit is according to the command and will of God,
and in the name of and in dependence on Christ, the Mediator.

This is great assurance to us as saints of God
-- that our prayers shall be heard by our Father in heaven
even though they may be expressed only in groans.

The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us,
and His intercession is in accordance with the mind and will of God.

What a glorious guarantee!

If left to ourselves, we put too much of one ingredient or another into our prayer and spoil the sacred compound.
But the Holy Spirit's intercessions have a blessed blending of all that is good
and they go up to God as a sweet perfume.

The intercessions of which this text is speaking are only for the saints.
The Holy Spirit makes intercessions in us that are consistent with the divine will of God.

In verse 27, we see something of the true nature of prayer,
which lies not so much in gifts as in graces,
and is a work of the Spirit in the sanctifying operations of prayer.

In verse 26, Paul had said, "for us."
Now he adds, "for the saints," that he might show under what conditions
the intercession mentioned becomes available to us.
This verse affords us the observation which arises out of it, and that observation is
-- only the saints can truly and effectively pray. (Psalm 32: 6; Proverbs 15: 8; Psalm 145: 19)

It is the saints, emphatically and exclusively,
for whom the Spirit makes such intercession as related here in verse 27.

This is not the first work of the Spirit in us.
First, He sanctifies.
Then, He intercedes.

First, He puts into us gracious dispositions.
Then, He stirs up holy desires.

In those in whom the Spirit is a Spirit of intercession,
He has been to them a Spirit of regeneration.
These are joined together in Zechariah 12: 10:
"The Spirit of grace and of supplication."

No one is able to pray for himself, for whom Christ does not also pray.
We can only approach God by the Spirit.
"We have access by one Spirit to the Father." (Ephesians 2: 18)

We can only pray under the influence and aid of the Holy Spirit
with groanings which cannot be uttered;
and He makes intercession for us according to the will of God.

From all of this, we see how certain it is that these groanings
which cannot be uttered are heard and consequently answered.

For "This is the confidence that we have in Him,
that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us."

Such prayers and sighs excited in the saints by the Holy Spirit
are according to the will of God.
The Spirit Himself being God leaves no doubt
that these prayers are agreeable to God.

So, it is impossible for our cares and needs to be mismanaged
for such intercession is according to the will of God.

Therefore, the thought of the passage is:
as God searches the hearts of the children of God,
He finds unuttered and unutterable groanings.