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.—Romans 8:26
Remember when Adam and Eve fell in the garden? The
fall shattered God’s image in human beings, and as a result there is cursing,
blasphemy and self-centeredness. Our prayer life has been corrupted; some
prayers are offensive to God. There were unauthorized prayers in Leviticus 10:1
and Numbers 3:4 (incense often symbolizes prayer). God reminds us that He does
not like the repetitive rote prayers of the pagans, and in Psalm 80:4, we see
that some prayers even make God angry.
So how do we pray the way that God would have us
pray? Well, when we become Christians the Holy Spirit lives in us. Romans 8:26
says, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness,” by praying for us the words
that we cannot express.
Sometimes our instinctive prayers show that we are
self-centered and self-serving. When we don’t like something, we pray against
it—we want our comfort; our prayers are often sentimental and timid, hoping
that He can do something, even as we seem to be resigned to our fate.
A believer can learn to be disciplined in his
prayer. As we study the Scripture, we can have prayer that is Spirit-enabled,
that the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray. Then it is God-centered, not
man-centered; reverent, bold, and fervent cooperation with the Holy Spirit. It
is persistent, it is Scriptural, and it is not about what we want but about what
God wants. It is a powerful means of grace.