THE HELP OF THE SPIRIT
Romans 8:26‑27
The Christian life is not an easy life. While the things demanded of the Christian seem to be relatively simple, they are not easy. While in college I remember a critic attacking a fellow for his Christian faith. He was especially critical of his strength of character, and accused him of being a "sissy". In those days this could be the ultimate of insults. My friend retaliated by simply asking, "If you think being a Christian is so easy, and those who are Christians are so weak, let me see if you are strong enough to carry this Bible openly across the campus all day." It is such a simple thing. Just to carry a Bible publicly, or to speak the name of Christ in witness, yet they are not easy. Many a strong person has lost his courage when faced with the task.

But we are not called on to live the Christian life by ourselves. We have a helper. Our Helper is the Holy Spirit of God who comes into our lives when we become Christians. He is there to provide aid in all of the tasks and responsibilities involved in being a Christian. His help is one of the bases for assurance of the ultimate outcome in the Christian life. Christianity is living life daily by the help of Almighty God Himself through His Holy Spirit. This is the context in which we find this wonderful statement about His help. We have been looking at the things which give us assurance. The help of the Holy Spirit must be considered in any such discussion. Two aspects of His help are put before us. First, we are told when we might expect His help, and then we are told of one specific way in which He provides help.

THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US AT THE POINT OF OUR WEAKNESS
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities." Obviously the "Spirit" is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. "Infirmities" is the word for weaknesses. In this context it probably refers to the awareness of weaknesses that come through the trials and sufferings of life. The Apostle is sharing with us why suffering and trials will not destroy the Christian in his walk of faith. Already he has pointed us to the hope that sustains a Christian in the midst of suffering. However, this does not mean that the Christian will not become aware of weakness during his times of suffering. Indeed, they will open his eye to see himself as he really is. He will truly begin to realize just how much flesh he really is.

Simon Peter discovered this truth experientially. He protested his unending loyalty to Jesus openly before the ordeal of the Cross. He was not speaking empty words. He was sincerely telling of what he felt he would do under such a crisis as the arrest and death of Jesus. But when the crisis really came, he was shattered with what he found out about himself. He found covered over in his heart a deep strain of cowardliness and fear. This surfaced and caused him to deny his Lord three times in the moment of crisis. But it is into just such a moment that the Holy Spirit has come to be our helper.

The specific instance of weakness listed by our text is that involving prayer. You may think, "Well, if there is anything that I know how to do, it is pray." True, you may feel confident that you could turn your face toward God in a moment of crisis with a genuine petition, but what would you pray for? This is the point of our weakness. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought." To pray effectively you must be confident that you know the will of God. Do you reason that if you are in trouble, then the will of God must be your deliverance? This would be wrong reasoning. It is not always that way. It was not that way for the Lord Jesus Himself. Our "weakness" in prayer involves two very basic things. First, we are almost totally ignorant of the future. If we knew how everything was going to turn out, it would be much easier to pray. Our knowledge of any situation is really very limited. We can never see more than just a small portion of the picture. Second, we are weak in prayer because we cannot always know what is the best thing in light of God's purposes. Many things that we would have quickly labeled the "worst thing that could happen'' in the end have proven to be the "best thing that could have happened". Our judgment as to what is the best and ultimate good are always very limited. These are the reasons we cannot always know what we should pray for. This is true especially in the time of crisis and trial.

However there is no special need to limit this word weakness. Whatever weakness you may feel in your life, the Holy Spirit is there to help you meet that weakness. "Helpeth'' is an interesting word. This particular word occurs only one other time in the New Testament. It was used by Martha in her request she made to Jesus concerning Mary. Martha was hot and bothered about having to do all of the kitchen and house work while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to his lessons. She protested by asking Jesus to send her to be kitchen to "help" with the work. The word means to come in alongside and to take hold of the load. It means to share in the carrying of the burden. It means to lend a helping hand. The Holy Spirit is the One who comes alongside to lend us a helping hand at the very points where we are weak. One such place is in our prayer life.

THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US BY INTERCEDING FOR US
How does the Holy Spirit help us? One good illustration of His help is the manner in which He aids us in prayer. He is truly our prayer‑helper. Paul explains, "But the Spirit Hi self maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." These words have been misunderstood by some so it should be helpful if we just took the time to explore their exact meaning. Exactly how does the Holy Spirit make intercession for us?

Some have understood this to mean that the Holy Spirit makes a direct intercession to God the Father on the behalf of the saints. We do know that the Lord Jesus presently carries on such a ministry of intercession for us. This would mean that we have two divine voices interceding directly to the Father on our behalf. However a careful comparison of Scripture with Scripture would seem to rule out this understanding. The things the Holy Spirit does, He does through people. There is no other indication in Scripture of Him having such a priestly ministry of intercession.

Rather we should understand this as referring to the personal aid He provides to us in our prayer life.  He is our Prayer‑Helper. He motivates, energizes, and directs our prayer life. In illustrating this, Spurgeon used three figures. He said that the Holy Spirit helps us like a prompter helps a speech maker. Did you ever have to recite a speech from memory, or perform a part in a play where it was necessary to have a prompter standing off stage to help you if you forgot your lines? The Holy Spirit is such a prompter. As we seek to stand before God, we often forget our lines in weakness. He is always there to help us make the right request and say the right words.

Spurgeon says that He is also like an attorney, an advocate. You are to stand before the judge. But as you stand there, you have your counselor at law standing by your side. When you do not know how to respond to a question, he is there to help you make the right answer. He is there to keep you aware of your rights and your needs. As we stand before God, who among us would be sufficient. But we have the Holy Spirit to stand beside us and to provide us all of the counsel that we need in such a position.

Spurgeon also used the figure of a father aiding his son. Maybe the father is teaching his son to shoot a bow. He stands behind the youngster, places his big hands over the lads smaller hands, adds his strength to the lads weakness, and they are able to shoot the bow where the lad could never send it alone. All of us were enabled to do many different things in our youth by our father in such a manner. The Holy Spirit is such a condescending and gracious and tender and understanding helper. He so aids us in making our prayers before God.

But what about the "groanings which cannot be uttered." These are the unutterable groans which the Holy Spirit evokes fr6m our human spirit. It is wrong to identify this in any way with the gift of speaking in other tongues. This is not an unutterable tongue, but an unutterable groan. The Holy Spirit brings to the spirit of the believer such a burden that he is just made to express his sense of need in a groan. The Holy Spirit expresses this groan before the Father according to the will of God.

That the Holy Spirit is the right helper for your prayer life is not difficult to see. He knows what you should pray for. He knows the situation fully. He knows every facet of the situation. Nothing is hidden from Him. Furthermore, He knows what the perfect will of God is for each situation. He knows exactly what you should pray for. "God, the one that searcheth the hearts knoweth the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of 6od.''

Whether I am praying for you, for the church, for the nations of the world, or for myself, the Holy Spirit is present to assist me in prayer. He helps me know what my petition should be. He helps me know which prayer will be consistent with the desires of the Heavenly Father for this situation. The Holy Spirit is a wonderful and effective helper.

Realizing that the Holy Spirit is your helper is a key to more effective praying. You can do this by beginning to acknowledge your need of his help. We are too slow in acknowledging to God that we are not strong. It humbles us to acknowledge that we are not strong in prayer and that we actually need a helper. But this is the point at which we will begin to know that Help of the Helper.

Furthermore, when He does try to help us, we should not quench his ministry of help. We should follow His leadership in prayer. When he moves our hearts to pray, we should pray. Whatever he leads us to pray for, we should pray for. He is the wonderful helper.

Knowing that He is present to lend such aid to us is another basis for assurance. Unless the Holy Spirit fails, the purpose of God will be worked out in our lives. Not even the sufferings and trials of life will be able to thwart the purpose of God. We will make it down the pathway of suffering into the day of glory.