Prayer: How to Know God

 Romans 8: 26-28
 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

I have to admit when I first saw these verses, I looked at them from a totally incorrect viewpoint. When I saw the the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that we aren't able to verbalize, I thought immediately what was being said is that when you're hurting so much that all you can do is groan, that the Holy Spirit prays for you because you don't understand what's going on or how to pray about it. I even thought of when Hannah prayed for a son at the temple for years and couldn't even speak out loud she was so sorrowful, and God answered her prayers, right? Stop . . . and rewind.  

Why would I want the Holy Spirit to only intercede when I'm so frustrated or sad I don't know what to say? I mean, I don't know the Lord's will, so why should I control my prayer until I can't handle life anymore? That is the wrong way of thinking on so many levels. First of all, it's saying that we only go to God when we feel like we can't handle life anymore (aka only during the bad times) Prov. 3:5-6 
 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
 Not to mention, our suffering is really the grace of God to us because it reveals the glory of God in us and in turn allows us to be part of the spread of the Gospel. Rom. 8:16-18
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

So what are these groanings? And is the Holy Spirit always interceding for us?  Romans 8:19-25

 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

It says here that all of creation groans and travails (like a women in childbirth in other versions) and that we as Christians (clearly speaking about Christians due to the statment that we "have the firstfruits of the Spirit") also groan in our waiting- for what? 

All of creation is effected by sin- If you think about it, when Adam had sinned he now had to till the land- there were thorns and weeds that effected creation. Sin is why childbirth is painful, why we must be clothed, etc. Needless to say, this world is full of sin and everyone and every  part of creation is effected by it. Rom. 5:12&15

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

So our groanings are simply our limitation on this sin-bound planet living in our imperfect bodies and minds. We as Christians have been forgiven and have unlimited access to the throne of grace, but we still live in a sinful world with an inherent sin nature. However, we have hope because we know we will be fully redeemed finally in heaven and all our sorrow, physical weakness, and sin nature will be gone! We will live with our Lord in Heaven, when we finally get to claim all of what we have gained as being a joint-heir in Christ! We all "groan" and yearn in anticipation of that time! Paul struggled with this himself in Romans 7:21-25

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
( **Note- this does not mean that we are helpless to sin!! The Holy Spirit lives within us and we have all that power to resist the devil. There is always the option to say no to sin- we are joint-heirs with Christ and while no one is perfect yet, the Lord has made us conquerors over sin and death! see I Cor. 10:13) 

It's very typical of all of us to immediately jump to the conclusion that prayer is centered around us and the needs that we want God to so desperately fix. We have it all wrong- where we see a crisis, God sees His will, yet we beg Him to snatch us out of it in fear. How our lives would be transformed if God was truly the center of our prayer! 
Phil. 4:6-7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I think we all desperately seek that peace, but don't allow God to give it to us. It is yours now, child of God, so claim it! We may pray sincerely and it may be against God's will because we don't know His will (e.g.- healing of a family member that dies from the disease), but the Holy Spirit knows and the will of God will be accomplished! In a beautiful picture of the trinity, we see Christ understanding the mind of the Spirit that intercedes for the will of the Father to be done in us. So next time you see an "unanswered prayer," realize that God's will is being accomplished and is perfect, and you are an imperfect person who God will lead even when you don't understand, and then . . . be at peace! 

The Lord's Will is going to be accomplished- so the real question is, are you going to allow God to do the work in you needed to be able to be a part of what God is doing? When God works in you through suffering, do you merely see an unanswered prayer?

So let's get to the practical application: Prayer is something that we should ask for help with. I know a lot of times prayer is our laundry list- we confess (as we should) for sins that have been committed, but are we seeking the Holy Spirit's help to reveal sin in our lives that we are not aware of? We bring our requests to the Lord (as we should), but do we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how God can meet those needs by focusing on the many names and attributes of the Lord that are appropriate to that need? David does this in the Psalms numerous times! (Taken from Praying With Your Eyes Open referenced below)

Ps. 85:4
Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
Ps.31:3
 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.


Prayer is more about learning to surrender to God and allowing Him to reveal Himself to you than it is a daily laundry list or a repetition. Are your prayers focused on God Himself or are they just focused on what you hope He will do?  God already has your needs covered-but He wants you to depend on Him and learn more about Him by bringing your sins and requests to the Lord. He then empowers you to live a victorious life by removing the sin that only He sees, and showing you Himself in the needs you have. Have we ever prayed to simply learn more about God and ask Him to reveal Himself to us so that He can be more revealed in us? 

You come to prayer with fear and guilt. You leave with a renewed love and confidence in the Lord and sufficiency of His sacrifice over your sin, and peace because His will is going to be accomplished. You praise Him for it, and you easily yield to His will because of your peace.

Rom. 8: 28
 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Can you say you truly know?

After reading these scriptures thoroughly, I suggest reading Pray with Your Eyes Open by Richard L. Pratt, Jr. He offers practical insight into ways we can learn to make God the center of our prayer lives.