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.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Rom 8:26-27).

Here’s an amazing promise: The God of all creation works through our prayers to do his will! That’s not because we have all that wisdom and insight to tell God how to run his universe. Instead, we are assured that, even when we do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit takes over our humble petitions, interceding for us.

I think of the Spirit’s work when I watch my mother decorate a cake. She glops the icing into a piping funnel and presses it through a decorator tip to create beautiful designs.

With my limited wisdom and tainted desires, my prayers are often like the icing glopped into the funnel. The Holy Spirit is the decorator tip. So, as I offer my messy petitions, he transforms them into God’s beautiful design – a design so perfect that all things work together for good.

Because the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, God answers our prayers better than we can ask them. So you do not need to know all answers and outcomes to pray well. Instead, humbly come to God with your needs, trusting him to deliver the answers that are best.

Prayer:
Lord, I confess I don’t always know how to pray or what to pray. But I thank you for the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for me with greater fervency that I can offer and transforms my humble desires according to your perfect design.