The Great Eight · Romans 8:26–27 · Week 4
In week four of The Great Eight, a series on Romans 8, Pastor Mark English of Christian Life Church in Bensalem, PA, teaches from Romans 8:26–27 on what to do when you don’t know what to pray. Your weakness doesn’t disqualify you from God’s help. The Holy Spirit comes alongside you, carries the load with you, and intercedes for you in line with the will of God.
Key Highlights
What to Remember
Your weakness doesn’t disqualify you from God’s help.
God’s presence isn’t measured by how quickly your problems disappear.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t just cheer you on. He carries the load with you.
The Spirit always leads you toward the will of God, never away from it.
Romans 8:26–27
When Words Run Out
Romans 8 sums up our relationship with the Lord, the character of God, and what He has done for us. Pastor Mark encouraged everyone to read it often and get it into their hearts. (Over the coming year, he plans to preach through it verse by verse.)
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
Romans 8:26–27
Have you ever faced something so overwhelming that you didn’t know how to pray? Pastor Mark has. At 26, he was alone when he heard the word “cancer,” and he had no words. Standing with Christie at their daughter’s graveside, there were no words. Maybe for you it’s a marriage, a diagnosis, or a financial crisis you’ve prayed about so long you don’t know what to ask anymore.
- Creation groans (verse 22).
- Believers groan (verse 23).
- The Spirit groans on our behalf (verse 26).
The Spirit knows our weakness, our heart, and the Father’s will, and He intercedes for us.
Point 1 · Romans 8:26
Your Weakness Doesn’t Disqualify You
Paul doesn’t say the Spirit helps us when we’re strong. He helps us in our weakness. “Weakness” means frailty, lack of strength, the limits of our human condition. We are saved and we belong to God, yet we still live in a fallen world and still struggle. Weakness isn’t proof God has abandoned you. It’s an opportunity to depend on the Spirit who lives in you. And notice: the Spirit doesn’t remove our weakness. He helps us in it.
In Gethsemane, Jesus took Peter, James, and John a little farther with Him to pray. Yet when He came back, they were sleeping.
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41
The closer you get to Jesus, the smaller the crowd becomes. If you have three friends who will pray with you, do life with you, and help carry your burdens, you’re wealthy.
Do you have three people you could call right now and say, “Pray with me”?
Ever started praying and found your mind wandering to last night’s game? That’s our human weakness, and that’s exactly where the Holy Spirit helps us pray and keeps us aligned with God’s will.
2 Corinthians 12:7–10
Grace in the Weakness
Weakness isn’t sin, and neither is suffering. Paul described a “thorn in the flesh.” We don’t know exactly what it was, and many theories have been offered, but it troubled him enough that he asked God three times to remove it. God answered:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
Paul wanted deliverance from the weakness. God promised sustaining grace in it. Paul concluded, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). You can’t read the New Testament and escape the reality that believers sometimes suffer.
Sometimes God shows His power by removing the problem, and we keep praying for healing and miracles. Other times He shows His power by sustaining us through it.
God’s presence isn’t measured by the immediate removal of our problems.
He never leaves you nor forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5).
Pastor Mark told of a woman in our church battling serious cancer who still comes every Sunday and lifts her hands in worship. Who is sustaining her? The Holy Spirit. The reason you still have hope, the reason you’re still here after the enemy said you wouldn’t make it, is His sustaining work. God doesn’t wait for you to become strong before He comes alongside you.
Ask yourself: Have I let my weakness drive me away from God when it should draw me closer to Him?
Point 2 · Luke 10:40
The Spirit Carries the Load
The word “helps” in Romans 8:26 means to take hold together with someone and help them bear a burden. It isn’t watching and cheering. It’s getting under the weight with them.
When a huge tree came down in Pastor Mark’s yard, someone from church didn’t just call to say, “I’m praying for you.” He showed up with a group of guys and cut it up in a couple of hours.
That’s the kind of help the Holy Spirit gives.
The same Greek word appears in Luke 10, when Martha, busy in the kitchen while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, said, “Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40). Martha wasn’t asking for encouragement. She wanted someone to take hold of the work with her. Let’s be believers who don’t just say “I believe in you,” but come alongside and help carry each other’s burdens.
Jesus promised to send “another advocate to help you” (John 14:16). The word, parakletos, describes one called alongside to help. The Spirit doesn’t always remove the weight, but He will never let you carry it alone.
Point 3 · Romans 8:26
When You Don’t Know What to Pray
Most of us want to pray. The problem is we aren’t always good judges of what we need, because our horizon is limited. Pastor Mark had a flight that afternoon. He knew the time, but nothing about the pilots or the plane. God knows it all. He said he’s thankful God didn’t answer some of his early prayers, which came from his own desires rather than God’s will.
The Holy Spirit is a person, not an “it.” Jesus said, “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you” (John 16:7). He convicts us of sin, encourages us, and turns our minds to Jesus. And we have two intercessors: Jesus at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34) and the Holy Spirit with us here on earth. Pastor Mark described the Spirit’s work as sanctification, shaping our character as we live this life.
Pastor Mark has watched people who were bitter and hard to be around come to Jesus and suddenly ask, “Pastor, how can I help?”
That’s the Holy Spirit changing a person’s character.
Paul says the Spirit intercedes “through wordless groans.” Pastor Mark noted that this verse isn’t specifically about speaking in tongues. It’s for every believer: deep within, the Spirit helps us when our needs go beyond words.
In Gethsemane, Jesus was so overwhelmed that “his sweat was like drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). And He prayed:
“Abba, Father … everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Mark 14:36
When you come to your own “nevertheless,” not my will but Yours, the Holy Spirit is helping you pray it.
We can’t surrender our will to the Father’s will without Him.
Point 4 · Romans 8:27
Always in Line with God’s Will
God “searches our hearts.” Our fears, motives, pain, and disappointment are all known to Him. And the Father and the Spirit are in perfect harmony. The Spirit’s intercession is always consistent with the will of God. He leads us toward it, never away from it, even when we don’t understand or like it.
After a service, a woman told Pastor Mark that years into her marriage, she was so hurt she began praying, “God, help me fall out of love with him.” Then the Holy Spirit spoke to her heart: “Your husband isn’t the problem. You are.” She started praying differently.
Seventeen years later, God is still doing a work in their marriage.
Paul wanted to preach in Asia, but the Holy Spirit kept him from it. He tried Bithynia, and the Spirit closed that door too. Then Paul had a vision of a man saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:6–10). That “no” led the gospel into Europe. The Spirit doesn’t just see the horizon. He sees beyond it. Just because something is good doesn’t mean it’s what God wants for you right now.
When Pastor Mark’s young son struggled with asthma, he would wheeze and cling to his dad. Pastor Mark didn’t say, “Hang in there, buddy.” He got the nebulizer, because a father knows what to do.
Even when you don’t know how to pray, run to the Father. He gave you the Spirit.
James 5:16
You Don’t Have to Carry It Alone
- What burden have I been trying to carry without the Holy Spirit’s help?
- What situation have I stopped praying about because I don’t know what else to say?
- Where do I need to surrender my desired outcome and trust God’s wisdom?
Praying “not my will” can feel scary, but God already knows the way, and His way is better.
At the recent men’s conference, the speaker asked every man to find another man, admit a struggle he was facing, and pray for each other. Everyone struggles. The world says admitting it makes you weak, but Scripture says God “shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6) and tells us to “pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). When you think you have it all together, you push help away. The moment you admit your need, God helps.
“You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). Don’t walk out carrying what you could lay down. Release it and say, “Holy Spirit, I can’t carry this anymore. I give it to You.” He will help you, sustain you, and strengthen you.
Questions About This Message
Romans 8:26–27 Explained
What does Romans 8:26 mean?
Romans 8:26 says the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, especially when we don’t know what to pray. Instead of waiting for us to become strong, the Spirit comes alongside us and intercedes for us through wordless groans, carrying needs we can’t put into words.
What does “the Spirit helps us” mean in Romans 8:26?
The Greek word for “helps” means to take hold together with someone to help carry a burden. The same word appears in Luke 10:40 when Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just encourage us from a distance; He shares the load.
What are the “wordless groans” in Romans 8:26?
They describe the Holy Spirit’s deep intercession for believers when our needs go beyond our ability to express them. Pastor Mark noted this verse is not specifically about speaking in tongues; it is a promise for every believer that the Spirit prays on our behalf.
Does the Holy Spirit always pray according to God’s will?
Yes. Romans 8:27 says the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. The Father and the Spirit are in perfect harmony, so the Spirit always leads us toward God’s will, as He redirected Paul from Asia to Macedonia in Acts 16.
Why doesn’t God always remove our weakness?
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul asked three times for his “thorn” to be removed, and God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Sometimes God removes the problem; other times He shows His power by sustaining us through it.
Bring Him your weakness.
Let Him carry the load.
Pray “nevertheless.”
You never pray alone.
Life Group Discussion
Reflect and Respond
Use these questions to continue the conversation, reflect honestly, and let the message move beyond information into transformation.
Even when you don’t know what to pray,
the Spirit prays for you.
