“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” – Romans 8:26
At the heart of prayer is this deepening of this relationship with the Father and the Son. And if we believe that the Holy Spirit is intimately in union with the Father and the Son, then it makes sense for us that we would ask the Holy Spirit to overshadow us, to fill us, to move in us, so as to be able to help us to pray. It makes sense that we ask the Holy Spirit to help to show us the Father. The Holy Spirit can lead us to the Father, can reveal to us a Father who loves us, a Father who continues to see us and know us.
The Scriptures says the Father sees in secret. It’s the Holy Spirit that makes that revelation. The Holy Spirit allows us to call out to God as Abba. It’s also the Holy Spirit who overshadowed Jesus, the Holy Spirit who was upon Jesus in the Jordan when He was baptized. That God takes on flesh, and it is the Holy Spirit, when we’re able to be quiet and to be still, who can reveal that to us.
I think sometimes, honestly, when we pray, we have somewhat of a checklist mentality—that we pray, and there we go, we’ve got this little list. Okay, I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that – I need this and that. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. And, then, my prayer is done. If that’s the only way we’re praying, that’s still better than not praying.
“And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” – 1 Kings 19:12
I suggest that maybe God wants us to be able to be quiet, to be still. And I think it’s there—it’s there that we discover a deeper relationship with the Father. It’s there that we discover who Jesus is and who we are in relationship with Him and what He’s done for us. It’s in our silence and it’s in our stillness that we experience the promptings of the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit literally teaches us to pray.
Lord, we thank You that You have moved in our heart and that we desire to pray. Come, Holy Spirit. May I be overshadowed by Your Holy Spirit. Draw me into a deeper relationship with You. The Lord is drawing you out into a relationship with Him. Holy Spirit may I experience Your presence, Your peace, Your healing, Your encouragement, Your hope. Be present to me, Jesus. Be present to me, Father. Be present to me, Holy Spirit, as I strive to be present to You.