The Spirit Himself  

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  

Romans 8:26  

Believers have two great Intercessors, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Both of them are successful in their intercession. They intercede differently from one another. Christ’s intercession is that of the High Priest. He intercedes by His Presence at the throne of God. He presents Himself there as the Head of His Body. Hebrews declares that He ‘ever lives to make intercession for us.’ Therefore, ‘Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession….Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Thus, we have the guarantee that God will hear us because of His intercession. Our text speaks of the Holy Spirit’s intercession. His intercession is more verbal and visceral. The Holy Spirit intercedes just as powerfully and effectively as Christ, but He does so in an emotionally intimate way. One intercession is not better than the other, but they are different. When we pray, we often fumble about. We do not really know what we should pray for as we ought. We need the Holy Spirit to reframe our feeble, faltering prayers into what they should be. He does this by His intercession. He takes what is from our heart and conveys it to the heart of God in the form it should be. This is a great favor to us. It means we can pray from our hearts with confidence. The Holy Spirit will succeed on our behalf.   

Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You want us always to pray,  
and not lose heart. 
We praise You that You have provided  
these two great Intercessors for us.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning