He intercedes for us according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-39 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? ³³ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written,

“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Matthew 6:5-13 Jesus says:  “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”  So Jesus gave us instructions both in how we should not pray; to be noticed by people or with the use of many words and also how we should pray. The prayer He gave us; the prayer He taught us to pray is more of a model for our prayer than it is a specific prayer that we pray for specific needs or situations. Still there are times when we do not have the words to pray. There are times when the circumstances are so difficult and we are so desperate that we can only cry out to the Lord.  In today’s text it says:  In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;  and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.   Often when we face difficult situations, we may pray asking for what we want then following with Your will be done. It is almost as if we don’t believe that our will and God’s will are the same, so we ask then concede. The Spirit always prays according to God’s will because the Spirit is one with God. As Jesus prayed and taught us to pray, it is God’s will that the kingdom of heaven would come to earth. So it is His will that in every situation we would see the realities of heaven affect the situations and circumstances of earth. Yet it seems as though that is not what we often see and experience.

Today’s text continues saying:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.   All of the situations and circumstances in our lives, even the ones which don’t turn out as we hope or expect, may not be caused by God. Bad things are not part of God’s perfect will, but rather the result of living in a fallen world. Yet God, in His compassion, will cause all things to work together for our good. An important part of God’s kingdom coming to earth is that it would become fully established in us; in those who are called according to His purpose. For God’s kingdom to come, we must be conformed to the image of His Son. When God first created Adam and Eve to establish His kingdom on earth, in Genesis 1:26-28 it says: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”   When we pray that God’s will would be done in a matter we are not conceding to a lesser outcome than what we want. We are seeking to be restored to His image and likeness so that we can have dominion over all the earth in accordance with His will.

The text says:  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   None of the difficult things we face, not even death can separate us from God’s love. Rather, as we allow all these things to work together according to God’s will, we are transformed, conformed and restored to the image and likeness of Christ. Jesus death on the cross did not separate Him from God, but rather through the resurrection He was restored to His place at the right hand of the Father where He too, along with the Spirit, intercedes for us. In John 17, the prayer that Jesus prayed on the night He was betrayed; the prayer that He prayed to the point that He sweat drops of blood, we get a glimpse of His intercession for us. Verses 20-24 say:  “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Because there is nothing that can separate me from Your love, in every circumstance and every situation may I truly and fully be one with You. May my transformation and my restoration to Your image and likeness; to becoming one with You, be a testimony to the world of Your glory and so may the realities of heaven affect the situations and circumstances of earth. According to Your will, may I be fully restored to the glory and the love You intended for me, before the foundation of the world. In Jesus name. Amen.