Henry found himself praying uncontrollably on the floor, his face full of tears and his hands on his tummy, groaning in the Spirit. He continued this for several minutes until there was a note of victory in his heart. Later on, he heard that some thieves had attacked his neighbours while he was at school, but they refused to enter his own home.
This experience exemplifies the powerful nature of intercessory prayer through the Holy Spirit. This is one of the most important kinds of prayer, one in which the Holy Spirit Himself prays through you in intercession for the saints. That’s what we read in our opening verse above. There’s the one in which your spirit is praying in tongues, like the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:14: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
However, there’re times your spirit may have been praying, and it gets to the level where the Holy Spirit takes over that prayer. At that moment, it’s not your spirit that’s praying anymore but the Holy Spirit praying through you with deep sighs and groanings. You find yourself praying with intense, profuse, uncontrollable tears; you’re wailing, not out of sorrow or anguish but of soul-travail. No words are being formed; you even have to hold your stomach as though you’re in pain, but there’s no pain. It’s the Holy Spirit travailing in prayer through you.
Read our opening scripture again; it says the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that can’t be uttered in articulate speech. This is an amazing way to pray effectively, and it’s important that you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit to pray through you like this from time to time. It’s His work through you. When He prays through you, Romans 8:28 tells us the result: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Hallelujah!
