Romanos 8:26

‘And in the same way the Spirit also helps our infirmity, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,'

And in the same way as hope sustains us and aids us as we go forward with Christ at difficult times, so does the Spirit also sustain us. He ‘bears the burden of our infirmity (our bodily and spiritual weakness, especially as regards to prayer) along with us'. He aids us in our infirmity. But like many of the verbs in this passage the verb has in it the idea of togetherness. The same verb was used in LXX to describe the seventy elders in Números 11:17 as ‘bearing the burden along with Moses'. Thus the Spirit comes alongside us and, working together with us, helps us in our weakness. He bears our burdens along with us. And He does it by intercession on our behalf in a way beyond our ability to understand.

Others, however, see ‘in the same way' as indicating that the Spirit groans in the same way as we do, entering into our feeling of infirmity, and being a co-partner with us in our groaning. Both interpretations express what is true.

The fact that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought' indicates that prayer is very much in mind, whether through us or for us. And the probability is that we are to see the Spirit as interceding through us. As we pray in our weakness and frailty, not knowing what the will of God is, the Spirit groans through us as He intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered (because it is for what is beyond our knowledge). The fact of ‘groaning' suggests prayer at times when we are in some distress (it is in the context of ‘the sufferings of this present time' - Romanos 8:18), thus at times when we are most at a loss as to how to pray. In general we do know how to pray, for Jesus has taught us how to pray (even if we do tend to ignore what He most laid emphasis on). But there are times when we face situations where we are at a loss. And at such times we often cry, ‘Father, your will be done', or even do groan, not knowing what to say. How comforted we should be to think that as we do so the Spirit intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered, taking our prayer and making it specific in accordance with the will of God.

On the other hand it may be that we are to see the Spirit as praying for us, even at times when we fail to pray, ensuring that we are prayed for by One Who knows the mind of God, just as Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, prays and intercedes for us in Heaven, ‘ever living to make intercession for us' (Romanos 8:34; Hebreos 7:25).

There are no good grounds for connecting this groaning with speaking in tongues, if only because tongues were intended to be interpreted, and thus clear as to what was being prayed. The groaning here is for things beyond human conception. And it is not limited to those who have the gift of speaking in tongues.