Not as the world gives.. give I unto you
The Apostle Paul has an interesting approach to prayer.
He doesn’t end his prayers “in Jesus name.” Neither do his prayers sound like “The Lord’s Prayer” (Eph 1:16-20) (Eph 3:14-21).
In addition, Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that in our weakness we don’t even know what to ask God for. So, according to Paul, the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words (Rom 8:26).
Paul then says that the Father hears the Spirit who is praying for us with understanding that we don’t have (Rom 8:27).
In saying that we don’t know what to pray for, the Apostle certainly must have known how Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Matt 6:9-16). He had to have heard that Jesus told his followers that the Father would give them anything they asked for in his name (John 16:23-24).
Paul must also have known that the Apostle James wrote about how important it is not only to ask God for help, but to ask with right motives (James 4:2-3).
So why would the Apostle say that in our weakness and trouble we don’t know what to pray for, and must rely on the Holy Spirit’s work of translation and intercession for us?
Seems to me that, for openers, Paul is saying that, as God loves us with a love that is so much greater than our own (Rom 8:28-39), so his Spirit prays for us with prayers that the Father can be pleased to answer… to form a Christlike heart in us (v 29) …even as our own desire to honor and trust him is being tested in circumstances… that he alone understands.
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