ACC ~ Romans 8 v26

THE SPIRIT HELPS IN OUR WEAKNESS. ORIGEN: Just as a sick man does not ask the doctor for things which will restore him to health but rather for things which his disease longs for, so likewise we, as long as we are languishing in the weakness of this life, will from time to time ask God for things which are not good for us. This is why the Spirit has to help us.

The weakness which the Spirit helps us with is our flesh. … Whenever the Holy Spirit sees our spirit struggling with the flesh and being drawn to it, he stretches out his hand and helps us in our weakness. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE SPIRIT IMPORTUNES. NOVATIAN: The Holy Spirit importunes the divine ears on our behalf “with sighs too deep for words,” thereby discharging his duties as advocate and rendering his services in our defense. He has been given to dwell in our bodies and to bring about our sanctification. THE TRINITY 29.16.

THE SPIRIT INTERCEDES ACCORDING TO HIS NATURE. AMBROSIASTER: Our prayers are weak because they ask for things contrary to reason, and for this reason Paul shows that this weakness in us is helped by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The Holy Spirit helps because he does not allow anything we ask for before the proper time or against God’s wishes to happen.

Paul says that the Spirit intercedes for us not with human words but according to his own nature. For when what comes from God speaks with God, it is obvious that he will speak in the same way as the one from whom he comes speaks. For the Spirit given to us overflows with our prayers in order to make up for our inadequacy and lack of foresight by his actions and to ask God for the things which will be of benefit to us. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE GIFT OF PRAYER. CHRYSOSTOM: The Spirit is always there to help us and to do his part. … Since we are ignorant of much that is profitable for us and we ask for things which are not profitable, the gift of prayer used to come into one person in the church, and he would be the person set aside to ask God for the things which would benefit them all. Here the word Spirit is the name which Paul gives to the kind of grace and to the soul who receives it and intercedes with God on our behalf. The one who was counted worthy of such a grace as this would stand with great attention, and with many mental groanings he would fall before God, asking the things which were profitable for all. Nowadays, the deacon is a symbol of this, when he offers up the prayers for the people. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

THE DECISIONS OF THE LORD. CHRYSOSTOM: It is not possible, says Paul, for us human beings to have a precise knowledge of everything. So we ought to yield to the Creator of our nature and with joy and great relish accept those things which he has decided on and have an eye not to the appearance of events but to the decisions of the Lord. After all, he knows better than we do what is for our benefit, and he also knows what steps must be taken for our salvation. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 30.16.

WE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PRAY AS WE OUGHT. AUGUSTINE: It is clear from what follows that Paul is speaking here about the Holy Spirit. … “We do not know how to pray as we ought” for two reasons. First, it is not yet clear what future we are hoping for or where we are heading, and second, many things in this life may seem positive but are in fact negative, and vice versa. Tribulation, for example, when it comes to a servant of God in order to test or correct him may seem futile to those who have less understanding. … But God often helps us through tribulation, and prosperity, which may be negative if it traps the soul with delight and the love of this life, is sought after in vain.

The Spirit sighs by making us sigh, arousing in us by his love a desire for the future life. “The Lord your God tempts you so that he might know whether you love him,” that is, to make you know, for nothing escapes God’s notice. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 54.

THE SPIRIT HIMSELF INTERCEDES. AUGUSTINE: The Spirit that intercedes is nothing but the same charity which the Spirit has wrought in you. … Charity itself groans in prayer, and he who gave it cannot shut his ears to its voice. Cast away care, let charity make request, and the ears of God are ready to listen. The answer comes—not what you want but what is to your advantage. HOMILIES ON 1 JOHN 6.8.

AUGUSTINE: The Holy Spirit, who intercedes with God on behalf of the saints, does not groan as if he were in need and experiencing distress. Rather he moves us to pray when we groan, and thus he is said to do what we do when he moves us. AGAINST THE MANICHEES 1.22.34.

AUGUSTINE: We must not deduce from this that either the apostle or those to whom he spoke were unacquainted with the Lord’s Prayer. We think that the reason Paul says that we do not know how we should pray … was because temporal trials and troubles are often useful for curing the swelling of pride or for proving and testing our patience, and by this proving and testing winning for it a more glorious and precious reward; or for chastising and wiping out certain sins, while we, ignorant of these benefits, wish to be delivered from all trouble. LETTER 130.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: We find it difficult to express in words the desire of our prayer, which we have conceived in the heart. This is why Paul adds that the Spirit prays for us with sighs which cannot be uttered. Therefore God, who tries the hearts, knows how much we desire to believe, even if we cannot comprehend it in words. Furthermore, he knows that we ask him for holy things and not for things of this world, according to his will. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: The Spirit helps us in accordance with the hope we have, so that we may request not earthly things but heavenly ones. For our ability is weak unless it is helped by the Holy Spirit. We still see through a glass darkly, and often what we judge to be helpful is actually harmful. Therefore our requests may not be granted by divine providence, as Paul says elsewhere. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: Do not think that you will be set free by things which are harmful. You do not know what is good for you in the way that God does. Therefore, give yourselves to him who holds the key to the universe. For even if you ask nothing but merely groan under the impulse of the grace which dwells in you, he handles your affairs wisely and will ensure that you get what you need. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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