Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
“hope” = (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:—faith, hope.
These verses build directly on the previous verses. It was because of the anticipation and expectation of our adoption into God’s family through the resurrection that we were saved. Hope describes anticipation/expectation of something we haven’t yet seen. I compare this to a child who is promised a wonderful gift for acting according to his parents’ expectation. That child lives in hope for that wonderful gift. Once that gift is in sight, it is basically in his possession; there is no longer a place for hope. The time spent waiting to receive that gift is a time of eager anticipation and cheerful endurance (from the Greek for patience).
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
I think also is a better choice from the Greek for the word likewise. One of the benefits of having the Spirit is that He is there to give us strength when we are weak, to give us direction when we are not sure which way to go, to give us comfort when we are in pain, etc. He helps us in any area of weakness of the mind or body (from the Greek). How does He help us? He intercedes for us in prayer. He expresses our needs to the Father more perfectly and effectively than we can. He puts into the right words the things we struggle with putting into words. The Spirit intercedes for us with earnestness and intensity to get us through our difficult times. His prayers for us are beyond words we can articulate on our own.
I love this verse. There are so many times that I feel I just don’t know how to present my requests before God without sounding repetitive or rote. There are requests that are dear to my heart and always on my lips when I pray; I sometimes fear that they are beginning to sound rote or insincere. The Spirit is a part of me. He knows how to express those prayers in the proper way to the Father. Many times I ask for His intercession on my behalf in prayer, but He is interceding whether I ask or not.
Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Who is “he that searcheth the hearts?” The Lord God.
1Chronicles 28:9 …for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts:
Psalm 44:21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Paul affirmed the intimate connection with the Spirit and God in his letter to the Corinthians.
1Corinthians 2:10-11 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
The “spirit” is the rational part of our being—our mind, our thoughts. Paul is simply saying that just as the spirit of a man knows the thoughts of the man, the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God. The Spirit knows the thoughts of God and in turn knows our thoughts. When the Spirit intercedes for us, it will always be according to what He knows is God’s will for us. That is a wonderful comfort to this child of God.
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