John Calvin Commentary Romans 8:26

"And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for [us] with groanings which cannot be uttered;" — Romans 8:26 (ASV)

And likewise the Spirit, etc. So that the faithful may not make this objection—that they are too weak to bear so many and such heavy burdens—he presents to them the aid of the Spirit, which is abundantly sufficient to overcome all difficulties.

Therefore, there is no reason for anyone to complain that bearing the cross is beyond their own strength, since we are sustained by a celestial power.

There is great force in the Greek word συναντιλαμβάνεται, which means that the Spirit takes on Himself a part of the burden by which our weakness is oppressed, so that He not only helps and succors us, but lifts us up, as though He went under the burden with us.

The word infirmities, being in the plural number, expresses extremity. For as experience shows, unless we are supported by God’s hands, we are soon overwhelmed by innumerable evils. Paul reminds us that though we are in every respect weak, and various infirmities threaten our fall, there is still sufficient protection in God’s Spirit to preserve us from falling and to keep us from being overwhelmed by any mass of evils.

At the same time, these supplies of the Spirit more clearly prove to us that it is by God’s appointment that we strive, by groanings and sighings, for our redemption.

For what we should pray for, etc. He had spoken before of the testimony of the Spirit, by which we know that God is our Father, and relying on which, we dare to call on Him as our Father. He now refers again to the second part, invocation, and says that we are taught by the same Spirit how to pray and what to ask in our prayers. And he has appropriately connected prayers to the anxious desires of the faithful, for God does not afflict them with miseries so that they may inwardly feed on hidden grief, but so that they may unburden themselves by prayer and thus exercise their faith.

At the same time, I know that there are various interpretations of this passage, but Paul seems to me to have simply meant this: that we are blind in our addresses to God. For though we feel our evils, our minds are too disturbed and confused to rightly choose what is fitting and expedient. If anyone makes this objection—that a rule is prescribed to us in God’s Word—to this I answer that our thoughts nevertheless continue oppressed with darkness until the Spirit guides them by His light.

But the Spirit Himself intercedes, etc. Though in reality or by the outcome it does not appear that our prayers have been heard by God, yet Paul concludes that the presence of celestial favor already shines forth in the desire for prayer, for no one can, of himself, give birth to devout and godly aspirations.

The unbelieving do indeed babble their prayers, but they only trifle with God, for there is in them nothing sincere, serious, or rightly formed. Hence, the way to pray correctly must be prompted by the Spirit. And He calls those groanings unutterable—into which we break forth by the impulse of the Spirit—for this reason: because they far exceed the capability of our own minds.

And the Spirit is said to intercede, not because He really humbles Himself to pray or to groan, but because He stirs up in our hearts those desires which we ought to cherish. He also affects our hearts in such a way that these desires, by their fervency, penetrate to heaven itself.

And Paul has spoken this way so that he might more significantly ascribe the whole to the grace of the Spirit. We are indeed commanded to knock, but no one can, of himself, premeditate even one syllable, unless God, by the secret impulse of His Spirit, knocks at our door and thus opens our hearts for Himself.