We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:22-25 NIV)
N. T. Wright in The Day The Revolution Began
“This is how it works. The Messiah suffered and won the victory over the powers of evil. The church, the Messiah’s people must suffer in the present, because they share the Messiah’s life, his raised-from-the-dead life, and this is the way to implement the Messiah’s victory. This is part of what it is to share in his ‘glory,’ his splendid rule over the world, which at present is exercised through the Spirit-led work and suffering of his people.
“And through their prayer. Paul joins all these themes together in a unique passage, Romans 8:26–27, that brings the inner dynamic of suffering together with the larger world-redeeming purpose. This time he is alluding to Psalm 44, which speaks of God searching the hearts of his people (v.21) and whose next verse, which Paul quotes a little later, refers to God’s people ‘being like sheep destibed for slaugter.’ The world-changing task of God’s people in the present, rooted in the Messiah’s victorious suffering, has its ultimate depth in prayer, particularly the prayer that comes from the indescribably depths of a sorrow-laden heart.”
In her essay “Sighs too deep for words” Helen Garner quotes that passage three times, searching for the best form.
“… once I asked Tim Winton about praying: I said ‘I want to do it, but I don’t know how’: he referred me to Romans 8:26, which goes as follows.
“(KING JAMES) ‘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.’
“(NEW JERUSALEM) And as well as this, the spirit too comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then, the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words.’
“(REVISED STANDARD VERSION) ‘Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.’
“The third. No contest. Because of the phrase ‘with sighs too deep for words'”
And N. T. Wright, who goes on to quote that same passage from his own The Kingdom New Testament use that same phrase.
(Wright is careful to warn that seeking after suffering, or the glorification of it in Christian orgs, is abusive, but simply that we live in a 1 Peter time when it will come.)
