would mean we are in danger of experiencing condemnation and hence separation from God’s love. The answer is firstly that, ‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness … because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will’ (8:26–27). This refers to the fact that the Spirit aids our own prayer even when that prayer is reduced to inarticulate groans to God. This establishes the subjective fact that even when we feel at our lowest, God does not abandon us. Verses 28ff. take up the more