Another Comforter

"But I have prayed for you ..."
Jesus, in Luke 22:32

"The Spirit prays for us according to the will of God ..."
Paul, in Romans 8:27

When Moses was about to die, he promised Israel that God would raise up a prophet like him from among them. This was Jesus. Likewise, when Jesus was about to die, he promised his disciples that God would send them "another Comforter". This was the holy Spirit.

The Greek word "another" that is used in this verse is a word that means "another of the same kind", not another of a different kind. Jesus was telling his disciples that they would be helped, or comforted, by the Spirit in the same way that he helped, or comforted, them. One example of this is found in th area of prayer.

Both Jesus and the holy Ghost pray for us. Jesus is our advocate with the Father (1Jn.2:1), interceding on our behalf (Heb. 7:25), and the holy Ghost is here within us, interceding for us to the Father (Rom. 8:26).

Even though our minds do not often understand what the holy Ghost is saying when it prays through us, we can rest assured that no one speaking by the Spirit is saying anything bad about Jesus (1Cor. 12:3). That is impossible because God’s Spirit is a Comforter of the same kind Jesus is – for us, not against us.