It is good that Romans 8:261 is in the Bible. It is good to know that the spirit helps us with our prayers. It is good to know that others have trouble praying sometimes.
We may have greater trouble praying now than in the past. We have not had many good models from which to learn. The Psalms are a lot of things to us. Their value as models of prayer has not been explored as much as it ought to be.
Useful structure
The structure of this psalm might be a useful model for our prayers in certain situations.





There is a call for help in verse 1-5.
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; 2 deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. 3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, 4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Awake, come to meet me, and see! 5 You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.
This is followed by a description of the enemies in verses 6-7.
Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths with swords in their lips— for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
Then there is an expression of confidence in the Lord in verse 8-10.
But you, O Lord, laugh at them; you hold all the nations in derision. 9 O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress. 10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
Then all three elements are repeated in different terms. Another call for help is given in verse 11-13; another description of the enemies is given in 14-15, It all ends with an expression of confidence in the Lord in 16-17.
But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
This is not a universal pattern for prayer on every occasion. There are other models elsewhere; but this one would be useful at times when we are suffering and seem bogged down in our prayers: Call for help, describe the problem, express confidence in the Lord, repeat.
The confidence of this psalm is certainly a model.
Spiritual “dogs” have been, are, and will continue to be a fact of life in this sinful world (see John 16:33; 2 Tim 3:12; 2 Cor 11:25-28). Some of the solutions people have come up with are little more than useless, others are worse than useless. We should not and cannot just withdraw from everyone (see 1 Cor 5:9-10). We must not resort to personal violence (Rom 12:14-21). We should not go on granting more power to the government or more layers of government in the attempt to eliminate evil.
Ultimately, we must learn to trust the Lord. Trusting him does not preclude seeking redress by means he has authorized. But sometimes, perhaps often, no redress will be possible. We simply must trust. We may not feel like trusting, but we need to do it anyway. With practice, it may become more natural.
1 Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.