Should we pray to the Holy Spirit?
We can pray for the Holy Spirit, but can we pray to the Holy Spirit?
There is no example in the New Testament of anybody ever praying to the Holy Spirit!
Yes, the Holy Spirit is a person. Yes, the Holy Spirit is divine. So the Holy Spirit is a divine person.
But nobody in the New Testament ever prays to the Holy Spirit.
There are also calls to “pray in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18) and there is “praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20), but not exhortation to pray to the Spirit!
But I’m convinced that we can and even should – on some specific occasions – pray to the Holy Spirit.
This is not about a scriptural proof-texting, but about the logic of the Trinity.
If we believe that there is one God, in three persons, and each person of the Trinity is Eternal, Almighty, God, and Lord, equal in glory and majesty – then, to use the language of the Athanasian Creed says – “we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.”
That would apply to prayer as well.
Here I need to introduce you to Basil of Caesarea, a fourth-century bishop and theologian, and his book On the Holy Spirit. Basil’s big idea is that you cannot separate the Spirit from the Father and the Son. The Spirit is not expendable nor inferior to the other members of the Godhead.
Where you have prayer and worship to the triune God, there too, you have the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit can empower our prayer and even intercede to assist with our prayer. But the Holy Spirit can also be the object of our prayers for areas of which the Holy Spirit is known for in the operation of divine grace.
In many prayers of the Latin and Greek tradition, there are petitions to the Holy Spirit for knowledge, holiness, comfort, unity, and strength.
So, if you are going to pray to receive the Spirit of truth and testimony, if you are going to pray to receive the Spirit of wisdom and words given by the Spirit, then it makes sense to ask the Spirit for wisdom and words, it makes sense to ask the Spirit to guide you in the truth, and to strengthen you for testimony. That’s an appropriate thing to ask the Spirit for!
Precisely why St. Augustine could pray, “O Holy Spirit, enlighten my mind and purify my heart” and Gregory of Nazianzus prayed, “Holy Spirit, grant us the gifts of wisdom and understanding.”
In various ancient liturgies, during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, there would be prayers to the Holy Spirit to sanctify the elements and the people receiving them. Prayers for the Holy Spirit to make holy communion actually holy.
In the annual celebration of Pentecost, it makes sense to pray that the Holy Spirit would again fill people with power to proclaim the gospel and do miraculous things.
During ordinations, in some denominations, there are prayers to the Holy Spirit to empower the ordinands for their ministry as deacons, priests, pastors, or bishops.
That is why one of the most ancient prayers is, “Come, Holy Spirit!” Such a prayer is probably rooted in scriptural reflection from places in the OT (e.g., 1 Sam 10:6) and the NT (e.g., Lk 1:35; Jn 1:32; 15:26; 16:13) where the Holy Spirit comes upon people and it made sense to not only ask the Father for the Spirit, but to ask the Spirit directly to come and do a spiritual work at a proper time.
Prayers to the Holy Spirit are not found in Scripture, but they accord with the logic of the Trinity, and have precedent in the ancient church.
Praying to the Holy Spirit should only be done for those very specific areas for which the Spirit is known to work like giving knowledge, holiness, and strengthening. Also, prayers to the Spirit should always be accompanied by prayers to the Triune God, the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is not the spirit of the age, not the force from Stars Wars, nor a divine mist that appears when we sing “10,000 Reasons” for the 10th time. The Holy Spirit is only available to us as the Spirit who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26) and receives from the Son (John 16:15). The Spirit is the promise of the Father (Lk 24:49; Acts 1:4; 2:3) and the paraclete sent by Jesus (John 14-15). It is through Jesus that we have access to the Father by one Spirit (Eph 2:18).
So when it comes praying to the Holy Spirit, don’t imagine trying to support it with a proof-text from Scripture; instead, think about how to prosecute and follow the Trinitarian logic of Scripture.
For, in the context of our Trinitarian faith, it is right, fitting, and desirable to pray: Come Holy Spirit!
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