shining dove with rays on a dark golden background
Bible Question:
I do not know of any scripture that tells us to worship or pray to the Holy Spirit. Nor, for that matter, do we pray to Jesus. We pray to the Father in Jesus’ name. Specifically, we are told to make our supplications to God (Phil. 4:6). The word “God” means the “Father. ” Now, just one other argument from logic for not praying to the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us pray. If the Spirit Himself helps us pray “to” God then is He helping us pray to Himself? The Spirit is obviously not going to pray to Himself.
Bible Answer:
You are partly correct. Should we pray to God? The answer is yes, because Jesus encourages us to pray to God the Father (see below). We can also pray to Jesus, because the early church prayed to Jesus. But we are never encouraged to pray to the Holy Spirit nor are there any examples of people praying to the Holy Spirit?
Prayer To the Father
Jesus encouraged us to pray to God. He did not encourage us to pray to anyone else. He taught His disciples to pray in what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. It is actually Our Prayer. Jesus would not have prayed this prayer because He never sinned.
Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (NASB) Matt. 6:9-15
All throughout the New Testament we find that the apostles and early Christians prayed to God.
| Passage | Question |
|---|---|
| Acts 12:5 | So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. (NASB) |
| Acts 16:25 | But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God . . . (NASB) |
| 2 Cor. 13:7 | Now we pray to God that you do no wrong . . . (NASB) |
| Philippians 4:6 | Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (NASB) |
| Colossians 1:3 | We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you . . (NASB) |
| Heb. 13:15 | Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God . . . (NASB) |
Prayer To Jesus
Prayer is simply making a request of God. That is what Stephen did just before he died. He asked Jesus to receive his spirit.
And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep. (NASB) Acts 7:59-60
He prayed to Jesus. Prayer can be formal or it can be informal. Stephen prayed to Jesus.
Prayer To the Holy Spirit
We have seen that we can pray to God the Father and to Jesus. What about the Holy Spirit? The New Testament does not record any time that an apostle or someone in the early church prayed to the Holy Spirit. What we do find is that the Holy Spirit helps us pray.
And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (NASB) Romans 8:26-27
Since He knows our thoughts and our heart. He helps us pray. That is why the apostles encourage all believers to pray in the Holy Spirit and not to Him.
| Passage | Question |
|---|---|
| Ephesians 2:18 | . . . for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (NASB) |
| Ephesians 6:18 | With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit . . . (NASB) |
| Jude 20 | But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit . . . (NASB) |
Conclusion:
The Holy Spirit helps us to pray to both God the Father and to Jesus Christ. That is His ministry to us. Have you cried to God and pleaded with Him to hear and understand you? The Holy Spirit helped you and prayed along with you. It is like the little girl who told God a joke.
Susanna, an eight year old, was rebuked by her mother for laughing while saying her bedtime prayers. “It’s okay, Mom,” she replied, “I was just sharing a joke with God.”
Her mother did not understand her daughter’s heart but the Holy Spirit did! Does God hear your prayers? Does He understand you and your prayers? Oh, yes! God hears and understand your prayers. He loves you and gives to you what is best.
https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/can-we-pray-to-the-holy-spirit/
