In the evangelical world exists in many circles the
idea that the Holy Spirit, even though it is acknowledged as GOD, leads an
active but silent existence, serving the plan of God the Father and Jesus,
refusing any attention to Himself, and that it is sinful to address prayers to
Him.
If this is correct, then this extension of the
divinity would be more like an energy or an angel, than God Himself.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD
To start we need to establish that the Holy Spirit
is divine, meaning God.
The Bible calls openly the Holy Spirit God (Acts
5:3-4), and identifies Him as being of the same divine nature as YHWH and Jesus
(Romans 8:9; 2Corinthians 3:17), and that He should be honoured in the same way
as the Father (1Corinthians 3:16).
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT THE FATHER OR THE
SON
However, even though the Spirit shares the same
divine nature of YHWH and Jesus; He is neither YHWH not Jesus (Luke 3:22;
Matthew 4:1; John 14:16-17).
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
The Holy Spirit also not just an energy or unanimated
‘it’; but an entity with his own will. He speaks for Himself with full
authority (Acts 8:29; 13:2), and investigates YHWH’s inner self (1Corinthians
2:10-11) and intercedes intelligently on our behalf to YHWH (Romans 8:26-27)
DEALING WITH HIM
As the Holy Spirit is divine, equal to YHWH and
Jesus in essence, and has his own personality and speaks to us directly, we
also can speak back to Him as the people in the NT did (Acts 8:29; 11:12; 13:2),
which indicates that prayer to Him is naturally possible and did happen in the
apostolic church.
As the NT is not a systematic book of theology, but
a collection of lose writings and chronicles that reveal to us in a translucid
way the apostolic faith, many things are not explicit, except the mission of our
Lord Jesus Christ. But nevertheless, it is inspired guidance from God and the
only one fully trustable divine statement, so important things about the nature
of God are revealed in it, either through a direct manner or in a more discreet
way.
The Bible openly teaches the divine system of
worship of the Holy Trinity, which prayer to the Father, in the Name of the
Son, as guided by the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus in fact taught us to pray that
way (Matthew 6:9). However, He also said once:
“You may ask me for anything in my name,
and I will do it.”
John 14:14
And martyr Stephen prayed to Jesus directly,
commending to Him his spirit at the time of death (Acts 7:59).
These things are mentioned in Scripture, but never
were explicitly ordered by Jesus, except in John 14:14, which some argued against.
However, the NT leaves testimony of this practice in the times of the apostles;
and this can only be understood by the fact that Jesus was considered divine by
the disciples, and even though they knew of the supreme sovereignty of the
Father over the whole Trinity, they did pray to Jesus as He also was God. And
that is also the reason behind why our bodies are called ‘temples’ of the Holy
Spirit, because the recognized his divine nature, and that is why they obeyed
Him as God Himself.
In the same way, we can conclude we are free to pray
to the Spirit of God, directly on his own right, the same way we pray to the
Father and the Son, because He is God Almighty also, and He listens and has
mercy as God.
The day the prophets and teachers were fasting and
praying, and the Holy Spirit talked to them (Acts 13:1-2)), and they answered
to Him, they were praying to the Holy Spirit. And so, did any other who ‘talked’
to the Holy Spirit in the NT.
FINAL WORD
It is important that we pray to the Holy Spirit, as it
is important that we pray to Jesus directly, as much as we offer prayers and
worship to Lord YHWH.
Many Christians, wrongly, are used to pray only to
Jesus, others only to the Father, even though they profess to be trinitarians. They
don’t realize that to refuse prayer to any Person of the Holy Trinity is greatly
sinful, because we have in fact a direct relationship with every Person of the
Divine Trinity. We worship the Father, we are saved by the Son, and we follow
the guidance of the Spirit of GOD. How can we refuse to also pray to each of
them, without falling into sin?. It would be denying GOD his rightful worship.
All true worship must be addressed to every member of the Holy Trinity, ONE ETERNAL
GOD.
Praying to the Holy Spirit opens a direct
relationship with the fulness of God. Helps us to alternate with our Sanctifier,
and the Guide of our lives, and makes us used to hear His voice and direction,
without losing sight of the eternal order of the Divinity, where Lord Almighty
YHWH reigns supreme forever.
Omar Flores.
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