Truth Unites - Should We Pray to the Holy Spirit?

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Gavin Ortlund shows why praying to the Holy Spirit is not only theologically sound but crucial for living with the Spirit’s guidance, intimacy, and strength.Truth Unites (https://truthunites.org) exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth. Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is President of Truth Unites, Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at Phoenix Seminary, and Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Nashville.SUPPORT:Tax Deductible Support: https://truthunites.org/donate/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truthunitesFOLLOW:Website: https://truthunites.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truth.unites/X: https://x.com/gavinortlundFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TruthUnitesPage/

Should Christians pray to the Holy Spirit? I find Christians often are hesitant about this. We have more emotional context for praying to the Father and to the Son. The Holy Spirit often feels more distant and vague. But what if there's a particular kind of intimacy that we can and should cultivate with the Holy Spirit through prayer and worship that can make the difference in our lives? What if we're missing out when we don't pray to the Holy Spirit and relate to the Holy Spirit in a particular way? Think of a boat that has a sail and it's a windy day, but the sail are never. puts the sail up, so he's never harnessing the wind, and therefore the boat is not moving.

What if that's what the Holy Spirit ought to be like in our lives, shooting us forward with power and strength and comfort and encouragement? What if praying to the Holy Spirit is not only something we can do, but it's one of the most wonderful experiences of our lives? Let's give three reasons why we should pray to the Holy Spirit in this video when the goal is not just theological here. It's pastoral. Number one, the Holy Spirit is God. When Christians affirm that God is a trinity, one God and three persons. We don't think the Son or the Spirit are less divine than the Father. The Holy Spirit and the Son are fully God, completely God, equal in glory, equal in honor, and all that is divinity, they share fully. The Nicene Creed says that the Holy Spirit is with the

Father and Son, adored and glorified. So according to the Nicene Creed, we should be able to say, Holy Spirit, I adore you. Holy Spirit, I glorify you, just like we do to the Father. father and to the son. And the basic argument for this is simple. All activity that is proper unto God is proper unto the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is God. And that would include prayer. You can see my video on the Nicene Creed where I developed that a little bit more or my video on the Trinity where I'm defending this doctrine if you're interested in that. Now it's true that the most common pattern of prayer in the New Testament perhaps is prayer to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. And this makes sense because the sun is our mediator.

So, for example, we pray in Jesus' name, and that's very appropriate. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers. Romans 826, he intercedes for us. And we pray in the Holy Spirit, Jude 20. But that does not mean that we cannot pray to the Holy Spirit directly. It just means that there's a normal rhythm here, but think of that as a pattern guiding you, not a rule limiting you. For example, in the same way, we wouldn't say it's wrong to pray to the sun.

And we have biblical precedent for that. For example, the first martyr Stephen, his final prayer is to Jesus. Jesus himself taught us to pray in his name. And so even though we don't have direct examples of prayer to the Holy Spirit, it follows by logical extension. Just as prayer is unto God and the Holy Spirit is God, then prayer unto the Holy Spirit is appropriate, just as with the parallel case of praying to the Lord.

Jesus. And that's why all throughout church history, you'll find prayers like this. Spirit of the living God fall fresh on me, one example. Second reason is the Holy Spirit is a person. Sometimes I've found that Christians think of the Holy Spirit as like the force in Star Wars, sort of more impersonal. Even the definite article, the Holy Spirit, can give the wrong idea, depending on how our minds go with that. And of course, that's going to discourage prayer and intimacy, because prayer is a very personal activity. So if you don't think the Holy Spirit's a person, that's going to incline you not to pray to him as much.

Other times we wouldn't say that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but perhaps we just feel he's less personal or he's more distant or something like that. You know, I've known Christians praying to the Holy Spirit feels kind of like you're lobbing a message in a bottle over a high castle wall, and you're not really sure who it lands upon and how it's being received.

And, of course, we want prayer to the Holy Spirit to be more like face-to-face the embrace of a friend. We want to feel a sense of intimacy with the Holy Spirit. That's for the case I'm trying to build here. The Holy Spirit is just as personal as the Father and the Son. For example, in the New Testament, he speaks frequently throughout the Book of Acts. You also see that in Revelation. He teaches and guides. You see a lot of personal activity like that in John 14 to 16, the upper room discourse. He's active in the church, making overseers. In the book of Acts, he's sending and directing people frequently. I'll put up one example in Acts 10 where he sends certain people to Peter. He gives spiritual gifts according to his will in 1st Corinthians 12. That means he has a will.

Here's a very poignant one. The Holy Spirit can be grieved. This is one reason we don't want to sin because we don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit who is within us. The Holy Spirit searches and reveals and knows, as you see in 1 Corinthians 2. Here's an interesting one. The Holy Spirit, Spirit can be lied to. And you see here, by the way, in Acts 5 here, note that in this text, Peter equates lying to the Holy Spirit in Acts 5.3 with lying to God in Acts 5.4. This is another verse that implies the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Now, some Christians find it easier to pray to Jesus than to pray to the Holy Spirit because Jesus became incarnate. So you can picture him as a man, and therefore it feels more personal. But one thing that can help us is to remember that if you love,

Jesus at all, that love is in you through the Holy Spirit. That's his work in your life that draws you to Christ. The Holy Spirit and Jesus are correlated. They work together in your life. For example, in Romans 8, 9, he's called the Spirit of Christ. And it's very clear, you can't have one without the other. If you love Jesus, you love the Holy Spirit, even if you don't fully realize that consciously. He's in you, and he's working in you. So we should never think, well, to the first, father or to the son. I feel this more personal connection and intimacy, but my relationship to the spirit is more mechanical and technical and cold. In fact, there are particular feelings we can cultivate to the Holy Spirit, and this is the third reason, the deepest one, for why we should pray to the

Holy Spirit. And that is, the Holy Spirit is our helper and seal. In his masterful book, communion with the triune God, oh, read this book, if you read any theology book ever. John Owen is one of the great theologians. He emphasizes in this book the importance of having personal intimacy with each divine person. He highlights the Father's love especially. He highlights Christ's glory especially. And he highlights the Spirit's comfort and power especially. So according to Owen, there is a particularity in our relationship to each member of the Godhead. You can and should feel particular emotions of loyalty and love and preciousness and gratitude. and adoration toward the Holy Spirit, just as also toward the Son and toward the Father.

So let's ask this question, what specifically about the Holy Spirit is different than the Father and the Son in this sort of worship and prayer and relationship? And this can inform how we relate to him. Well, just to highlight two things, the Holy Spirit is described as our periclet. This is the word all throughout John 14 through 16. What a comforting, wonderful word. This combines several ideas, helper, advocate, comforter, counselor. Think of someone who comes alongside you to strengthen you for a task that you need to accomplish. I'll put up four of the top English translations of this word and just want the emotional force of this to land upon us. Think of the old King James translation, Comforter. So the Holy Spirit shouldn't feel cold and mechanical and distant, just the opposite.

The Holy Spirit should feel close and warm and encouraging. I don't want to be too cheesy with this, but if you just think of the emotional resonance of this word comforter, or if you prefer the word counselor, you know, this draws out how you should feel about the Holy Spirit. Just think about this. You have God dwelling within you, if you are in Christ, and he dwells within you specifically to the end of being your comforter, being your helper, being your counselor, cultivating obedience in your life, cultivating strength. Think of the fruits of the Spirit.

Think of self-control. think of joy. I mean, there's nothing more wonderful than knowing the Holy Spirit in your life day to day. He is a comforter. I'll often pray the simple prayer, Holy Spirit, give me strength. It's a wonderful prayer because the Holy Spirit's also associated with power. But let me draw a second image here. These are not the only ones we could do. And that is the Holy Spirit is our seal. In the ancient world, you see this in Ephesians 1, 13, and 14 there on screen. We've been sealed with the Holy Spirit, who's the guarantee of our inheritance. So in the ancient world, a seal was a mark of ownership and protection and authenticity. To be sealed with the Holy Spirit means God has put his mark on us. We belong to him. We are secure. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. And he's therefore not just our helper in the present.

He's the guarantee of what God will do in our future when our bodies are raised and we're with him on the new earth. That means he's both the one who strengthens you now, but he's also the down payment of what is to come. And the Holy Spirit's work in your life can make you say, I belong to the Lord. I am destined for heaven. And so while we do have particular intimacy with Jesus because he became incarnate, we can say only to Jesus. Do we say, Jesus, I worship you because you died on the cross for my sins? And we have particular intimacy with the Father in many ways. We can say, for example, only to the Father, Father, I worship you for sending your son into this world. So also with the Holy Spirit do we have

particular intimacy for his unique personhood and his unique contributions to our salvation? Only to the Holy Spirit do we say, thank you for being my pericles and my seal and so forth. So here's the final image to close. Think of an area in your life where you need help and you feel weak and you feel incapacitated like you can't go forward. You feel overwhelmed. That's what being a Christian feels like sometimes. And that's where Romans 826 comes in. The spirit is our helper. To overcome sin maybe, it's difficult. It feels impossible sometimes. To offer forgiveness. That's the hardest thing you have to do in life sometimes. To be faithful to your family, faithful in your work setting, whatever it might be. Where do you feel weak? All right, now go back to that image of the

boat without the sail raised. The wind is blowing, but the boat is not moving. But now picture the sail being raised up, and it harnesses the wind and the boat moves forward with power. That is what the Holy Spirit can be to our life following Jesus as we cultivate a relationship with Him as our periclet, as our seal, and as our indwelling God.