Can We Pray to the Holy Spirit?

The question to answer is: Can we pray to the Holy Spirit?

In the Bible, we frequently see prayers directed to the Father (Matthew 6:9) and, at times, to Jesus (Acts 7:59). However, explicit prayers to the Holy Spirit are completely absent. Many Christians are taught that the proper pattern of prayer is: to the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But in this article, I will argue, yes, we can and indeed should pray to the Holy Spirit.

If prayer is our way of communicating with God, and if the Holy Spirit is truly God equal in essence, glory, and majesty with the Father and the Son, then it is both right and proper to pray to Him. Prayer is not only communion with God, it is also an act of worship. And if we are to glorify the Holy Spirit as we do the Father and the Son, then prayer to the Holy Spirit is not only allowed it is fitting to do so.

Consider Jesus’ words in John 16:8. He promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.

So, we pray to the Holy Spirit to convict sinners, we are asking Him to do what only He can do—breathe life into spiritually dead hearts. We can probably recall times we’ve spoken to a friend or even a stranger about the Gospel. Often, we’ve prayed something like, “Holy Spirit, convict Mark of his sin. Soften his heart; remove his heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh.” In doing so, we are rightly asking the Spirit to do the very work Jesus said He would. As John Owen puts it, “He [the Holy Spirit] opens blind eyes, gives new understanding, shines into our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and enables us to receive spiritual things in a spiritual light.”[1] This is an encouragement to pray to the Holy Spirit since true conviction and conversion are the Spirit’s work through the preached Gospel from beginning to end. This does not avoid the human responsibility, for they are called to respond with repentance and faith, turning from sin and trusting in Christ, a response that the Spirit enables.

But the Holy Spirit work does not stop there. The Holy Spirit works in the in-between—in the ongoing work of sanctification. The Baptist Catechism (Q. 38) defines sanctification as “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” In this process, our prayers to the Holy Spirit become an expression of our desire to be conformed to Christ—and, as Paul says in Romans 6:6, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” — to grow in the moral character of Jesus, which the New Testament calls the fruit of the Spirit. As J.I. Packer writes, “prayer to the Spirit will equally be proper when what we seek from him is… fuller Jesuslikeness.”[2] So, we might pray, “Holy Spirit, kill in me all that is of the flesh sexual immorality, idolatry, and envy. And grow in me peace, patience, and gentleness” (Gal. 5:18–23). We can and should pray to the Holy Spirit in this way, for He empowers us to put remaining sin to death and cultivates the fruit of holiness in our lives; thus shaping us more and more into the image of Christ.

 In Romans 8:26–27, Paul offers one of the most comforting truths for the weary and wordless soul:

 "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. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

When we are at our lowest when sorrow weighs too heavily on our hearts, when our word fail, when we are offering sighs and groans to God, the Spirit is not distant. He is near. The Spirit enters into our weakness, and He does not merely observe or wait for us to get the words right.

He helps especially in prayer. When our words fail, His do not. When our desires are confused or disordered, the Spirit sifts through them and aligns them with the will of the Father. Our natural desires and wills are often weak, confused, or wrongly directed. The Spirit does not merely fix our desires, but He changes them. That means He reshapes our affections, longings, and motivations to match what God would have us want. He perfects our prayers, not by making us eloquent, but by making our groanings sufficient. He intercedes with “groanings too deep for words” meaning. He joins our pain with divine compassion and ably presents it before the throne of grace.

So when we feel overwhelmed, numb, or comfortless—when we feel like we simply can’t pray anymore, as Graham Cole says, “with regard to the Spirit there is further motivation for praying to the Spirit in that he is Comforter.”[3] So, remember this: it is entirely appropriate to pray, “Holy Spirit, You who are my Comforter (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7), please comfort me in this season of distress.” Jesus Himself promised that the Spirit would not only be with us, but that He would be our Helper, and our Counselor.

Let this move us to pray not less, but more. Not because we must get the words right, but because the Spirit is already at work within us, shaping our prayers.

In short, the Holy Spirit is not merely a force or influence, but a divine Person who loves, convicts, teaches, transforms, comforts, and intercedes. And as such, He is worthy of our worship and our prayers.

Augustine of Hippo composed a prayer to the Holy Spirit, which I hope will encourage you to pray more to the Holy Spirit:

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;
Act in me O Holy Spirit that my works, too, may be holy;
Draw my heart O Holy Spirit that I love but what is holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend that is holy;
Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I always may be holy.
 
   [1] John Owen, Communion with God, Puritan Paperbacks (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 2022), [217].
   [2] J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God (Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker Books, 2005), [51]
   [3] Graham A. Cole, Engaging with the Holy Spirit: Real Questions, Practical Answers (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007), [58].
 All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.