SHOULD WE PRAY TO THE HOLY GHOST?

by Shawn Brasseaux

Absolutely not! This practice is common amongst Pentecostals and other Charismatics, but never one time in Scripture did anyone ever address the Holy Spirit in prayer. We must recognize that as nothing but a church tradition, not Bible. We either let the written Word of God be our final authority, or we allow our denominational system to be our final authority. Usually, in religion, people will believe and do whatever they want, regardless of what Scripture says. Hopefully, dear friend, you value and esteem God’s Book as highly as He does (and, hopefully, you will discard the traditions of men).

When the Lord Jesus taught Israel’s Little Flock to pray, they were to address the Father (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). “Our Father which art in heaven….” is how their model prayer begins. Christ Himself addressed the Father in Matthew 26:39,42: “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father,…. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father,….” In Ephesians 3:14, the Apostle Paul writes, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,….” Also, chapter 5, verse 20: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;….”

Through the mediatorship of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5), we pray to the Father via the aid of the Holy Spirit indwelling us and causing us to recall pertinent Bible verses that we have read and believed (see Romans 8:26-27). To pray to the Holy Spirit is to be ignorant of one of the Scriptures’ most basic teachings. For more information about Pauline prayer and the Holy Spirit’s (oft-misunderstood) ministry, refer to our related studies linked below.

Also see:
» Should I recite “The Lord’s Prayer?”
» How should I pray?
» How can I have an effectual prayer life?
» What about hindered and unanswered prayer?
» Should I say the “sinner’s prayer?”
» To whom should I pray?
» Should we pray with people of various denominations?
» How can we “pray without ceasing?”
» How is the Holy Spirit “the Comforter?”
» Which belongs in Romans 8:16 and Romans 8:26 in the King James Bible—“the Spirit itself” or “the Spirit Himself?”