In the bible I see examples of people praying to the Father and also Jesus, but I don't see any praying to the Holy Spirit. Since He is God, do we just assume that we can and should talk to Him just like the other two people in the Trinity?

As far as I can tell the Holy Spirit always points to the Father and the Son. Perhaps this is the reason? But since He is God, should we not converse with Him?

_________________
Bobby

I raised this question in 2007.


https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?forum=36&topic_id=17423&post_id=135926&viewmode=thread&order=0#135926

You pray to the father, through Jesus and in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not take glory himself but glorifies Jesus.

My understanding is that God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, rests upon me and dwells within me. Therefore I talk to Him(?) and listen for direction/guidance. That is why Christ physically departed this world, is it not? Now we need never be separated from Him. He lives, loves, laughs, breathes and IS in us and through us to the extent we will allow Him.

Sorry I should have clarified that this is with the assumption of the Trinity - that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God but three distinct persons. I am fully convinced of this truth from scripture and I don't wish to argue it here... so my question is directed to those who take it within the context of the truth of the Trinity.

That being said there are myriads of examples of people talking to the Father, and a few examples of people praying to Jesus (ie Stephen before he is stoned, the last words of John in Revelation, etc). But I can't think of any where a person specifically addresses the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying that I think we shouldn't talk to Him, I'm just curious if there is any scripture which could help understand our duty even if there are no examples of people directly talking to the Holy Spirit.

_________________
Bobby

The short answer to that is found in John 16:23b.

" all that you ask the Father in my name, He will give you."

To me, that clatifies the whole thing.

We pray TO THE FATHER in Jesus' name.

The reason is that when Jesus was here on earth, He glorified the Father.

The Father in turn glorifies the Son by answering the prayers of the believers when those prayers are said in Jesus name.


The Holy Spirit has a vital role in this also.

John 14:
16,17,26


16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.


26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.


Also read Romans 8:26.

So, here we see the trinity at work, each has a different role.

We pray to the FATHER, in the name of JESUS, with the aid of the SPIRIT.

the trinity is one in essence, not in role.

In other words: It was the Son who hung on the cross, not the Father, not the Spirit.

It was the Father who raised the Son from the dead, The Son did not raise Himself but had to wait on the Father.


It was the Spirit who fell at Penticost, not the Father, not the Son.

I hope I didn't make things hard.

_________________
Fifi

The Holy Spirit is the free gift of salvation

The Holy Spirit aka "Christ the Seed" is what gives us the power to become sons of God. It is the" earnest" of our inheritance that translated means that it is a down payment of a much larger inheritance........

It is the indwelling spirit of Christ given to those who follow in obedience having repented of their sins and choose to "draw nigh unto God"

It is given to you so that the old man in you with all its sinful lusts can die while you live by the gift of the Holy Spirit that never sins. (Gal 2:20)

The Holy Spirit is your "second Adam" and the spirit of man with its sinful lusts that is your "old man" is the first Adam

The Holy Spirit is what will allow you to follow the commandment of Jesus to overcome sin, "be Holy and sin no more"

The Holy Spirit aka Christ the seed" needs to mature into Christ the tree of life in you........ if and when it does then you will be in the image and likeness of God that was the plan of God for you way back in Ge.1:26

Blessings

Doug

It all depends....

If a person truly wants a vibrant, living relationship with The Holy Spirit they must talk to and communicate with Him! The same as you must with the Father, Son...or for that matter anyone you want to have a relationship with!

If a person is hesitant..or doubtful....that they want to have an intimate engaging relationship with The Holy Spirit then they will avoid those times of speaking to/with and hearing from the Holy Spirit.

Paul says pretty clearly in

2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

I think it would be hard to have fellowship without talking at all.

Jesus did say this then is how you should pray "Our Father..." so I think that especially for requests they should go to the father, but there is absolutely an intimate relationship that the Holy Spirit wants to have with us as he "Guides us into all truth".