The Forgotten Third: Developing a Relationship with God the Holy Spirit — He Is a Person!

While we acknowledge that some Christians overemphasize the Holy Spirit, many of us overlook Him. As the so-called “Shy Member of the Trinity,” the Holy Spirit indwells each believer and is intimately involved in our becoming more like the Lord Jesus.

But is He personal? Yes! He has all the characteristics of personality: emotions (He can be grieved, Eph. 4:30), intellect (He is the substitute Teacher in place of the Lord Jesus, John 16:12-15), and will (He selects Paul and Barnabas for certain work, Acts 13:2). Emotions, intellect, will — these are the standard aspects of personality.

However, the Holy Spirit does not have a body. Someone has said, “The only body the Holy Spirit has — is yours!”

IF the Holy Spirit is personal, He can be prayed to. One part of my thesis in these posts is that we can have a personal relationship with God the Holy Spirit which includes praying to Him. I don’t believe the Bible forbids the believer from directing his or her prayers to the respective member of the Godhead who is most intimately connected to a certain ministry.

For example, I can pray to the Father and give thanks for His creative work. I can pray to the Son for His saving work. And I can pray to the Spirit for His convicting work. We will look at a number of the Spirit’s ministries to and in the believer, but my point this morning is that the Holy Spirit of God is personal. I can speak with Him. And He can speak back to me through the Word of God.

If the Holy Spirit is personal, we can pray to Him. I am not saying that we must, but we can. When I pray for my unsaved friend John, I can ask that the Spirit of God would bring conviction of sin to his heart (conviction of sin is one of His primary works in unbelievers). When I am studying a section of God’s Word, I can pray that God the Holy Spirit would illuminate my mind and help me to understand and apply the Word to my life (the written Word of God is the Holy Spirit’s primary tool).

Challenge: In your prayer time today, thank God the Holy Spirit for His work in your life. And ask Him to do His mighty convicting work in someone you love! (to be continued)