I have always thought (and was taught) that we should direct our prayers to the Father, in the name of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. However I get what Pastor Costi is saying - we can ask the Holy Spirit to fulfil what is promised of Him in the Bible. Also we have 2 Corinthians 13:14 which says "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.", which indicates some form of communication. On the other hand Jesus says to pray to "Our Father who art in heaven...", and Jesus was always praying to the Father. In the Bible, you never read of anyone praying to the Holy Spirit, but through the Holy Spirit. Perhaps prayers concerning matters outside our internal life should be directed to the Father (or to God), but why not ask the Spirit of truth to lead us to the truth concerning a particular doctrine ?
For some reason, I always thought that since the Holy Spirit points to Christ, that honoring the Holy Spirit is staying focused on Christ. Yet I know the non-charismatic Christians (such as myself) are too afraid to even mention the Holy Spirit, for fear of getting lumped in with all the mockery against the Holy Spirit. This idea that the Holy Spirit does not desire worship of Himself is what I see in the following verses: John 16:13-15 (NIV) 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Thanks so much for this new series Costi. There is so much false teaching around the role of the Holy Spirit and I pray you can bring light and truth to this subject. In particular I'm hoping that you can address the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, correcting the Kenosis heresy.
By way of explanation, the Kenosis heresy arises out of man's desire for supernatural power, and it states that Jesus operated as a simple man empowered by the Holy Spirit, so we too can do the same as Jesus. Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' life will help to refute this heresy
Thank you for the insightful video. I have a query regarding the notion that God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. During my moments of worship and prayer, I often enter a state of silent contemplation, reflecting on God's magnificent glory and my own earthly challenges. In these moments, I feel that words fail to capture the depth of my thoughts and emotions. Instead, I trust that God the Holy Spirit communicates my innermost feelings to God the Father, in the name of God the Son. Could you please share your thoughts on whether this approach aligns with scriptural teachings?
If we're praying to God our Father, and the Holy Sipirit is God, then when we pray to God, aren't we already praying to the Holy Spirit? And we can still ask all those same things; to be filled and see Him move in our lives.
This is a great question my friend. I think of Jesus praying to the Father in the garden before His crucifixion for the Fathers will to be done in salvation through the cross and for those who have been given to Jesus by the Father. Jesus is God, yet He is praying here to another person of the Trinity. Although all three Persons of the Trinity are the one true God YAHWEH, each Person has distinct roles. For example in our salvation the Fathers sovereign plan, Christs payment on the cross and resurrection and High Priestly office, and the Holy Spirits regeneration of our dead hearts shows all three Persons having different roles within that beautiful work. What I’m getting at here is that all three Persons work glorious things and can be praised individually for those things because each Person of the Trinity glorifies the other two Persons. God is worshipped specifically in each Person but is still one God in all His wonderful mysteries and glorified by Whomever of the Trinity we pray to and glorify. Costi has touched on many of the Holy Spirits distinct faculties that we may praise Him for as a specific Person, but ultimately praising our God for He is God! I pray this was helpful my friend🙏
@grantpeake2032 Thank you, and I agree on the different roles. I just come back to Jesus saying that when we pray, we are to pray like the Lord's prayer: "Our Father..." If we are to pray to the Holy Spirit, wouldn't that have been written in the New Testament after the ascension? All things I've never thought about as a Christian.🤔I guess I would prefer to pray to God, giving thanks for the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives and for the gift of His Son. But that may just be out of familiarity and comfort in the way I was raised.
@@BobbiMac08 This is what I stated in Costi's last video on this topic. Nowhere do we see prayers to the Spirit. We pray to the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Spirit. God has given us specifics in Scripture as to how He is to be worshipped, and prayer is part of worship. I think we need to get this right.
I don't disagree that the Holy Spirit is God. But you have to admit that , now you are asking that we pray and adress all three Persons separately at different times, and to be honest this makes things a tad difficult, epecially because we are to pray to The Father, Thorough Jesus... God forgive me, but this to mee just makes things so much more complicated because now instead of having a prayer I have to decide who to address at each time...if anyone can hep with this further I will be greatful. God Bless brothers and sisters.
I agree. In Psalms 5:2 we do see the psalmist praying to God which is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so technically he is praying to the H.S. but it’s not individually directed to the H.S.
Hi there, thank you for your comment. We would recommend you read Greg Allison’s work in the link below. He is a theologian and secretary for ETS (Evangelical Theological Society). His academic rigor is extensive and he offers some helpful insights here. www.logos.com/grow/min-pray-to-the-spirit/ In addition: Desiring God has more on this in the next link below. It is a long held position from Augustine onward that one can pray to the Holy Spirit in line with His work and role. www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-the-holy-spirit-want-more-attention
Carismatic and pentecostal movements, are responsible for this teachings, for ministering another gospel, and doctrinating "christians" to believe in visible manifestations that cause disorder. Please I plead with you we need a biblical church here in Los Angeles to help those who were caught in these practices and wrong teachings.
SPIRIT OF GOD: 1. From the gospels you can learn that Jesus IS ONLY WITH THE FATHER, this is REITERATED many times by Him, for example "...You will leave me ALONE. Yet, I am NOT ALONE because THE FATHER is with me.". I.e. only the Father is with the Son. B. From Jn. 4:23,24 you can learn that the FATHER - the only One Person who is with Jesus - IS A SPIRIT ("God is a spirit"); C. From Mk. 3:29 you can further learn that the SPIRIT - who is the Father (B) - and who is with Jesus (A) - is called "HOLY SPIRIT" by Him: " 29 but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin: " In other words the Father who is a spirit (B) - the only One Person with Jesus (A) - is either called "Holy Father" or "Holy Spirit" by Him. Blaspheming the Spirit - i.e. the Father - is considered very serious by Jesus. No further kind of blaspheming exists. Using a different terminology, the "Spirit of God" (aka Holy Spirit) simply is God almighty who is a spirit: "God is a spirit" (Jn. 4:24). The Spirit of God is sent by the Father who is NOT a spirit. God doesn't directly take actions here because He is away. Indeed everything is carried out by his Spirit, see the gospels. But his Spirit is the SAME almighty God, not a third person. God - not a spirit - is AWAY - this is why "nobody ever saw Him", this is why "the world has not known you". "Away" is not restricted to space, but also includes TIME. Since God is away Jesus has now "all things into his hand", i.e. He "inherited" the reign of God, Jesus is the ONLY King of the reign of God. Even when "AWAY" the almighty God is able to "virtually" be here with his words and actions and interact with people. Since He is virtually here but at the same time is actually absent (NOBODY is here) He is considered to be like a spirit here. He is the Spirit of God. He dealt with Mary's pregnancy, led Jesus into the desert, later helped Him when talking...
Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 2:18 all show us that we know the Father by the work of the Spirit. See Ephesians 6:18, especially: we pray to the Father in the Spirit. We don't pray to the Spirit. Philippians 3:3 doesn't say we worship the Spirit, but we worship in the Spirit; that is, by His power. See also Jude 20. I fully agree the the Spirit is God but we need to get this right. We don't conflate the Persons of the Trinity in the incarnation, in the Creation account, in the work of salvation, etc., so why would we conflate the Persons of the Trinity in prayer?
Hi Carol, thank you for your thoughts. We would recommend you read Greg Allison’s work in the link below. He is a theologian and secretary for ETS (Evangelical Theological Society). His academic rigor is extensive and he offers some helpful insights here. www.logos.com/grow/min-pray-to-the-spirit/ In addition: Desiring God has more on this in the next link below. It is a long held position from Augustine onward that one can pray to the Holy Spirit in line with His work and role. www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-the-holy-spirit-want-more-attention
Costi Hinn has bad theology! You don't pray TO the Holy Spirit. You pray WITH the Holy Spirit! When you have the Holy Spirit, he dwells inside you. He is God. He has his own language. When you pray with the Holy Spirit, you pray using his language! There are an abundance of Scriptures that support that biblical truth!
I always felt songs like, come Holy Spirit, hear us calling, was odd because He is in us as Believers, He is already here.
Thank you!
I truly enjoy to listen to this podcast! Thank you
Thank you so much for this work.
I have always thought (and was taught) that we should direct our prayers to the Father, in the name of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. However I get what Pastor Costi is saying - we can ask the Holy Spirit to fulfil what is promised of Him in the Bible. Also we have 2 Corinthians 13:14 which says "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.", which indicates some form of communication. On the other hand Jesus says to pray to "Our Father who art in heaven...", and Jesus was always praying to the Father. In the Bible, you never read of anyone praying to the Holy Spirit, but through the Holy Spirit. Perhaps prayers concerning matters outside our internal life should be directed to the Father (or to God), but why not ask the Spirit of truth to lead us to the truth concerning a particular doctrine ?
For some reason, I always thought that since the Holy Spirit points to Christ, that honoring the Holy Spirit is staying focused on Christ. Yet I know the non-charismatic Christians (such as myself) are too afraid to even mention the Holy Spirit, for fear of getting lumped in with all the mockery against the Holy Spirit. This idea that the Holy Spirit does not desire worship of Himself is what I see in the following verses:
John 16:13-15 (NIV) 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Such an important and yet looked-over topic. Praise the Lord!!
Love you Brother Costi!
Great stuff, Costi! Praise God for your ministry.
Thanks so much for this new series Costi. There is so much false teaching around the role of the Holy Spirit and I pray you can bring light and truth to this subject. In particular I'm hoping that you can address the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, correcting the Kenosis heresy.
By way of explanation, the Kenosis heresy arises out of man's desire for supernatural power, and it states that Jesus operated as a simple man empowered by the Holy Spirit, so we too can do the same as Jesus. Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' life will help to refute this heresy
Thanks brother Costi. 🙏 for ur ministry
Thank you for clear teaching!!
Amen 🙏
Thank you for the insightful video. I have a query regarding the notion that God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. During my moments of worship and prayer, I often enter a state of silent contemplation, reflecting on God's magnificent glory and my own earthly challenges. In these moments, I feel that words fail to capture the depth of my thoughts and emotions. Instead, I trust that God the Holy Spirit communicates my innermost feelings to God the Father, in the name of God the Son. Could you please share your thoughts on whether this approach aligns with scriptural teachings?
If we're praying to God our Father, and the Holy Sipirit is God, then when we pray to God, aren't we already praying to the Holy Spirit? And we can still ask all those same things; to be filled and see Him move in our lives.
This is a great question my friend. I think of Jesus praying to the Father in the garden before His crucifixion for the Fathers will to be done in salvation through the cross and for those who have been given to Jesus by the Father. Jesus is God, yet He is praying here to another person of the Trinity. Although all three Persons of the Trinity are the one true God YAHWEH, each Person has distinct roles. For example in our salvation the Fathers sovereign plan, Christs payment on the cross and resurrection and High Priestly office, and the Holy Spirits regeneration of our dead hearts shows all three Persons having different roles within that beautiful work. What I’m getting at here is that all three Persons work glorious things and can be praised individually for those things because each Person of the Trinity glorifies the other two Persons. God is worshipped specifically in each Person but is still one God in all His wonderful mysteries and glorified by Whomever of the Trinity we pray to and glorify. Costi has touched on many of the Holy Spirits distinct faculties that we may praise Him for as a specific Person, but ultimately praising our God for He is God! I pray this was helpful my friend🙏
@grantpeake2032 Thank you, and I agree on the different roles. I just come back to Jesus saying that when we pray, we are to pray like the Lord's prayer: "Our Father..." If we are to pray to the Holy Spirit, wouldn't that have been written in the New Testament after the ascension? All things I've never thought about as a Christian.🤔I guess I would prefer to pray to God, giving thanks for the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives and for the gift of His Son. But that may just be out of familiarity and comfort in the way I was raised.
@@BobbiMac08 This is what I stated in Costi's last video on this topic. Nowhere do we see prayers to the Spirit. We pray to the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Spirit. God has given us specifics in Scripture as to how He is to be worshipped, and prayer is part of worship. I think we need to get this right.
@@carolberubee I agree.
Yep. Isiah 43 10 >11 kjv. Luke 23 39 >40 kjv
I don't disagree that the Holy Spirit is God. But you have to admit that , now you are asking that we pray and adress all three Persons separately at different times, and to be honest this makes things a tad difficult, epecially because we are to pray to The Father, Thorough Jesus... God forgive me, but this to mee just makes things so much more complicated because now instead of having a prayer I have to decide who to address at each time...if anyone can hep with this further I will be greatful. God Bless brothers and sisters.
I agree. In Psalms 5:2 we do see the psalmist praying to God which is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so technically he is praying to the H.S. but it’s not individually directed to the H.S.
Agreed. See my comment on this post for more Scriptures.
❤
Excellent. Thank you!
I don't see in the scriptures where we are told to pray to the Spirit. I think I'm going to need more clarity here.
Agreed.
Hi there, thank you for your comment. We would recommend you read Greg Allison’s work in the link below. He is a theologian and secretary for ETS (Evangelical Theological Society). His academic rigor is extensive and he offers some helpful insights here.
www.logos.com/grow/min-pray-to-the-spirit/
In addition: Desiring God has more on this in the next link below. It is a long held position from Augustine onward that one can pray to the Holy Spirit in line with His work and role.
www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-the-holy-spirit-want-more-attention
Carismatic and pentecostal movements, are responsible for this teachings, for ministering another gospel, and doctrinating "christians" to believe in visible manifestations that cause disorder. Please I plead with you we need a biblical church here in Los Angeles to help those who were caught in these practices and wrong teachings.
SPIRIT OF GOD:
1. From the gospels you can learn that Jesus IS ONLY WITH THE FATHER, this is REITERATED many times by Him, for example "...You will leave me ALONE. Yet, I am NOT ALONE because THE FATHER is with me.". I.e. only the Father is with the Son.
B.
From Jn. 4:23,24 you can learn that the FATHER - the only One Person who is with Jesus - IS A SPIRIT ("God is a spirit");
C.
From Mk. 3:29 you can further learn that the SPIRIT - who is the Father (B) - and who is with Jesus (A) - is called "HOLY SPIRIT" by Him:
" 29 but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin: "
In other words the Father who is a spirit (B) - the only One Person with Jesus (A) - is either called "Holy Father" or "Holy Spirit" by Him. Blaspheming the Spirit - i.e. the Father - is considered very serious by Jesus. No further kind of blaspheming exists.
Using a different terminology, the "Spirit of God" (aka Holy Spirit) simply is God almighty who is a spirit: "God is a spirit" (Jn. 4:24). The Spirit of God is sent by the Father who is NOT a spirit. God doesn't directly take actions here because He is away. Indeed everything is carried out by his Spirit, see the gospels. But his Spirit is the SAME almighty God, not a third person.
God - not a spirit - is AWAY - this is why "nobody ever saw Him", this is why "the world has not known you". "Away" is not restricted to space, but also includes TIME. Since God is away Jesus has now "all things into his hand", i.e. He "inherited" the reign of God, Jesus is the ONLY King of the reign of God.
Even when "AWAY" the almighty God is able to "virtually" be here with his words and actions and interact with people. Since He is virtually here but at the same time is actually absent (NOBODY is here) He is considered to be like a spirit here. He is the Spirit of God. He dealt with Mary's pregnancy, led Jesus into the desert, later helped Him when talking...
Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 2:18 all show us that we know the Father by the work of the Spirit. See Ephesians 6:18, especially: we pray to the Father in the Spirit. We don't pray to the Spirit. Philippians 3:3 doesn't say we worship the Spirit, but we worship in the Spirit; that is, by His power. See also Jude 20.
I fully agree the the Spirit is God but we need to get this right. We don't conflate the Persons of the Trinity in the incarnation, in the Creation account, in the work of salvation, etc., so why would we conflate the Persons of the Trinity in prayer?
Hi Carol, thank you for your thoughts. We would recommend you read Greg Allison’s work in the link below. He is a theologian and secretary for ETS (Evangelical Theological Society). His academic rigor is extensive and he offers some helpful insights here.
www.logos.com/grow/min-pray-to-the-spirit/
In addition: Desiring God has more on this in the next link below. It is a long held position from Augustine onward that one can pray to the Holy Spirit in line with His work and role.
www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-the-holy-spirit-want-more-attention
Costi Hinn has bad theology!
You don't pray TO the Holy Spirit. You pray WITH the Holy Spirit!
When you have the Holy Spirit, he dwells inside you.
He is God.
He has his own language.
When you pray with the Holy Spirit, you pray using his language!
There are an abundance of Scriptures that support that biblical truth!