Come, Holy Spirit

“We don’t have to pray for the Holy Spirit to come because He’s already here.”

Have you ever heard this before?

Today, I want to invite us to reflect a little more on what’s actually an ancient prayer and challenge us to try praying these words in our times with God today.

The impetus for this is that I’ve slowly been building a case over the last few weeks that:

1. God is the answer to every longing in our hearts (and this is where prayer begins)

2. Our longing for God is a reflection of His longing for us

3. God’s greatest desire is to be with us, and we are invited to make ‘resting places’ for God

And so, the natural outcome of this line of thinking is that we would live lives that with our very breath invite God to come and rest in our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

And, the most natural prayer to pray that is both ancient and incredibly relevant today is the simple prayer: Come.

God, we want You here.

God, we have made space for You in this place.

Paul teaches us to pray in Ephesians 3:

Basically, we will never get to the end of knowing and understanding God’s infinite love for us, and Paul encourages in his prayer a posture of seeking and asking for more understanding about this love. (Side note: When was the last time you were bold enough to ask God to show you more of His love for you?)

This, then, is tied to being filled with God’s fullness — implying that God Himself is as infinite as His love, and we can adopt the same posture of seeking and asking for more of God (see also Luke 11:9-13).

Paul continues this line of thought — asking for more — in 5:18:

The verb “filled” is a second person plural (aka “ya’ll” for those who come from the South), present tense (right now!), imperative (it’s a command), and passive (meaning we are the recipients of an action rather than the instigators).

If I could offer an expanded non-expert translation of that word, it would be this:

“Position yourselves to continually be filled with the Holy Spirit!”

In my opinion, Paul’s line of thought here can be summarized in a simple prayer: “Fill me, Holy Spirit,” or even more simply, “Come.”

In Revelation 22:17, the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” Paul prays at the end of his letter to the Corinthians, “Our Lord, come” (1 Cor 16:22).

The early church was encouraged to pray “Maranatha,” or “Our Lord, come” regularly at their meetings (Didache 10:6).

There is definitely an eschatological dimension to this, pointing forward to the day of blessed hope when Jesus will return to make all the wrong things right, but there is also a simple posture in this prayer — a confident expectation that there is more of God!


There is always more of God than we are presently experiencing, and we are invited to adopt a posture of holy discontent, asking, seeking, and searching for the fullness of God.

And the best way I know how to adopt this posture of holy hunger in prayer is through the simple refrain: Come.

In the 9th century, German monks wrote a liturgical prayer called “Veni, Creator Spiritus,” or “Come, Creator Spirit,” a hymn more recently repeated (and you may have heard it!) at King Charles III’s coronation.

On Mother’s Day in 1981, evangelist Lonnie Frisbee prayed the prayer “Come, Holy Spirit” at an early meeting of what is now known as the Vineyard Churches and the Holy Spirit responded in such a way that has had an incredible impact on the contemporary evangelical church.

So today, I would love to invite you to take a few deep breaths, and to pray very simply:



“Come, Holy Spirit.”

P.S. I am actively searching for more records of the prayer “Come, Holy Spirit” through church history. If anyone has any leads, please let me know!

P.S.S. As always, I am so encouraged by how these devotionals are helping you come alive and live in love with Jesus. Please always feel free to send encouragements and questions my way, and I’ll do my best to respond as soon as I am able!