Holy Spirit Come Down?

[MrsRow]

Do any of the ppl at your church or who you've gone to church with ever refer to the Holy Spirit when they pray like He's some type of mist "coming down"  "moving down the isles of the church" ? Almost in every service the men that pray talk about the Holy Spirit and ask Him to "come down"  and "descend on our service"  I get mental images of that old 10 Commandments movie when the death mist floated around and screams were heard. 

Why do ppl talk and pray like that and is it scriptural??  I believe the Holy Spirit dwells within the believers, and then there's also verses that clearly state that Gods Word is Spirit.

Does the Holy Spirit "come down" in church services? Does He float around and hover? i just dont get the whole asking Him to come down n stuff.

 

[subllibrm]

Here is how I pray:

Isaiah 6 reveals his vision of the throne room of God.

While on the cross the veil covering the Holy of Holys (the resting place of God's glory on earth) is torn allowing access to God directly.

I mentally (spiritually) enter the throne room in Jesus name via the torn veil passageway.

The Holy Spirit takes my utterances and translates them before the throne.

I do not recall ever directly asking the Spirit to do anything. I have often asked the Father to bring the power of the Spirit to bear upon situations and/or people (me for instance).

 

[praise_yeshua]

Some older hymns uses this type of terminology. It usually harkens back to the days of the tabernacle.... when God would "descend" to the people of Israel.

I think we can safely say, God is with us. We have no less than a promise of God manifesting His presence where "two or three" gather together.

 

[bgwilkinson]

Those that pray this way are either not saved or don't know that the Holy Spirit lives in each and every believer from the moment of salvation.

Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the House of God in our age.

He is the down payment or earnest of our salvation and fulfills Jesus' promise "I will never leave you or forsake you".

 

[MrsRow]

Those that pray this way are either not saved or don't know that the Holy Spirit lives in each and every believer from the moment of salvation.

Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the House of God in our age.

He is the down payment or earnest of our salvation and fulfills Jesus' promise "I will never leave you or forsake you".

i cant say that i agree with you on that.  imo,  they could certainly be saved and also know and believe the doctrine that the Spirit lives in every believer.  I just sort of feel that asking the Spirit to "come down" or "descend"  is like asking God to make water wet.  Because Gods word already tells us that where 2 or more are gathered in His name , there He is in the midst.  He's already there so why are we asking Him to come down?

The more i think of reasons why ppl pray like that is maybe it's just cos it's what they've heard all their lives, or maybe it has some truth to it and the Spirit actually does come down, or maybe they think it just sounds good and spiritual.  *shrug*

 

[bgwilkinson]

Those that pray this way are either not saved or don't know that the Holy Spirit lives in each and every believer from the moment of salvation.

Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the House of God in our age.

He is the down payment or earnest of our salvation and fulfills Jesus' promise "I will never leave you or forsake you".

i cant say that i agree with you on that.  imo,  they could certainly be saved and also know and believe the doctrine that the Spirit lives in every believer.  I just sort of feel that asking the Spirit to "come down" or "descend"  is like asking God to make water wet.  Because Gods word already tells us that where 2 or more are gathered in His name , there He is in the midst.  He's already there so why are we asking Him to come down?

The more i think of reasons why ppl pray like that is maybe it's just cos it's what they've heard all their lives, or maybe it has some truth to it and the Spirit actually does come down, or maybe they think it just sounds good and spiritual.  *shrug*

I think another reason they would make such a statement is their lack of allowing the Holy Spirit to direct and lead. They may have quenched the Holy Spirit. Indicative of hardheartedness.

 

[rsc2a]

...or they are just being metaphorical in their prayers.

 

[ItinerantPreacher]

Or they have trouble understanding the in-filling (Ephesians 5:18) and use terminology from the book of Acts regarding the in-dwelling.

I (we all) certainly need to be filled with the Spirit, and that happens as I yield more and more to Him. The in-dwelling occurs once, and seals my salvation. Because I am an imperfect vessel, I need to be filled or rather re-filled until I reach heaven.

 

[Citadel of Truth]

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)

The Holy Spirit certainly indwells believers, but He also has a very key ministry of convicting the unbeliever.

It is very acceptable to pray that the Holy Spirit would fall on a service and accomplish the work that He alone can do. 

 

[MrsRow]

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)

The Holy Spirit certainly indwells believers, but He also has a very key ministry of convicting the unbeliever.

It is very acceptable to pray that the Holy Spirit would fall on a service and accomplish the work that He alone can do.

i agree

 

[prophet]

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)

The Holy Spirit certainly indwells believers, but He also has a very key ministry of convicting the unbeliever.

It is very acceptable to pray that the Holy Spirit would fall on a service and accomplish the work that He alone can do.

You've missed the whole point of this passage.

When He is come to you...

These 3 things are accomplished through the possessed Believer.

The Spirit was here all along:

Gen 1:2
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And what does "fall" mean, in your post?

 

[subllibrm]

When my SIL was estranged from my daughter and living with another woman our pastor prayer that God would "give him a Holy Spirit smack down". I and some close friends prayed that God would make him miserable. When he finally came to his senses and wanted to make things right, the first words out of his mouth were "I am miserable, I want to come home".

So I have no problem asking God to do a work in another person's life via the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit.

Not sure how that fits the OP but it is where I come down on the question of praying for Holy Spirit intervention. After all that is one of His roles in the Godhead.

 

[Citadel of Truth]

You've missed the whole point of this passage.

I don't think so. I think it is very clear that the Holy Spirit's ministry extends to the world, not just to the believer. Verse 9 - "of sin, because they do not believe in Me."

When He is come to you...

Granted, the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is a powerful influence to those around him/her. However, that is not His sole ministry.

These 3 things are accomplished through the possessed Believer.

Not necessarily. It is one thing to "possess" the Holy Spirit; every child of God is a possessor. It is quite another to be yielded to the Holy Spirit to the point that the He can work in and through you to accomplish His work.   

The Spirit was here all along:

Gen 1:2
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This is semantics. The Holy Spirit, as God, is omnipresent. He was here, is here, and always will be here. Jesus is referring specifically to the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. His ministry to the lost didn't change at Pentecost.

And what does "fall" mean, in your post?

To work among, to move in the midst, to perform His work.

 

[prophet]

You've missed the whole point of this passage.

I don't think so. I think it is very clear that the Holy Spirit's ministry extends to the world, not just to the believer. Verse 9 - "of sin, because they do not believe in Me."

When He is come to you...

Granted, the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is a powerful influence to those around him/her. However, that is not His sole ministry.

These 3 things are accomplished through the possessed Believer.

Not necessarily. It is one thing to "possess" the Holy Spirit; every child of God is a possessor. It is quite another to be yielded to the Holy Spirit to the point that the He can work in and through you to accomplish His work.   

The Spirit was here all along:

Gen 1:2
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This is semantics. The Holy Spirit, as God, is omnipresent. He was here, is here, and always will be here. Jesus is referring specifically to the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. His ministry to the lost didn't change at Pentecost.

And what does "fall" mean, in your post?

To work among, to move in the midst, to perform His work.

Again, you are jumping over something here:

I will send Him unto you...
And when He is come He will...

These three things happen through the Believer, by the Holy Spirit.

Because...Jesus went away, yet still we follow Him.

Because we have the victory over sin.

 

[Billy]

Whats that old saying" "pray to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit"

As JRR used to say He's been in the family long enough to pray to either one he liked...or something like that.

I'm getting old my memory fades.