The Prayer to the Holy Spirit
This article is taken from a writing by Pastor Craig L. Adams <click here for Craig Adams Blog >
First, a little history…
The Walk To Emmaus is an outgrowth of the larger Cursillo movement that began in the Roman Catholic Church, in Spain in 1949. As Protestants became interested in the Cursillo, many Protestant versions began to arise. The Walk to Emmaus is simply the United Methodist version. Chrysalis is the United Methodist version for teenagers. But, there are many other Protestant versions of Cursillo as well, including: Pilgrimage (Presbyterian), Via de Christo (Lutheran), Episcopal Cursillo, Tres Dias, DeColores in Christo, etc.
It is characteristic of most of these Cursillo-type weekends that at the beginning of the several talks (traditionally called “rollos”) given on the weekend some version of the following prayer is recited by the participants:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
This is an ancient prayer. It is so ancient that no one knows who wrote it. The last part of the prayer dates back at least as far as the ninth century, since a version of it is found in the Gregorian Sacramentary.
So, participants on these weekends learn this prayer but they don’t always understand it. Some actually learn to dislike it, since it is difficult to understand. And, since they are required to recite it, it becomes to them simply a prayer they pray by rote.
This really is a wonderful prayer. For some… It just needs some explanation.
The prayer falls into three distinct parts.
1 — An Invitation to the Holy Spirit:
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”
It is this phrase of the prayer, more than anything else, that gives it the common titles “The Prayer to the Holy Spirit” or “The Holy Spirit Prayer.” Usually, prayer is addressed to God the Father through (or in the name of) the Son, in (or inspired by) the Holy Spirit — and this prayer is too. But, it begins with an invitation for the Spirit to inspire all of God’s faithful — and that would include the hearers of the talk. This phrase recognizes that it is the Holy Spirit that inspires Christians to pray.
“Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18 NRSV).
Most of all, it is the fire of love that the Holy Spirit inspires:
“…God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5 NRSV).
2 — A Bible Verse (Psalm 104:30):
“Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth.”
Many people who recite this prayer do not realize that this is a Bible verse. Psalm 104 is a psalm of praise to God for God’s creation of all the earth and its creatures.
“O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (Psalms 104:24 NRSV).
God not only creates all living things, but he sustains them.
“These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.” (Psalms 104:27-29 NRSV).
Then we read the phrase:
“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.” God is active in creating and sustaining — and in re-creating!
The Spirit who inspires our prayers is also the Spirit of all life. So, the invitation for the Spirit’s inspiration is enhanced by a Biblical reminder of who the Spirit is — and what the Spirit does. By the Spirit, God creates — and re-creates.
3 — A Prayer:
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
This is the prayer itself.
The first two parts can be seen as a preparation for this prayer. Notice (as I said above) that this is a prayer to God through Christ inspired by the Holy Spirit. As God instructed the hearts of the faithful in times past, so may God also instruct us today. The purpose of such inspiration is two-fold: that we might be “truly wise” — with the wisdom of God — and that we might “ever enjoy God’s consolations” — all the gifts of God’s grace.
It is this part of the prayer that goes back to at least the ninth century — and probably earlier. Thus, when we join in this prayer we are joining with the early church — and with the faithful of Israel as the sang their psalms — in praying for the continued inspiration and re-creation of the Holy Spirit.
All in all, it’s quite an inspiring and powerful prayer — if we understand it.
For some reason (no doubt with the intention of making the prayer more personal), in the Walk to Emmaus, the prayer has been changed to read this way:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
While this does make it more personal, it also obscures the fact that the second sentence is actually a Bible verse. People may wonder why they are praying for God to “create” them when they have (evidently) already been created. But, remember: this is an affirmation of who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does. God creates us by the Spirit, because it is always the Spirit of God that gives life. God re-creates us in love through faith in Jesus Christ. So, while that part of the current Emmaus version of the prayer is a little strange, if you know it is a reference to Psalm 104:30 you still get the idea.
This prayer also lends itself to responsive reading:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
All in all, this is a wonderful prayer. It is a way of praying with the early church and with the faithful down through the ages for the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit. It also joins us with the ancient praises of Israel.