Sometimes children ask Mom for something, and when she says no, then they go and ask Dad for the very same thing.  If Mom and Dad aren’t on the same page, this can cause problems.   But if Mom and Dad are communicating and united in their approach to parenting, it really doesn’t matter if you ask Mom or Dad; the answer will be the same.

As Christians, we certainly can pray to the Triune God – and this is the most common form of our prayers.  But we can also pray to each member of the Trinity for specific things, if we so desire.  Think, for example, of the most famous prayer of all, the Lord’s Prayer.  It is addressed to the Father and doesn’t even mention the Son or the Spirit.  Yet Jesus himself taught us to pray in that way.

But whenever God’s people pray, there are a couple of important things to remember.  One, even though we may pray to only one person of the Trinity (such as the Holy Spirit), we are, in reality, praying to the Triune God, for the three persons are one God.  In fact, only prayers to the Triune God are heard and answered, for he is the only true God.  They communicate and work together as they hear and answer prayers.

Secondly, Christians always pray through faith in Jesus, for it is only covered with his blood and righteousness that we can approach God at all.  I can’t approach God because of who I am – a sinner – but only because through faith in Jesus God has clothed me with his Son’s holiness.  This is why Jesus told us five times on the night before he died to ask the Father for anything “in my name” (John 16:23, e.g.); it means to pray through faith in Jesus.

Finally, Christians always pray to God that he do what is good and best, and that we have the faith to humbly accept his decisions.  This is what it means to pray according to God’s will.  If you think about it, this is a wonderfully comforting way to pray.  For since God is holy and loving, he can only do what is good and best for his children on earth.

So – yes – we can pray to the Holy Spirit, if we so choose.  And he has so many, many good spiritual gifts to give us that enrich our life of faith: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – all the fruits that the Spirit produces in the hearts and lives of the followers of Jesus (Gal. 5:22-23).  Pray for these, and pray for them often!  For this is the kind of prayer that God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – loves to hear and answer.