Introduction

Thank you for responding to this call to pray to God to send the Holy Spirit to fall afresh upon our earth. Together we are embarking on an exciting journey of walking in faith in God.

Throughout Church history, when times of trouble and strife have come, when Church attendance has diminished, when there is a growth in closed-mindedness among people to faith or the world becoming more secular (godless), a group of men and women have felt this burden on their heart and in their spirit and have prayed, “Come Holy Spirit.”

People have prayed the same when they have sensed God leading them to set out on a new work or in a new direction; they realize that it is God who establishes our steps and have prayed with eager dependence, “Come Holy Spirit.”

From this prayer, God has moved in amazing ways in people and across the entire Church that has brought ‘renewal’ as Catholics say, or ‘revival’ as Protestant, Evangelicals and various denominations say.

Praying for the Holy Spirit to come afresh is not a new idea or thought in me but is something I have pondered and prayed about for a long time.

As a young person, I was full of enthusiasm and drive believing that hard work and a can-do spirit would conquer life’s challenges, not just in me, but also around me whether they be in our world or the Church. How immature and silly I was. Years have gone by and while I know much more and have done many things, I now know more than ever that we need God. I realize as anyone older knows, I cannot or we cannot meet the many challenges we face in the world. The truth be known I have enough trouble just looking after myself let alone the problems and challenges of others.

The challenge of faith we confront today in our world must be met by God and it is the Holy Spirit who is the power of God on the earth who can do this. It is God who is the one who created the universe with its stars and planets, earth with its mountains and rivers, its creatures and environments, its places and its people. It is God who sustains everything according to His plan and it is God who is the only one who can meet the challenges we face today and so we MUST pray, “Come Holy Spirit.”

You are receiving this because you have written to me to say you will join me and countless others around the world in prayer to God to send the Holy Spirit upon the earth anew.

So many people today are concerned for loved ones far from God and Church and do not know what to do. God knows what to do.

If you know others who will join in this ‘work’ of prayer now is the time to ask them to join us.

WHY PEOPLE ARE HERE

Some people are doing this because they have carried this burden to pray for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit in their hearts for a long time, long before hearing me speak about it. Other people are responding to this invitation to prayer because when they heard me speak on television or through the Sunday Prayer and Teaching Service or the Daily Devotional videos or through emails or social media, they felt a quickening in their spirit and a conviction in their heart to pray. Others are joining in this prayer to the Holy Spirit because they heard that others were praying.

However, you may have got here you are welcome and may God hear our prayer.

ALREADY AT WORK

While we might pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the earth, we must remember the Holy Spirit is already at work in our own lives, in the Church and in the world. You would not be responding to this call to pray if it were not for the Holy Spirit at work in your life already.

However, there is no doubt that fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit have occurred throughout history and people’s lives. The Church and the world have changed and so we pray once again, “Come Holy Spirit.”

WE DON’T KNOW IT ALL AT FIRST

If I have learned anything from following God over the years, seeing God at work in others, and studying God at work in and through people throughout history, it is that all is never revealed at the beginning. God has a plan that we come to know over time. What happens is our understanding and the clarity of our direction emerges once we have set out. It is a walk of faith in God and not a walk of confidence in our ability or even in things we have seen in the past. It is trusting God for now and our future.

MANY WILL PRAY

God will bring people whom we don’t know to join us and will unify us with them in prayer.

For example, someone wrote to me from South Africa and said to me that they led a group of people who meet and pray and they would like to pray with us all of us along with their group. Then I heard from others who are part of small groups and faith gatherings in their Church who said they would pray and that local leaders would encourage and gather people as well.

Who might God bring to join us in this prayer “Come Holy Spirit” around the world?

HOW THIS WILL WORK

From time to time I will send you Messages (talks), videos, audio, articles or reflections from my study and personal prayer to help us in our prayer to the Holy Spirit.

At the same time, we are collecting materials from others and we will make them available for people to use in their prayer and in growing in their knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

In addition to this, using media technology, we will conduct gatherings of prayer internationally and in local time zones.

CURRENT CONTENT

As many of you know, we as a ministry are producing daily content to help people with their walk with Christ. This is now laced throughout with teaching and prayer to the Holy Spirit. While you might only get an email from me from time to time, we are praying to the Holy Spirit every day through the Sunday Prayer and Teaching Service, the daily Devotional videos and other materials that we are sending out daily. You can pray with me every day.

KEEP PRAYING

You do not, however, need something from me to pray “Come Holy Spirit.”

If for some reason, you do not receive anything from us, I encourage you to keep praying.

Praying to the Holy Spirit has been on my heart for a long time, and while I did encourage people to pray last year, with all that happened with Covid, etc., I found I needed to pray alone. To help me, I set a silent alarm on my phone that has gone off every hour, twenty-four hours a day for the past year. That is over 8,760 times that my phone has said, “Come Holy Spirit.” I am constantly reminded throughout the day.

Be committed to pray to the Holy Spirit regardless of what anyone else does.

BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR WAY OF PRAYER

There are many ways to pray. No one way is best. God who is infinite, is able to reveal himself to the very educated and those not so. God can reveal Himself to those who are artistic, scientific, musical, athletic, mathematical, technological, dramatic, speak multi-languages, business gurus, architects, computer scientists and those who are not. God can reveal Himself to young and older people in ways that they can both understand and relate to Him.

You may choose to pray in your own words or use prayers from a book. You might decide to go to Church, pray in a prayer group or small group. You might sing songs or you might sit in silence. All are prayer. All are valid forms of prayer and God hears them all.

HOW TO PRAY

You do not, however, need something from me to pray “Come Holy Spirit.”

If for some reason, you do not receive anything from us, I encourage you to keep praying.

Praying to the Holy Spirit has been on my heart for a long time, and while I did encourage people to pray last year, with all that happened with Covid, etc., I found I needed to pray alone. To help me, I set a silent alarm on my phone that has gone off every hour, twenty-four hours a day for the past year. That is over 8,760 times that my phone has said, “Come Holy Spirit.” I am constantly reminded throughout the day.

Be committed to pray to the Holy Spirit regardless of what anyone else does.

IT IS TIME TO BEGIN

Planning to go on the journey, while critical, is not the same as being on the journey. We must push off from the shore and begin to pray while not quite knowing where it will all lead. Faith is the confidence that God knows the destination, how we get there, and what it will be like when we arrive.

PRAY FOR GOD’S WILL

When praying to God who sends His Holy Spirit to aid us, it is easy to fall into the trap of praying prayers of what ‘we want’ or prayers that tell God what to do. Rather we should pray for what ‘God’s will’ is.

I realize that this might sound vague but think of it this way. The Scriptures tell us that God knows everything. We on the other hand know what we can see and what we understand according to our intellect that has been developed by our exposure to information and experience. No one knows everything except God.

HOW WE SHOULD PRAY

So rather than tell God what and how He should answer our prayers we can tell God our needs, that of others and our world. We can be specific as far as we understand it and then leave the response or the answer to God.

Our prayer should therefore be, ‘Lord cultivate in me a desire and ability to accept how you will respond for you are all-seeing and all-knowing.’

For example, we can say,

God, I want you to do this according to my will,
when what we should pray is,
‘Lord, not my will but your will be done.’

God, I want you to do this in this way,
when what we should pray is,
‘Lord, not in the way I want but in the way You want.’

God, I want you to do this by this time,
when what we should pray is,
‘Lord not in my timing but Your timing.’

God, I want you to work in this place,
when what we should pray is,
‘Lord not where I want, but where you desire it to be.

God, I want to be involved,
when what we should pray is,
‘Lord choose who you will, I am available if it is Your will.’

When we pray to God our Father and Jesus His Son we know that the Holy Spirit will proceed from the Father and the Son to be at work among us.

LET US PRAY

Loving God, as we commence this journey together, purify our hearts to be more like You, cleanse our motivation to be trusting in what You desire. Open our hearts to Your greater plan that we do not yet see and pour Your Holy Spirit upon us to give us life and lead us in truth.

Lord we pray,

‘Lord, not my will but your will be done.’
‘Lord, not in the way I want but in the way You want.’
‘Lord not in my timing but Your timing.’
‘Lord not where I want, but where you desire it to be.
‘Lord choose who you will, I am available if it is Your will.’  

Lord God, bless all those who pray to you and say, ‘Come Holy Spirit.’  

Father, we make this prayer in Jesus’ name in and through the power of Your Holy Spirit.  

Amen.

Thank you for praying with me. Pray boldly and confidently and trust that God’s plan based on love will be supreme. This is just the beginning. I will write again soon.

Please invite others to join us in prayer.

God bless
Bruce Downes