Pulpit Notes: Prayer for Pentecost

We pray, “Come, Holy Spirit, come,” but are we prepared for the consequences of our prayer, O God?

Your heart, mind, and will are often hidden, shielded by our human pride, folly, and sin. Holy Spirit, God’s self-expression, come down upon Your people, invade our affections, our thoughts, our actions. Grant us the mystery and joy of obedience: not what we covet, but what You love; not what we design, but what You command; not what benefits us, but what is righteous, just, and true for all.

The Church, as a human institution, O God, cannot overcome the world by our reason or accomplishment. Nor can we transform culture, but by the power of Your Holy Spirit, which breathes life into the souls of those You choose; who goes where You desire; who creates, and moves, and sometimes even speaks as tongues of fire. Your Spirit is truth which needs no explanation — the truth which reveals to us Jesus: our spiritual home, our center, our brother, our savior. Grant for us Your Spirit to know Him and, in Him, stand in mystery, in hope, in love, and in You: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, come.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Conrad

Reverend Dr. Conrad C. Sharps
Senior Pastor

Photograph: Detail of an art glass window visible from the west front of Shadyside Presbyterian Church. Photograph by Ellen L. Allston.