Vineyard Evensong Part 18

Another element of Vineyard Evensong is the invitation “Come, Holy Spirit”. This prayer is an open invitation for the Holy Spirit to come and minister to His people. This ministry time provides an opportunity for all to be freshly filled with the Spirit’s presence, to pray for one another in His power, and to experience all the blessings of the passion of Jesus. We invite the Holy Spirit to come and minister to us spontaneously with words of knowledge, words of wisdom and other spiritual gifts. This short, simple prayer of invitation has been at the heart of the Vineyard movement since its beginning. Prophetically, Joel spoke about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit:
Joel 2:28-29 (NIV)
28 ‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Jesus taught His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit:
John 14:15-17 (NIV)
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians that they would be strengthened in their inner being by His Spirit:
Ephesians 3:14-19 (NIV)
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
This simple prayer can also be found in liturgies dating back as far as 1200 AD. It is included as part of a poem called Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit):
Come, Holy Spirit,
Send forth the heavenly
Radiance of your light.
Come, father of the poor,
Come, giver of gifts,
Come, light of the heart.
Greatest comforter,
Sweet guest of the soul,
Sweet consolation.
In labor, rest,
In heat, temperance,
In tears, solace.
O most blessed light,
Fill the inmost heart
Of your faithful.
Without your grace,
There is nothing in us,
Nothing that is not harmful.
Cleanse that which is unclean,
Water that which is dry,
Heal that which is wounded.
Bend that which is inflexible,
Fire that which is chilled,
Correct what goes astray.
Give to your faithful,
Those who trust in you, The sevenfold gifts.
Grant the reward of virtue,
Grant the deliverance of salvation,
Grant eternal joy.
Amen. Alleluia.
So, Veni Sancte Spiritus, Come Holy Spirit!!!!!