It is one of the quiet tragedies of modern church life that many believers live as if the Holy Spirit were an optional member of the Trinity. We confess the doctrine of the triune God in our creeds, yet we often live and minister in ways that are functionally Unitarian—focused almost entirely on the Father and the Son, while the Spirit remains, as it were, a silent partner. This is not a recent concern. In 2006, Edgar Andrews lamented in his article The Water of Life that conversions were few, spiritual vitality was scarce, and zeal for mission was waning. Nearly twenty years later, his words still ring true.

So, What has happened to our hunger for the Spirit of God?

It’s not that we deny His presence. We may even nod in agreement when Romans 8:14 declares, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (BSB). But if we are honest, many of us would have to admit we don’t live like we expect Him to lead. In our pulpits, in our prayer meetings, and even in our daily lives, the Holy Spirit has become more of a doctrine to be believed than a Person to be known.

And yet the New Testament is saturated with the Spirit. He is not a footnote in the Christian life—He is its very breath. From the announcement of Christ’s conception to the last benediction of Revelation, the Spirit is present, active, and central.

Why, then, this silence in our churches? Why this absence in our prayers?

Part of the hesitation, no doubt, comes from a desire to avoid error. Many of us have seen the excesses—so-called “Spirit-led” ministries where emotion outweighs truth and theatrical displays drown out Scripture. We are rightly wary of self-appointed prophets and prosperity healers who have turned the Spirit’s name into a brand. Jeremiah’s words still expose such spiritual malpractice: “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit” (Jeremiah 6:13, NIV).

But our caution must not become neglect.

There is no Christianity without the Spirit. Jesus said the Spirit would glorify Him and take what is His to disclose it to us (John 16:14, BSB). He is no rogue actor. The Spirit’s work is Christ-centered, Bible-rooted, and church-building. If we sideline Him in fear of being misled, we lose the very One who gives life to our faith.

Jesus and the Spirit: Anointed for the Gospel

Consider this: even Jesus, in His humanity, depended on the Holy Spirit. At His baptism, the Spirit descended and remained (John 1:33, BSB). When He preached in Nazareth, He opened Isaiah to read, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor” (Isaiah 61:1, BSB). And He warned the disciples not to begin their mission until they had received the Spirit from on high (Acts 1:4-5, BSB).

How then do we presume to carry on Gospel work without the Spirit?

The Apostle Paul understood this deeply. He wrote to the Thessalonians that the Gospel came not only in word, “but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5, BSB). Peter agreed, saying the Gospel was preached “by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven” (1 Peter 1:12, BSB).

Not only is the Spirit necessary for proclamation, He is the gift of the Gospel itself. “Repent and be baptized,” Peter cried at Pentecost, “and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38, BSB). The promise is for all God’s people—not a few, not the spiritual elite, but every believer in Christ.

So let us not be silent about the Spirit when we proclaim Christ. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, He told him plainly that one must be “born of the Spirit” (John 3:5, BSB). To the Samaritan woman, He spoke of “living water” (John 4:10, BSB), and at the Feast of Tabernacles He cried out that all who thirst could come and drink, for “out of his belly will flow rivers of living water”—a clear reference to the Spirit (John 7:38-39, BSB).

How can we offer a full Christ without offering the full ministry of the Spirit?

Still, we must keep our eyes on Christ. The Spirit magnifies the Son, not Himself. Jesus said, “He will glorify Me” (John 16:14, BSB). That is the mark of any genuine movement of the Spirit—it always leads us deeper into Christ. Spurgeon captured this with clarity when he said, “I looked at Christ and the dove of peace flew into my heart. I looked at the dove, and it flew away again.” A Spirit-filled life is not one obsessed with experiences, but one soaked with the presence of Christ.

The Spirit’s Work in Evangelism

And yet we must not ignore the Spirit’s operations, especially in evangelism. He is the one who empowers the message (1 Corinthians 2:4, BSB), convicts the heart (John 16:8, BSB), and brings the dead to life (John 3:5; Ephesians 2:4-5, BSB). If we are not seeing conversions, not sensing conviction, not witnessing new birth, might it be because we have not asked the Spirit to work? Or worse, because we no longer expect Him to?

We cannot manufacture revival. But we can grieve the Spirit by our complacency. We can quench Him with our low expectations. And if He withholds His blessing, it will not be because He is absent—but because we have grown comfortable in His absence.

So, what now?

We must pray—not just for sound doctrine, but for spiritual power. Not for spectacle, but for God’s living presence among us. We must return to the Scriptures with an open heart and ask the Lord to awaken in us what we have neglected: a daily dependence on the Spirit who indwells every child of God.

Ask yourself: when was the last time you pleaded with the Spirit to guide your ministry? When was the last time your church corporately sought the Spirit’s leading? Would anyone visiting your congregation sense that the living God was truly among His people?

Brothers and sisters, “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Romans 8:14, BSB). May we no longer live as if He were distant. May we seek Him afresh—humbly, prayerfully, biblically—and find Him eager to renew His work among us.

Cross References for Meditation:
Luke 11:13 – “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
2 Corinthians 3:17 – “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Isaiah 44:3 – “I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.”