Holy Spirit: Our Advocate

I hear the word ‘advocate’ and I think of merciful people who come alongside a child in need of help navigating the court and public health systems they’ve been thrown into. I think of public defenders who take-on cases for people who cannot represent themselves effectively in a court of law. These defenders stand before decision-makers and officers of the law on behalf of the one who needs a voice that is for them. Pleading their case. Advocating for them. 

This is Holy Spirit. For us.

A few weeks ago, we uncovered a Greek word that the Apostle John uses four times for Holy Spirit in Scripture, parakletos, which can be defined as helper, comforter, counselor – and advocate. It refers to a person who is “called to one’s side” – especially in the sense of stepping-in as an aid.¹ An intercessor. A defender. John paints a clear picture in His word choice for Holy Spirit, giving us language to imagine Him advocating on our behalf – as our Paraclete, ready to plead our case. Ready to defend us before accusers and attackers. Ready to come alongside us even as He dwells within us.

Advocates

John is clear in his first letter to the early church that Jesus is our parakletos:

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”

1 John 2:1 NLT

Called to leave His throne in heaven, God the Son, came to earth to walk among actual people. Coming alongside them, He taught and healed; He made people whole and holy. And the disciples following Him could not imagine anything better or more significant as they watched Him work miracles and pray with unprecedented power and authority. 

At the Last Supper, Jesus granted a rare peek behind the curtain to see the kind of Advocate He had been for His disciples, telling Peter, 

“Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”

Luke 22:31-32

Jesus, full of the Spirit, knew the mind of God and how best to intercede for His followers. He also understood that His earthly ministry was limited by space and time. As a man, He could only be in one place at any given moment. And, then, only for three years. Yet, He knew that God’s plan of redemption was meant for all nations (Matthew 28:19). Across hundreds of generations. 

This is why Jesus promised His inner circle that this work of redemption and salvation would not end when He ‘was gone’, promising them another Advocate – One who would never leave them (John 14:16-17). One not bound by time or space. Quite literally this Advocate, God the Spirit, would go everywhere with all believers across all generations because He would be in them.

Jesus is our Advocate – and so is Holy Spirit.

Risen and glorified, Jesus now sits at the right hand of God as our Advocate, perpetually interceding for us (1 John 2:1 AMP; Romans 8:34). We are “the objects of His advocacy and intercession, which He carries on apart from us in heaven.”² 

Jesus is and always will be our intermediary (1 Timothy 2:5 NET), “the only one able to go between [us] and God,” forever protecting our relationship with the Father.³ Just as He did for Peter and His disciples while He was with them.

Our perfect High Priest saves every single one of us who come to the Father through Him – once and for all; and such saving is complemented by His perpetual, holy intervention on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25).⁵ With Christ as our Intercessor, we have perfect assurance that we are kept safe against any future accusations!⁵ 

So, while Jesus intercedes for us before the Father in heaven, Holy Spirit intercedes within us.⁵ 

Holy Spirit as Intercessor

We are assured in Scripture that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us” (Romans 8:26). Because He dwells in us and operates so at-one with the Father, Holy Spirit knows us better than we know ourselves. It’s how He takes our prayers, even our wordless groanings, and perfects them.⁵ 

“The Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

Romans 8:27 NLT

Holy Spirit’s intercession within us means “the effectiveness of our prayers does not depend on us.”⁶ We don’t have to get all the words right. We simply respond to Holy Spirit’s nudges and get before the Father in humble surrender, fully aware of our need of Him. We pour out our thoughts and hopes, desires and needs even as we praise the Lord for who He is. And Holy Spirit in us shapes all these prayers and sends them heavenward – holy and perfectly aligned with the Father’s will.

Imagine with me the Spirit’s intercession within us as God lavishly providing us with His own presence to work things out in our lives – including our prayers – in ways we never could for ourselves (Galatians 3:5 MSG). The pressure is off! Holy Spirit takes our imperfect prayers, “adds to them the incense of the merits of Christ, and puts them in a form acceptable to our heavenly Father.”² 

My friends, believing that in some mysterious way we are the “vehicles of the Spirit’s intercession,” we boldly continue to speak our prayers, trusting that Holy Spirit in us is working them out just as they should be.² And that our faithful Father in heaven not only hears our prayers but is already at work, answering them in His wise way.

Holy Spirit as Defender

Throughout Scripture we are given pictures of God as our Defender.

For example, Moses spoke over the fearful Israelites as they watched the Egyptian army bear down on them, saying, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). And after the great waters drowned that army, the Israelites sang great praises to God, declaring the Lord as their strength and defense (Exodus 15:2).

Then there was the time God opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant so that he could see the way God’s spiritual army, full of horses and chariots of fire, surrounded them, prepared to defend them from their enemies (1 Kings 6:15-17). And, Paul describes Jesus as having gone before us, conquering sin and death – and that means “overwhelming victory is ours through Christ” (Colossians 2:11-15; Romans 8:37 NLT). 

Holy Spirit carries on what the Father and the Son began. 

As such, under the new covenant, spiritual protection comes during times of trial from Holy Spirit, our Advocate (John 14:16). He surrounds us and goes before us; He comes alongside us and hems us in (Psalm 139:5-10). As our Paraklete, God the Spirit will even come to our aid with the exact words we need in moments of attack or persecution – just as Jesus promised and foretold:

“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

Luke 12:11-12

Though we are not promised physical safety in this world, our Defender can certainly guard our bodies. However, Jesus guarantees the eternal protection of our souls, assuring us that no one can snatch us from His hands (2 Corinthians 1:22; John 10:28). Holy Spirit defends us when we are under attack!

And because war constantly rages in the spiritual realm, beyond our line of vision, Paul reminds us that our struggles are “not against flesh and blood” but “against the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). In such battles, we can also count on Holy Spirit to come alongside us. In fact, He quite proactively provides us with spiritual armor:

“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Ephesians 6:10-13

In his summary of the armor listed in verses 14-17, Eugene Peterson tells us, “Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words (MSG).” They are weapons! 

Friends, Holy Spirit stands ready to buckle us in with God’s truth, cover our hearts with righteousness and our minds with salvation; He wants to anchor us in the peace of Christ in such a way that we can stand our ground against all spiritual attacks. Each time we pick up faith, we’re lifting a shield that deflects the enemy’s lies and accusations. And every time we grab the “sword of the Spirit,” we are using God’s Word to take back ground from our spiritual enemies (v.17). 

Holy Spirit is in all of this – because the real battle is spiritual! 

God once revealed to a friend of mine in a vivid dream that moving through life without having put on this armor is like going into battle naked. Friends, our Defender won’t impose God’s will on us. He won’t force us to pray or to pick up these pieces of armor. But the minute we ask, the pieces fly on faster than Tony Stark’s most advanced Ironman suit. In Christ, by the Spirit, we are covered. Protected. Defended.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:25

Knowing Holy Spirit as our Intercessor and Defender – the Advocate who comes alongside us and dwells within us in order to help us as we pray and to protect us as we move through the world – we can trust we have everything we need to be effective witnesses for Jesus and advocates for others. We have been given the Spirit of God, the One who will never leave us. The One who is always, always for us!

Today we’re praying the lyrics from two songs, “Come From You” and “Armor.”⁷ May these words become our prayer more and more regularly as we remember Holy Spirit as our Interceder and Defender:

Holy Spirit…
You’ve come like a fire
You’ve come like a wind
You’ve come in a still small voice,
Whispering

Holy Spirit, speak for me
Holy Spirit, intercede
In all I say and all I do,
May it only come from You

I’m watching arrows
Fall at my feet
I will be tested
But I am protected
I’m not afraid of
My enemies
‘Cause I’ve got my armor

Holy Spirit, cover me
Holy Spirit, go between
In all I say and all I do,
May it only come from You

Let Your Word be the weapon I carry
Let the truth be what’s holding me fast
And Lord, my faith in You is a shield that surrounds me
And the darkness, no, it won’t stand a chance
‘Cause I’ve got my armor

In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

[Please remember that throughout this series, we want to move through information gathering to Holy Spirit experiencing. As such, I will be adding an ‘experience’ of Holy Spirit each week in our “Rhythms” section below. I hope you’ll jump down there to see how you might stretch yourself in the way of experiencing more of the Spirit in your life. You can trust I’m doing the same!!]

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – Biblehub for paraklétos, aka: paraclete.
• 2 – This CS Lewis Institute article on praying in the Spirit
• 3 – In the NET Bible footnote for the word ‘intermediary’ in 1 Timothy 2:5, we get clarity that Jesus is less of a ‘mediator’ working to toward compromise between two parties and more of an ‘intermediator’, redeeming our relationship with God, on God’s terms.
• 4 – This GotQuestions article about Jesus as our intercessor and defender
• 5 – Biblehub for entugchanó, the Greek word for intercede
• 6 – This GotQuestions article about Holy Spirit as our intercessor
• 7 – The first song we used in our prayer, “Come From You” by Northeast Worship is not actually on our Holy Spirit Playlist on Spotify. But the second song, “Armor” by Jordan Feliz just got added to our playlist this week. You’re welcome. 😉
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.
• Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective. WE’RE BEGINNING A DEEP DIVE STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN ON AUGUST 3RD. YOU CAN JOIN US IN OUR GROUP ON FACEBOOK. YOU CAN PICK UP A COPY OF THE BOOK OR GET A PDF.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.

• The rhythm we are employing for our summer Holy Spirit series falls in the category of a weekly experience. Prayer is our best tool as we seek to overcome physical and spiritual obstacles and attacks. And now we know it’s because Holy Spirit is in it all!! Talking with God — the Father, Son, and Spirit — keeps our eyes on Him rather than on ourselves and our situations. Such conversations also build our relationship with Him even as they ignite vast sparks and flames of spiritual work we cannot see or even imagine — but we can trust that in it all we will experience peace and hope as we keep placing our trust in the One who is our Intercessor and Defender. Put on that armor! XOXO

• We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!

Featured Photo is a stained glass window in All Saints Catholic Church in St. Peters, Missouri
“All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Zrng N Gharib on Unsplash.
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