Today marks the first of nine days between Ascension Day and the Day of Pentecost. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples gathered in the Upper Room and devoted themselves to prayer for nine days before the Holy Spirit came upon them. These nine days are considered the first “novena” (from the Latin word for nine).
A novena is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity — usually Catholicism — consisting of prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. A novena may be made at any time, and there are a variety of novenas online from which to choose. Here are some examples. (Because this form of prayer is more Catholic leaning than Protestant, many novenas are directed to Mary or one of the Saints to intercede with God on our behalf. If that is troublesome for you, simply direct the novena straight to God.) You can also write your own.
During these nine days, in preparation for Pentecost, I’m praying the Holy Spirit Novena and encourage you to join me. You’ll see that each day is dedicated to one of the nine fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-33. There is also space for inserting a specific prayer request or intention that you’ve identified for the duration of the novena.
My suggestion is to ask God what should go in that space. What is one thing God wants you to focus on in prayer for the next nine days? Letting God weigh in on our prayer requests can help us avoid treating prayer as a transaction. God is not a divine ATM waiting for us to use a novena as our PIN!
Novenas are simply a helpful tool for remaining faithful in prayer, strengthening our relationship with Jesus, and inviting God’s will to manifest in our lives. Ultimately, we pray that God will give us what God knows is best for us. Even Jesus said, “not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).
No matter what we pray and long for, God will send us the Holy Spirit. God will meet us in the longing and grant us grace. So give this prayer practice a try. Light a candle, settle down into your heart with some slow, deep breaths, and go to God with your prayerful intention nine days in a row. God might have a surprise in store. One thing is for sure — through persistence in prayer your faith will grow because of God’s faithfulness to you.
Adrian+