Alas, I'm afraid we both could sense that a theological disagreement between us was inevitable! Let me say firstly that I received your letter, and as a fellow evangelical I certainly can appreciate your concerns and equally respect your views on reformed theology. Be assured that I too am committed to the truth of biblical revelation and the "traditions of our fathers." Perhaps, then, our differences lay not so much in the sincerity or depth of our commitment to Scripture, but more in our interpretations of a certain theme within it. In the meantime let's at least agree that God's grace is sufficient for the both of us, shall we?
If I understood you correctly, the practice in our church to which you object the most revolves around what we call "ministry time," which generally commences with some variant or another of an invitation to the Holy Spirit, to visit our meetings. For example: "Come, Holy Spirit, and minister to us." You are of course right to say that the Bible contains no such prayer, at least not with that exact word-formulation. But is your objection valid? How many things do we say as Christians that are not word-for-word quotations of some verse of Scripture? And how many things that we do - e.g., in our prayers, our church liturgies and traditions, our evangelism techniques - are not explicitly outlined step-by-step in an epistle somewhere? It seems to me more important that everything we do is simply based on, or at least consistent with, a proper interpretation of Scripture.
So the real question is: What sort of general theological conclusions can we draw from a proper reading of the Bible applicable to the issue at hand? You mentioned the "Come Holy Spirit" prayer. In Luke's Gospel the disciples made a wise and humble request of Jesus: "Lord, teach us to pray." Jesus' answer gives us our first clue as to "kingdom theology," in connection with what may be fairly termed a "Come Holy Spirit" sort of prayer: "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come" [or, "Let your kingdom come"] (Luke 11:2). Like Matthew, Luke records the coming of the kingdom as the first specific request to be made by the disciples to the Father in prayer. As with so many of Jesus' utterances, this reference to the kingdom is not incidental but intentional and theologically significant.
To make sense of the "Come Holy Spirit" prayer, we must therefore first understand the central place of the kingdom of God in the NT. Jesus preached the kingdom continually and taught about it with numerous parables. Jesus began his ministry in the first chapter of Mark, for instance, with a kingdom announcement: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark. 1:14). The nature of that kingdom is then revealed in in the breakthrough of God's power into the usual and mundane routine of everyday life. The multitudes are astonished at Jesus, because he "taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (v. 22. The Greek word for "authority" here is exousia, which implies power, force, ability, strength, right and jurisdiction.) Jesus casts out a demon on the heels of ministering the word, so that the crowds ask: "What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the evil spirits, and they obey Him" (v. 27). That is, there seems to be a direct connection between the spoken words of Christ and the miracles that follow.
Luke similarly describes Jesus' inaugural announcement in terms of supernatural intervention and dominion (Luke 4:16-21). Indeed, Jesus' ministry here can be seen again as the twofold act of declaration and demonstration: (1) "To proclaim liberty to the captives" and (2) "to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (v. 18). Actual deliverance again occurs in the context of proclaiming it. Reading Luke further, we can see the same pattern in Jesus' commission to the twelve, entailing a transfer of spiritual authority from himself to his disciples: "He sent them to preach the kingdom and to heal the sick" (9:2). The disciples obeyed on both counts: "So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere" (v. 6). In Luke 10:1-9 Jesus gives the same commission, this time to the seventy. So the commission expands a little further, beyond the immediate circle of the twelve. Following Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, Luke again restates the commission, in terms that evangelicals such as you and I have quite rightly taken as applicable to the entire church throughout all ages (Luke 24:45-59; cf Matt. 28:16-20; John 20:19-23). Notice the progression: (1) Jesus announces the arrival of the kingdom in his own person and substantiates it with visible signs and wonders; (2) He commissions the twelve to do likewise: preach the kingdom and demonstrate its power; (3) He then expands this "kingdom" commission to include the seventy, then the entire church. At no point does the supernatural character of the commission itself change; rather, it merely applies to an ever-enlarging circle of believers.
The announcement, or proclamation, of the arrival of the kingdom is an act of faith. It follows and works in conjunction with another act of faith, the prayer of the kingdom. "Come, Holy Spirit" is an example of this sort of prayer. Kingdom prayer is an expression of faith and of the manifest will of God. "Your kingdom come" and "Your will be done" amount to precisely the same sentiment. God's will, therefore, is not a complete mystery (though we know it is never altogether within the grasp of our understanding); God's will is that his kingdom would be made manifest in the earth, i.e, that the supernatural authority of God would be established and demonstrated "on earth as in heaven." The early believers prayed the will of God when they prayed: "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus" (Acts 4:30). Throughout the Scriptures, private prayer determines at least to some degree the nature of public experience (Ex. 2:23-25; Jer. 33:1-3; Matt. 6:6).
In turn, the prayer of the kingdom expresses the expectation of the kingdom. This is why I believe an understanding of kingdom theology is so important. If the church is to fulfill the commission of Chirst, individual believers like you and I must understand the centrality of the kingdom of God in biblical revelation, and then fully expect to see all that Jesus promised in connection with that revelation. On the heels of announcing a theological indicative, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Jesus declared an imperative to go with it: "Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). God is sovereign, yet acts in accordance with our own faith as believers. "According to your faith let it be to you" (Matt. 9:29). Consequently our personal relationship with God, expressed by an active, living faith, is not simply the means to our own salvation but is essential for the expansion of God's kingdom in the earth.