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Book messages «Fellowshipping with the Lord for the Mingling of God with Man»
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The two aspects of prayer being fellowship and inquiring

  A person who is used by the Lord must be a person of prayer. The apostles said that they would “continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). To carry out the ministry of the word is to work for the Lord and to be used by Him. Prayer enables a person to work for the Lord and to be used by Him. The apostles could be used by the Lord because they continued steadfastly in prayer. A person who neglects prayer cannot be used by the Lord. In terms of function, the two aspects of prayer are fellowship and inquiring.

Prayer for fellowship with God

Being filled with God and letting God flow out of us

  The first function of prayer is to use our spirit to fellowship with God, that is, to contact and absorb God with our spirit. Our fellowship with God gives Him the opportunity to reveal Himself in us and to transfuse Himself into us so that our mind, emotion, and will are gradually mingled with Him. In this way God can reveal His intention to us so that we may understand His will. Furthermore, while God operates within us, He exposes and deals with our weaknesses, mistakes, and shortcomings. Hence, the first aspect of prayer is to fellowship with God by contacting Him and by letting Him mingle with us and clear up our problems.

  When we enter into God’s presence, we must consider fellowshipping with Him to be of primary importance. We should not begin with petitioning. Rather, we should first turn to our spirit, behold the shining of the Lord’s face, and wait for His operating, enlightening, revealing, anointing, infusing, mingling, filling, and saturating. We should also let the Lord expose our weaknesses, mistakes, and shortcomings. If we are willing to thoroughly confess these problems, our conscience will be at peace and without condemnation, and our spirit will be filled with His presence. At this time we can mention to the Lord the things that we want to pray for.

  In the past we have said that we should continually fellowship with the Lord in spirit, but such continual fellowship is often not deep or thorough. Hence, in addition to constant, spontaneous fellowship with the Lord, we must set aside an amount of time in order to focus on turning away from everything other than the Lord and contacting Him in the depths of our spirit. In this time His work in us is often deep and thorough and causes us to prostrate ourselves before Him. As a result, we sense our mistakes, and we are willing to let our mind be broken, our insubordinate will be subdued, and our impure emotion be purified.

  Such deep and quiet fellowship enables the Lord to reach every part of our being so that we are subdued, broken, purified, occupied, and possessed by Him. It is during such a time of prayer that the Lord can mingle with us in a deep and thorough way. This is how we pray ourselves into the Lord, absorb Him, fellowship with Him, and are mingled with Him. This is when the Lord touches our mind, emotion, and will, and we are subdued, purified, broken, occupied, and possessed by Him. Furthermore, we are mingled with the Lord, His will is revealed in us, and He can then anoint us with a burden for His work.

  The result of our being filled and saturated with God is that the river of water of life can freely flow out of us. Therefore, prayer causes us to be used by God. Prayer causes us to flow out the divine life into others, that is, to impart God into others. This is what it means to be used by God. Every believer who desires to be used by God should learn to pray in such a way.

Living in fellowship

  The prayer that we are talking about seems to be rather similar to what is ordinarily referred to as the prayer during devotions and retreats; actually, there is a big difference. The believers who promote devotional prayer often do not contact the Lord regularly or live in fellowship with the Lord. They have a set time for spiritual pursuit. This is not what we are referring to. We need to fellowship regularly with the Lord and live in this fellowship. It is not that we fellowship with the Lord only during our time of prayer. We must live in moment-by-moment fellowship with the Lord. However, since we sense that such regular fellowship with the Lord is not deep or thorough, we also set aside time to seek deeper fellowship with Him. If we do not live in constant fellowship with the Lord, our fellowship during a specific time of prayer will not be deep or thorough. If we desire to have thorough fellowship with the Lord during our prayer time, we must live in constant fellowship with Him.

Contacting God in Spirit

  Devotional prayer emphasizes introspection and petitioning, both of which mainly involve human effort. The prayer we are speaking of is not cultivated by human effort. This type of prayer does not involve introspection or petitions. Rather, it involves going before the Lord in order to contact Him. Instead of examining ourselves, we let the Lord shine on us and expose our weaknesses, mistakes, and shortcomings. Instead of petitioning the Lord, we allow Him to operate in us by transfusing and saturating us with Himself and by subduing, breaking, occupying, and gaining us. Such prayer is not a matter of petitioning but of receiving. We receive the Lord’s transfusing, shining, and exposing. Furthermore, we allow the Lord to subdue, break, occupy, fill, and saturate us.

  Such prayer does not require us to remain silent. We can still speak, but our words should come from the sense within. When we sense that the Lord desires to fill us, we can say, “Lord, I am willing to let You fill my spirit and also my mind, emotion, and will.” When we sense that our inward parts are not subdued by the Lord, we can say, “Lord, my mind is not completely subdued by You; neither are my emotions and will subdued by You. Lord, subdue any part of my mind that I have reserved for myself, subdue any part of my emotion that has not turned to You, and subdue any part of my will that is independent of You.”

  We should spend an hour with the Lord and speak according to the sense in our spirit. There is no need to petition. We only receive. We receive the Lord’s transfusing, filling, and occupying. Such prayer involves confessing our sins, prostrating ourselves before the Lord, surrendering, and entrusting ourselves to Him. This is mainly a matter of receiving, not of petitioning. The issue of such prayer is thanksgiving, praise, and worship. We will thank the Lord for His visitation, praise Him for His wonderful work, and worship Him for mingling with us and dwelling in us. This prayer is powerful because we enter into God, and He enters into us. Furthermore, we spontaneously contemplate the Lord’s sweetness, glory, and virtues. As a result, our spirit is full of worship, and we utter words of praise. While we consider the Lord, our praise should not be hurried or drawn out.

  Prayer for fellowship has an element of looking to the Lord. Although we sense that the Lord is mingling with us, we also sense that He is sitting on the throne. Hence, we desire that He would enter our living. Our looking to the Lord is our beholding Him.

  Prayer for fellowship also involves waiting. We are not waiting for the Lord to do something; rather, we are waiting on the Lord by remaining in His presence to behold, worship, and praise Him. We should not be too quick to leave His presence but should rather remain in worship. This is like two intimate friends who are reluctant to part from each other. This was Abraham’s experience in Genesis. While we wait on the Lord, we often receive further revelation from Him. Because Abraham remained before Jehovah, Jehovah said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (18:17). This is the result of waiting.

Setting aside a specific time

  There is no need to hurry, because prayer for fellowship involves many details. The Lord often went up to the mountain to pray (Matt. 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 9:28). Sometimes He even spent the whole night in prayer to contact God, to absorb God, and to be filled with God (6:12). Satan always tries to interrupt this kind of prayer. He often sends people, matters, or things from the environment to disturb us while we are praying. Hence, we should leave every disturbance in order to contact God. Those who desire to be used by the Lord must learn this kind of prayer.

  It is not a matter of praying in the morning or at night but of turning away from all people, matters, and things in order to contact God in spirit. While we wait on the Lord, we can utter words of praise in order to keep our mind from wandering. Sometimes our mind is not focused even when we worship or praise. We usually need to wait some time before our spirit can enter into God’s presence. Then we can have deeper fellowship with God. It is often not possible to have such fellowship in our morning time or evening time with the Lord.

  We should spend at least half an hour in order to enter into the spirit. We need between half an hour to an hour for such prayer. If we can spend an hour in prayer, we will learn this lesson. At the very least, we should spend half an hour in prayer. Our lack in the work is mainly because we have not learned this lesson. We must spend time to learn this lesson. Only then can we be truly useful in the Lord’s hand. If we are willing to learn, after half a year we will know the cross, and we will know the meaning of being broken, being subdued, and being spiritual. We cannot rely on our companions in order to learn this lesson. We must learn it ourselves. Without this lesson, we have not received a truly spiritual education. Many spiritual lessons can be learned only through prayer, because all genuine lessons are learned in our fellowship with the Lord.

Prayer for inquiring

  The above points are concerning prayer to fellowship with God. This is the foundation of prayer. After a good foundation has been laid, we can enter into the second aspect of prayer — prayer for inquiring. This aspect of prayer includes inquiring concerning the Lord’s work and concerning our personal needs. We will speak concerning inquiring for the Lord’s work.

Initiated by God

  The foundation of our prayer is to enter into fellowship with God, that is, to enter into God. Then our prayer is initiated by God, not by us. He gives us the burdens to pray. It is not that we ask God to accomplish something; rather, it is God asking us to petition on His behalf concerning the matter. Matthew 6 shows that genuine prayer is to pray on behalf of God. During the first segment of our prayer we enter into the presence of God and fellowship with Him. At this time God will anoint us with His burden for the work and reveal His intention to us. We can then petition according to God’s will and His burden for the work. These matters are not concerning ourselves but concerning God. Therefore, we are praying on behalf of God, not on behalf of ourselves. This aspect of prayer is initiated by God; it is not initiated by us. Genuine prayer is not for ourselves. Genuine prayer is for God and is initiated by God. When the Lord taught the disciples how to pray, He said, “You then pray in this way” (v. 9). This is the Lord’s initiating and proposing.

More inquiring than petitioning

  The second aspect of prayer should have more inquiring than petitioning. For example, while fellowshipping with the Lord, a responsible brother might sense a concern for the young brothers and sisters. He should then inquire of the Lord, “Lord, is this burden from You? What do You want me to do? How do I help them? What is Your purpose with the young brothers and sisters?” This is to inquire. We should not begin to petition without first fellowshipping with the Lord. To petition at the beginning of our prayer is to let God know what we want without knowing what He wants. Good prayers are inquiring prayers. When we pray by inquiring, we do not make our desire known to God; instead, God’s desire is made known to us. When the responsible brother senses God’s purpose concerning the young saints, he should inquire further, “Lord, do You want me to fellowship with them?” This is the anointing within him. It seems as if it is the brother who is inquiring, but it is God who is working in him. While the brother is inquiring, on the one hand, he will sense a heavy burden within, but on the other hand, he will be filled with life, freedom, and peace. He can also inquire whether he should go by himself or with another brother. Good prayers are inquiring prayers because they honor God.

  David knew how to pray. He often inquired of Jehovah (1 Sam. 30:8; 2 Sam. 5:19, 23; Psa. 27:4). The best prayer is to inquire of the Lord step by step, according to the sense within. By inquiring in this way, we can easily receive God’s leading, and we can work according to the leading. If we are led to visit a brother, he will surely touch God because God will be expressed through us. Then our going to contact the brother will be God’s going to contact him. This kind of work does not have human preference, intention, maneuvering, or capability. Rather, it is full of God mingling with man. Furthermore, our words to the brother will be the issue of fellowship. Before we utter anything, we will first inquire of God; hence, every word will come from our spirit. As a result, every word will touch the spirit of the brother and supply him with God. This is the genuine work.

Inquiring before giving a message

  The same principle applies to giving a message. Before giving a message, a brother should first enter into fellowship with God and inquire of Him, allowing the Spirit to anoint him and operate within him. Then he should inquire of the Lord, according to the inner sense. As he continues to inquire, his burden will become heavier, and his sense will be clearer. Finally, he will be able to say, “Lord, if this is what You want me to say, accomplish it according to Your will.” This is the best prayer for the Lord’s work. The more thorough and detailed the inquiring, the better. A good message comes from inquiring of the Lord. The brother can pray concerning what he has prepared to speak. If he lacks the sense of life and peace, he should wait for a fresh anointing. Genuine prayer is to utter God’s desire. Nothing can be more practical than this.

  Our work and service should be the issue of inquiring prayer. The extent to which we inquire should be the extent of our work. If we do not have peace, we should not work. Since this kind of work is initiated by God, it will issue in life.

Being thorough

  Our inquiring should be thorough and detailed; that is, all prayers for the work must be thorough. The brothers who give messages should begin with inquiring concerning every point, including the hymns to select, the atmosphere of the meeting, and the audience. It is better to be detailed and thorough when we inquire. If we inquire concerning the hymns, we will have the anointing when we select the hymns. The Spirit will be present in every item of our prayer.

Fulfilling the principles of prayer

  Often our prayers for the work are not answered, because we do not pray according to the principles of prayer. Our prayers need to be according to the principles of prayer. Suppose we visit a brother; we should not ask the Lord to work on the brother. Such prayer does not correspond to the principles of prayer, because it is not initiated by God. In order to correspond to the principles of prayer, we should first use our spirit to contact God and allow Him to anoint His burden into us and to give us the feeling to visit the brother. Then we can inquire based on this feeling. If we sense life and peace within, we can be assured that the visitation is of God. Afterward, we can inquire concerning every aspect of the visit. This is to pray according to the principles of prayer. Then our words will be according to our fellowship with God, and the visit will be effective.

  Every time that we pray, we should first enter into fellowship with God in order to receive His feeling. Then, based on this feeling, we should inquire concerning the work. This is the way to be mingled with God and to work in fellowship with Him. This is how we co-work with God and let God work in us through prayer. As a result, God flows out of us. Hence, the work is carried out in fellowship with God and in the spirit of prayer.

Needing time in prayer for the work

  The work cannot be quick, because everything that we do requires fellowship in prayer. Therefore, we need to spend time to pray. The effectiveness of our work depends on how much time we spend before God. If we can learn this lesson, the work will be solid. This lesson requires our whole life to learn. We must learn to pray by fellowshipping and inquiring. The more we learn, the more thorough our prayers will be. The saints who pray in this way will be seeds of life and will bear the fruit of life.

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