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Scripture Reading: Eph. 6:11-18
Prayer: Lord, we worship You from the depths of our being. We worship You as God, as the Lord, as the Spirit, and as the Word. We worship You because You are the mystery, and You have made us Your mystery. We worship You because You have opened up Your mystery to us, setting us apart from all men. We worship You because You have equipped and filled us with Yourself to make us Your testimony. We worship You because You have the church on the earth, and we are Your church. Lord, we worship You; there are thousands of hearts here, each of which loves You and turns to You. We worship You because You desire to gain and fill us. We offer thanks to You from the depths of our being. May You speak the words on Your heart; speak the words that bind and destroy the enemy. Speak to us again. In such a speaking You are one spirit with us. We praise You as the Spirit and as the Word. Your word is the Spirit, and Your Spirit is the word. We tell You again that we love You. We thank You. We worship You. Amen.
The first five chapters of Ephesians speak extensively of the church being the mystery of Christ, of the building up of the church, and of the church being the Body of Christ, the new man, and the counterpart of Christ. Although Paul knew Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ, he also knew that our old man and our living in the old man, the self, and our natural constitution are against the church. Therefore, in chapters 4 and 5 he speaks of these things in order to deal with them and to show how to put off the old man and put on the new man.
Chapter 3 speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ becoming our content and of Christ making His home in our hearts so that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God. Chapter 4 speaks of putting off the old man and putting on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of our mind. Chapter 5 speaks of Christ giving Himself up on the cross in order to release His life, which is embodied in the word of God. In the word of God there is the water of life, which is the life of Christ containing all the riches of Christ. When we contact the word of God in our spirit, we are washed by the water in the word and nourished and cherished by the rich supply in the word. By enjoying this water of life, we become His counterpart.
However, Paul does not forget that the Lord has an enemy, the devil. Therefore, in chapter 6 Paul speaks of this enemy, including the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies. On the one hand, they operate in man’s heart to corrupt man and resist man, thus nullifying the Body of Christ; on the other hand, they try to frustrate the will of God from being carried out. Consequently, in chapter 6 Paul tells us how to deal with the power of darkness.
Ephesians 6:17 says, “Receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.” In the Gospels the Lord Jesus said that His words are spirit (John 6:63). In Ephesians 6:17 Paul says that the Spirit is the word of God. Hence, the word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word. Many Christians know that the Bible is the word of God, but very few Christians know how to receive the word of God. We must understand that the word of God is not merely letters but the Spirit. We cannot separate the word of God from the Spirit of God. The word of God is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word of God. In other words, the word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word. When the word enters into us, it becomes the Spirit; when the Spirit comes out of us, He is the word. The word in the Bible is the word; the word entering into our spirit is the Spirit. These two are one.
We should never forget two verses in the New Testament: John 6:63 — “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit” — and Ephesians 6:17 — “Which Spirit is the word of God.” The Spirit is within and the word is without. The word entering into our spirit is the Spirit, and the Spirit coming out of our spirit is the word.
All the riches of Christ are in the word, and this word is the Spirit, which can only be contacted by the human spirit. Ephesians 6:18 says, “Praying at every time in spirit.” Therefore, verses 17 and 18 show us several key items: the Spirit, our human spirit, and prayer. The Spirit is the word, and the word is the Spirit. In order to contact the word and the Spirit, we need to pray at every time in our human spirit, not in our mind or emotion.
Everyone who reads the Bible knows that Ephesians 6 emphasizes the whole armor of God. The church is not only the Body, the new man, and the bride — the counterpart of Christ; it is also the warrior. The church as the new man is toward Christ, but toward Satan the church is the warrior. In order to fight with Satan, the church must put on the whole armor of God. Putting on this armor involves six items: girding the loins with truth, putting on the breastplate of righteousness, having the feet shod with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith, receiving the helmet of salvation, and receiving the sword of the Spirit (vv. 14-17). The first five items are for protection; the last item, the sword, is for offense. This sword is called the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.
It is easy for those who read the Bible to see these items. However, the key to chapter 6 is the Spirit, not these items. If the word in chapter 5 does not become the Spirit in chapter 6, we will have no way to enjoy Christ. We, the Bible, and Christ are separate without the Spirit. Without the Spirit neither Christ and the Bible are one, nor are we and the Bible one. Christ, the Bible, and we are not joined together without the Spirit; we are separated. It is the Spirit who joins Christ and the Bible as one, and it is the Spirit who joins the Bible and us as one. We may liken the Spirit to the electrical current in a large building, which connects many appliances. The electrical current is the connection, the joining factor, for all the appliances. Likewise, Christ, the Bible, and the church are not connected without the Spirit. When the Spirit comes, the Spirit is not only in Christ and in the Bible but also in the church. The Spirit joins Christ, the Bible, and the church as one. The Spirit makes the riches of Christ the experience of the church and the content of the church.
On our side, we have a spirit, which responds to the Spirit. These two spirits — the Spirit and our human spirit — are crucial. Regrettably, most Christians neglect both the Spirit and the human spirit. How much time do we spend in our spirit? Most of the time we are in our mind, not in our spirit. In addition to our spirit, we also have a mind, emotion, and will and also our flesh, lust, and temper. When we are not in our spirit, we fall into these other things.
As believers, we have the Lord and we love the Lord. We have heard many truths in the Lord’s recovery, and we understand the Bible. However, most of the time we do not enjoy the Lord. Instead, we live in outward activities because we are not in the spirit. What should we do in such a situation? We should receive the sword of the Spirit by pray-reading. We must pray-read in our spirit, because our spirit is the proper organ to receive the Lord’s word. We must use the proper organ to receive the Lord’s word, just as we must use our mouth to drink water, not our nose or ears.
The Lord has accomplished everything. He released His life by passing through death and resurrection. Furthermore, all the riches of His life are available in the Word of God. In order for these riches to become our enjoyment, we must realize that receiving the riches in the Word is not a matter of learning letters but of receiving the Spirit, “which Spirit is the word of God” (v. 17). We need to use our spirit to contact the Spirit through prayer. We have gradually touched this secret over the past decades.
I was saved more than fifty years ago. After I was saved, I began to pray. I was taught to pray in this way: “Dear heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. You sent Your Son to die for me on the cross. He shed His precious blood to cleanse my sins. I believe in Him! Heavenly Father, You have forgiven me and given me the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps me every day to love people, to be humble, to do things to please You, and to glorify Your name. I do not know how to pray, but I pray in the name of Jesus, Your Son. Amen.” This kind of prayer is not wrong, but it is not effective. It is like a person searching for the switch to turn on a light but being unable to find it.
Later I encountered some difficulties, and being excessively burdened, I had no choice but to change my way of praying. I dropped my scripted prayers and simply came before God, telling Him of the sorrows in my heart. After this, I prayed in a very genuine way out from my spirit, no longer praying in an old way.
Gradually, the Lord showed me that the simplest way to pray in our spirit, rather than our mind, is to call on His name. Whether we call loudly or quietly, audibly or inaudibly, everyone who practices calling on the Lord’s name knows that this is the easiest way to pray from the spirit rather than the mind. When we use our spirit in such a way, we touch the Spirit. The Bible and the Spirit become one when we touch the Spirit. When we call on the Lord’s name as we are pray-reading the Bible, the words of the Bible spontaneously become our prayer. At this point our prayer is our reading of the Bible, and our reading of the Bible is our prayer. Such a prayer is prayer in the spirit, prayer mingled with the Spirit. In as little as a few minutes, we will become bright, living, fresh, buoyant, satisfied, strengthened, and inwardly supplied. It is amazing that within a few minutes light, living water, the word, strength, and love come to us. The messages in this section are very profound, but they conclude with the practical matter of pray-reading.
God has an eternal purpose, which is to work Himself into man. For this purpose Christ came. He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years, died on the cross, and released the divine life from within Him. All the riches of His life are in the Bible. This Bible is the word of God, and the word is Spirit, the Spirit who gives life. When we contact the word, we need to forget about our mind and our problems. We should not pray dead prayers but simply use our spirit to pray in a living way. Through such prayer, we eat the Lord, drink the Lord, and enjoy the Lord. When we call on the Lord in spirit and pray-read the words of the Bible in spirit, the word of God will become the Spirit flowing through and supplying us as the living water and giving us strength, light, truth, and life so that we may have a rich, strong, and flourishing church life. Then God will have a way to carry out His eternal purpose through the church on the earth.
