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Preparing ourselves to meet the Lord’s need

  Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 2:21; Eph. 3:7, 20

  In the preceding chapter we saw that all our work must be initiated by God and that we are merely cooperating with Him to meet the need in His heart. Hence, we need to carry out all our service by the power of the Lord. We need to rely on the Lord because we have no way in ourselves. Relying on the Lord actually means that we carry out our service by being joined to the Lord and by being in fellowship with Him.

  In all our service we should work together with the Master and meet His need. When a person serves his Master, the first question he should ask is whether the service originates from himself or from the Master. The second question is whether he can meet the Master’s need and fulfill His demand. In 2 Timothy 2:21 Paul told Timothy that he needed to be “useful to the master.” The word master indicates that what we are doing is initiated not by us but by our Master. However, after knowing our Master’s will and having His command, there is still a big question of whether or not we can carry out our Master’s need and fulfill His demand.

Serving the Lord requiring the serving one to stop himself

  One who serves the Lord must first ask himself whether his service is of himself or of the Lord. Once this question is settled, he must ask himself whether he can meet the Lord’s need. If Brother So-and-so is working for the Lord in Pingtong, he must ask himself whether his work is of the Lord or of himself. Once he is clear that his work is of the Lord, the first question is settled. At this point he must ask a second question: Can he meet the Lord’s need and fulfill His demand in the work? This is a big question.

  These two questions require us to put ourselves aside and also require our full cooperation. The first requirement of the work is that we stop; we must stop all our activities and restrain our opinions, thoughts, and ideas. Everything of ours must be stopped. We must stop because the Lord’s work does not originate from us but from Him. Once we stop, we will know whether our work is of the Lord. Then we need to be able to meet His need.

  In Matthew 17 Peter spoke of several matters. Although these matters are quite meaningful, we may have never considered how they are related to the things revealed in chapter 16. In chapter 16 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (v. 18), but in chapter 17 Peter told the Lord that he would make a tent for Him (v. 4). The Lord said that He would build His church, but Peter said that he would make a tent for the Son of God. At Pentecost God began to build the church. The church is not merely a tent but a house. Peter’s suggestion to the Lord was according to his own concept, not according to God’s purpose for His Son, Christ. Peter ultimately did not make a tent, but he did gain much material for the building of the church. Peter’s word shows that man’s opinion sometimes can be quite similar to God’s concept. Regrettably, however, God’s will is often interrupted because of this similarity.

  God desires to build the Body of Christ so that His Son may obtain a dwelling place. The body of a person is his dwelling place; likewise, the Body of Christ, which is the church, is Christ’s dwelling place. As far as God was concerned, Peter needed to gather the building materials, and Paul needed to build these materials into a house so that Christ would have a dwelling place.

  Peter’s proposal of making a tent for the Son of God was of himself. Apparently, it was the same as God’s purpose, but actually, it was against God’s determination. God often decides to do certain things in us, the called ones. However, we can contradict, replace, and even damage His determination because our proposals, thoughts, ideas, and opinions are quite similar to His will. This is the reason there was a voice from heaven, saying, “Hear Him!” (v. 5). This indicates that it is not appropriate for us to utter something, to speak a word, to make proposals, and to give our opinions. Instead, only He should speak, and we must hear Him.

  The first point we must pay attention to in our service is to put ourselves on hold; that is, we must stop our entire being. We must see that before we were touched by God, we had no interest in the things of God, but that once we were touched by God, we were full of opinions. As soon as God leads us to the Mount of Transfiguration and we see His glory, we have many proposals and opinions. This experience is not related only to a great revival or even to a small revival. Even when we are praying at home, many ideas come as soon as we touch the Lord. Consequently, we want to do many things for the Lord. None of these ideas were present before we went to the Mount of Transfiguration; we did not care about such things. However, once we have been touched by the Lord and truly receive a spiritual burden, we immediately want to use our ideas to do something for the Lord. This is the first problem we have in the matter of serving the Lord.

  Many denominations on the earth today have been produced out of Babel. Critics point out that a denomination is produced after every great revival among Christians. Church history confirms this. After every great revival something of man is produced. When someone goes to the Mount of Transfiguration and his eyes are opened to see God’s glory, his opinion and self-approbation immediately come out. This is the result of inadequate learning.

  The Lord’s intention is to build His church, that is, to build His church as His dwelling place, but Peter suggested making a tent. Such a tent is symbolic of many denominations. God desires to build a dwelling place for His Son, which is the church. Yet many “Peters” have gone to the Mount of Transfiguration, seen the Lord’s glory, and given their opinions one after another, instead of stopping themselves. As a result, many tents, many denominations, have been produced. A tent signifies a denomination, which apparently is similar to the church. A house is according to the Master’s determination, whereas a tent is according to a servant’s proposal. Matthew 16 shows the Lord’s determined counsel, whereas chapter 17 shows Peter’s instantaneous proposal. The moment Peter presented his proposal, he was interrupted. Today because many people have not allowed the Lord to interrupt their proposals, there are many “tents.” Hence, being unable to stop ourselves is the first problem in serving the Lord.

Serving the Lord requiring the serving one to rise up

  One who serves the Lord must be one who also rises up. It may seem contradictory to say that we need to stop and then say that we need to rise up, but it is not. We need to restrain our opinions and stop our proposals, but we need to rise up to meet the Lord’s need and fulfill the demand in His work. The work of redemption was not accomplished merely by God Himself. God needed man in the person of Jesus Christ to work with Him to accomplish His redemptive work. In redemption, fifty percent is carried out by God, and fifty percent is by man. Without God, there could not be a redemptive work, but also without man, there could not be a redemptive work. The work of redemption was accomplished by the joining of God and man. God desperately needs the cooperation of man. Hence, no part of the work of redemption can be accomplished apart from man. Whenever God wants to do a work, He reveals what He wants to do to man and requires man to stop his opinions and all that he is; then God requires man to cooperate with Him. This cooperation requires man to rise up.

  I do not know how much we understand or how deeply we realize this point. Before his conversion Saul served God, yet he was full of opinions. On his way to Damascus, however, God met him, and he fell on the ground (Acts 9:4). He had been very active, but now he was unable to move. His entire being was stopped so that he could receive God’s revelation and see that his service should come only from God, not from man. God wanted him to see that all his efforts as Saul of Tarsus were according to man’s imagination. Hence, God met Saul on his way to Damascus to stop his entire being. However, this was not the end of God’s work. From that time forward, God enabled Paul to rise up so that he could meet His need and be of use to Him. This second requirement is often more difficult to deal with than the first. While it is not easy for us to stop, it is even more difficult to rise up. Even though it is not easy for us to stop, nevertheless, we still must rise up to meet God’s need and fulfill His demand once we stop. This is more difficult.

  Among us there is a brother who has difficulty stopping his opinions and ideas. Whenever we discuss a matter with him, he has ideas and suggestions. For example, if we ask him to help sweep the floor, he replies that the windows need to be cleaned. If we ask him to clean the windows, he says that the floor needs to be swept. This shows that he is a person whose thoughts and opinions cannot be stopped. However, if he wants to serve the Lord, he must stop his ideas and thoughts.

  This may be compared to the relationship between a servant and his master. If the servant acknowledges that he is a servant, he must listen to his master’s word. If his master wants him to sweep the floor, he must obey his master by sweeping the floor before cleaning the windows. A servant also may hear his master’s word and know that he needs to sweep the floor but goes to sleep after hearing the word. When he wakes up, he still may not move because he is waiting for someone to buy a broom. The person who is supposed to buy the broom, however, is waiting for someone to give him money, but the person who takes care of the finances cannot get any money because the person who opens the cash box is in the shower and cannot come immediately. This is not something I made up; it is an actual situation.

  This shows that in the Lord’s service, it is not easy for one to stop, nor is it easy for one to rise up. When a person truly meets the Lord, he will stop his entire being and ask the Lord what He wants. If the Lord says, “Sweep the floor,” he should immediately sweep the floor with his undivided attention. He will consider everything related to sweeping the floor and give it his full attention. In the service of the Lord there is a great deal of human opinion, yet very few meet God’s standard. According to man’s disposition, whenever people discuss something, they always have many opinions, but then they go home and sleep peacefully without any further consideration. This is truly troubling. This is one of the reasons that the elders in the church do not like people to express too many opinions.

  If we learn these essential lessons, we will be very spiritual. If an elderly brother asks us to cook, we will immediately focus our attention on cooking. In dealing with this elderly brother, we must learn to stop ourselves and to rise up with our entire being. Only then can we meet the Lord’s need. Our problems are related to being unable to stop and then being unable to rise up. As a consequence, we have not been very useful in the Lord’s hand.

  In the elders’ meeting some brothers know only how to make suggestions but not how to work. With such brothers, we should ask them to work. Since they have made the suggestion, they should take the lead to carry it out. For example, when a brother says that the sun is quite bright in the meeting hall and that it would be good to hang some curtains, I would say, “Please do it.” After a few instances of suggesting but not working, the brother usually does not have the boldness to open his mouth to speak when we meet again. We do not need to reject the brothers’ suggestions, but we should always ask the brothers to do it themselves. This will help them learn the lesson of not giving their opinions lightly. If they think that something is feasible, they should do it. After it is done, we can comment on it. If it is not done properly, we need to change the method. After being dealt with two or three times, the brothers will not talk so freely again. The brother who suggested hanging curtains, for example, failed to hang the curtains properly three times, and he needed to be helped in the end. Since then, he has been a different person when he has suggested something.

  The Lord deals with us according to this principle. For example, when someone asked Peter whether the Lord Jesus would pay the temple tax, he replied, “Yes.” However, did the Lord truly need to pay the temple tax? The Lord did not respond to Peter directly; rather, He asked him to go fishing in the sea (Matt. 17:24-27). I believe that Peter learned a great lesson through this experience. From that time on, he dared not to speak so loosely again. When facing the vast expanse of the sea while he waited to catch a fish with a stater in its mouth, Peter must have been greatly troubled. He must have thought, “All this trouble is due to my speaking too much. When will I find a fish with a stater in its mouth?” Peter learned many lessons in a deep way. One who is learning to serve the Lord must come before Him and stop himself. What we should do is not determined by us but rather by His command. Then we must rise up to meet His need.

Endeavoring to learn in all aspects in order to meet the Lord’s need

  We need to rise up to meet the Lord’s need, and rising up includes many aspects. A brother once said that as long as a person has a specialty, he will be able to make a living in the world. However, in the service of the Lord, we must be strong in every aspect — in our spirit, soul, and body. This is our experience. One who is useful to the Lord immediately rises up in his entire being when he receives the Lord’s command. He is able to exercise his mind, emotion, and will in the same way that he exercises his spirit. He knows how to regulate, supply, and control his body. He can rise up to meet the Lord’s need in great or small things.

  After we are saved, we often feel that we are inadequate to meet the Lord’s need and cooperate with Him when He wants to use us. It is quite good to have this kind of feeling. Because some do not have this kind of feeling, they sleep peacefully when the Lord wants to use them. This is why we say that we should not sleep and eat peacefully; rather, we need to rise up and deal with ourselves in order to meet the Lord’s need.

  Concerning the second point of rising up to meet the Lord’s need, there are many lessons we should learn. Even though some saints talk to people, it is not easy for them to enter into their feeling or to understand them. This is due to a lack of learning. I once saw a brother who was improper in the matter of giving hospitality, and I said to him, “Brother, you must be more prepared when you give hospitality.” He replied that he asked his guests about their needs, and they said that they did not need anything. I responded, “We should not be so foolish and accepting of their words. While our guests would not lie, they also do not want to be impolite.” Our brother was too simple and accepting, believing everything his guests said. When they said that they could do without soap or hot water, it did not mean that they had no need of them. This brother’s service shows that he did not understand people’s needs, so how could he serve people well?

  When the saints come to us, we often do not understand their words, and sometimes our understanding is the exact opposite of what they mean. As Christians, we should learn to speak truthfully more than politely. I have been learning this lesson for over twenty years, and I have almost learned it. When I take hospitality in a saint’s house, I always tell them what I need when they ask, “Do you need to eat something?” As Christians, we must learn lessons. In particular, when we serve people, we must learn to know them, understand their words, and know their desires. Only then can we rise up to meet the Lord’s need.

  Some brothers like to speak with their local dialect. This is not so proper. We should learn to meet all kinds of needs appropriately; only then can we rise up to meet the Lord’s need. It is not possible to give many illustrations. In short, there is much for us to learn in this second point, that is, in the matter of rising up to meet the Lord’s need. The disposition of some people makes it impossible for them to serve God. If they served God, I am afraid that they would have to “peel off their skin.” Not only would they need to change their clothes and make alterations, but even their skin would need to be “peeled off.” If one has not learned any lesson, he will not know what to do when people come to him; he will not know how to handle a matter when it is brought to his attention. This kind of person cannot serve God.

  If we want to serve God, we must learn to stop our whole being before God; moreover, we must learn to cause our whole being to rise up before God. We must learn every single point that is necessary. We cannot learn them in a day or a moment; rather, every day and every moment are needed. This is a long-term matter. If the Lord arranges for us to be responsible for receiving guests from out of town, we should consider everything related to hospitality. For example, what will the guests need when they step into the house? What will they need in their rooms? What other needs will they have? We must carefully consider these matters. Only in this way can we be useful in our service.

  The condition of some young people is annoying. They read the Bible in a loose way; they miss sentences or misquote verses. How can they meet God’s need? Sometimes a brother who will give a message in the meeting begins to consider what to say only at the last minute. When he suddenly remembers a verse, he cannot remember the exact verse reference; he knows it only vaguely. This proves that there has not been enough preparation. Instead of waiting until the last minute to consider what to speak, we must be so well prepared that we can open the Bible to the exact verse on which we are going to speak. This is proper preparation.

  I have said repeatedly that if we want to meet the Lord’s need, we must be prepared in every aspect. Serving the Lord requires us to be all-capable. We cannot say that we are fully qualified to meet the Lord’s need, but the Lord requires us to be all-capable for His service. This requires us to be prepared outwardly and inwardly. Our spirit must be clean, fresh, full of the Lord’s presence, and strong, knowing the spiritual way. We need to learn in all these matters. My heart often grieves when I see the saints with nothing to do. How can they have nothing to do? If we are endeavoring to learn all the time, we surely will have an endless number of things to do.

  We also have read too little. Our co-workers who are in their forties and fifties, for example, read too little. In principle, we should read a new book every week. We should read books published by us and from other countries. We need to see how things are done in the United States and Japan. We should not be content with what we presently have, thinking that we have done everything well. Even if we have done well, we still need to seek improvement and consult other people. Today there are many among us who have not read even one book all year. We cannot say that we are not slothful. If this condition continues, how can we meet God’s need?

  If we want to serve the Lord, we must rise up and try to accomplish something. For example, if we want to clean the floor, we must study and find the proper way to clean. No one who participates in the Lord’s work can be idle and unoccupied. The practice in degraded Christianity is to hire preachers to preach, but we cannot do this. One who is truly used by the Lord must be aggressive and able to accomplish great things. In the Bible nearly everyone who was useful to God was snatched out of the world by God. If they had loved and remained in the world, they would have been quite successful. Instead, the Lord snatched them out of the world and made them useful vessels in His hands.

  Many people have the erroneous concept that if they are not able to do anything else, they can be a preacher. One of my classmates became a newspaper reporter when he was about twenty years old, but later he quit his job. He came to me and asked me to introduce him to the church because he wanted a job as a preacher. At that time, if a mother had three sons, the brightest one would study medicine, the next brightest would study business, and the least bright would study theology. However, service to God cannot be like this. The brightest ones must serve God, and those who are not so bright must also serve God, but they need to overcome their lack of intelligence by spending time to learn, according to the saying: “Stupidity can be remedied by diligence.” We must have this kind of attitude and feeling.

  One who serves the Lord cannot be idle and unoccupied. No one should be like this. Everyone should schedule his time properly, planning when to pray, visit people, clean, prepare for a message, and so forth. This requires learning. If we want to serve the Lord and be useful, we must learn every day. Otherwise, our destiny will be a dead end. Sometimes when I see some saints, I am truly bothered. For example, when I meet them on the street around 7:30 P.M., they tell me that they have nothing to do. Such people are surely useless. We must have a clear arrangement, a plan for doing certain things at certain times. If we are all willing to try this, our uselessness will turn to usefulness. Not enough people have risen up, and there are still many things that require our learning and many works that require our labor. In serving the Lord we must stop ourselves, but in meeting the Lord’s need we must be absolute and rise up.

Life, the word, and light

  Question: How can we touch life? Do we need a more thorough understanding of some points?

  Answer: God’s work, whether in creation or redemption, is through His word. Hebrews 11:3 says, “The universe has been framed by the word of God.” God created the heavens by His word; He also accomplished the work of redemption by His word. This is why there is the Bible and so many messages and spiritual publications. These are all for the release of God’s word. According to the Lord’s word in Matthew 13:18-23, God’s word is a seed, and in this seed there is life.

  We know from experience that when God’s word enters into us, its first effect is to enlighten us. Whenever we have the Lord’s word in us, we are enlightened. When we receive this light, it becomes life. Life is the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God. Hence, we can receive God’s word by reading the Bible, listening to messages, reading spiritual publications, fellowshipping, and by the testimonies of the apostles. Sometimes the content from the Bible, messages, spiritual publications, fellowship, and testimonies of the apostles enters into our mind and memory. At a certain point the Holy Spirit will impart the words that have entered into our mind and memory into our spirit. Then the words will impart light, and when we receive this light, it will become life, which is the Spirit, Christ, and God. Life is conveyed through the word. Once the word enters into us, it becomes light, and once we receive this light, we receive life.

  Question: If we do not have light, does it mean that we cannot receive God’s word?

  Answer: The word is first, and then there is light. Whether in creation or redemption, the first step of God’s work involves His speaking. He spoke, and it was done. Thus, John 1:3 says that all the things in the heavens came into being through Him as the Word. Moreover, the universe has been framed by the word of God (Heb. 11:3). God’s word is great.

  Question: We have no feeling concerning the items related to prayer. What should we do?

  Answer: The question you raised diminishes the content of the speaking. Our service before God must be of God, not of us. Thus, concerning the items related to prayer, when you have the inspiration, pray, and when you do not have the inspiration, do not pray.

Preparing ourselves

  Question: One who serves the Lord must stop himself and then rise up. Is there an absolute relationship between the two?

  Answer: Let us consider a person who is learning to be a chef. A good chef is well prepared. If he needs to learn how to cook a fish when a customer asks, “Please cook a fish for me,” the customer will starve. If someone wants to be a chef, he must learn as early and as quickly as possible. When he has finished learning, he should ask his master what to cook. If the master asks him to make white rice, he should make white rice immediately; if the master asks him to make steamed buns, he should make steamed buns immediately. When a chef hears the master’s command, he must be able to meet the master’s need in a timely way. Hence, if we have not been properly trained and have wasted much time, it will not be easy for us to receive God’s command. If an apprentice has been cooking for only two days, will his master entrust him with a banquet? I believe we know that this would be absolutely impossible.

  According to 2 Timothy 2:21, one who serves the Lord must first cleanse himself in order to be useful to the master. We must not have a part in any place that is improper, unclean, and full of gossip so that we will not be defiled in any way. We must learn and be dealt with every day. This is the meaning of 2 Timothy. If we prepare ourselves in such a way, we will be able to meet all the Lord’s needs when the Holy Spirit commands us. Therefore, we must study the Bible properly and read spiritual publications. We must learn how to use our time so that we can meet the Lord’s need even more.

The proper character of a serving one

  Question: My thoughts are usually confused, and I am also timid; therefore, I do not have enough boldness in judging matters. What should I do?

  Answer: Many who serve the Lord may not necessarily have the Lord’s command when they first begin to pursue the Lord. According to the record of the entire New Testament, some brothers, such as Timothy, Titus, and Mark, never received a command from the Lord directly. Their activities in the work were altogether under Paul’s command because they were all learners. Generally speaking, young brothers and sisters expect to immediately receive a direct command from the Lord when they rise up to serve the Lord, but first we should be learners, and then we will have a way.

  Concerning our brother’s question, we should learn both great and small things in our daily living. For example, we must learn to control our thoughts and train our character. If we have poor judgment, we must learn even more. If we do not learn in our ordinary living, we will not be able to meet the need when we later receive the Lord’s command. We must learn in matters related to our attire and our actions, not only so that we will be detailed persons but in order to learn how to exercise our judgment.

  One day, after seeing a brother’s room, I told him that I was clear that he needed to learn many lessons. We should observe our living quarters, our attire, and the way we conduct ourselves in life and handle matters. If we have never been trained, we will not be able to even hold a chair properly. If we are loose in our daily living, it will be difficult for us to meet the Lord’s need precisely when He gives us a command. From my constant observation of the condition of the young people, I know that their reading of the Bible is loose and inaccurate. Therefore, I implore all of us to have much exercise in our daily living.

  In matters related to ourselves or others, we always seem to do either too much or not enough; this is not right. For instance, when someone asks us to buy one hundred pounds of something, we either buy more than one hundred pounds or less than one hundred pounds. It seems that we are always too much or not enough. This is improper. We must learn to be accurate in all things.

  We have more than forty brothers and sisters who serve full time, but it is difficult to find one who is accurate. It seems that everyone is loose and easygoing. This is because they have been working in a loose, careless, and easygoing fashion from their youth. This is due to an inadequate exercise in their daily living. Hence, I often say to the young people, “Your poor study of the Bible, inadequate reading of the spiritual publications, and insufficient ability to judge are due to the lack of a strict character. Once you build up a strict character, you will be thorough and effective in whatever you do.”

  Many full-time serving brothers and sisters have difficulty serving well because of inadequate character, not because they do not know how to do things. If the character of the brothers and sisters is improper, a task will not be taken seriously, and it will be done carelessly and sloppily. After repeated speakings, I hope we can learn these lessons in a practical way. In three to five months I do not wish to see any serving ones among us being slothful, complacent, and sloppy. We should do things thoroughly and seriously, and we should deal with people in spirit and in truthfulness. If we do not build up our character in serving the Lord, we will be useless. Hence, we must study the Word of truth and familiarize ourselves with the Bible. Moreover, we must be diligent, serious, thorough, and solemn. Whether we do or do not do something, we must be proper. This kind of character must be built up within us, starting with the small things in our daily living.

  We may use the workers’ home as an illustration. When I was there for a few days, I saw that sometimes the brothers and sisters would not even close the door when they left the house. If we have not learned even this, how can we serve and lead the saints? In their small reception room, there were trays and cups near the four sofa chairs. After the trays and cups were used, however, they were not returned to their original place; everything was a mess. I can give many examples that show that we have not learned these lessons properly and that our character has not been built up. Hence, I do not believe that we can study the Bible well and that our serving can be on track.

  If we are willing to exercise and build up our character, we surely will have light when we read the Bible, and we surely will be effective when we serve. On the contrary, if we are not willing to properly learn about many things, our mind will be loose, confused, and useless. From now on, as the Lord so leads and has mercy on us, we must learn in a serious way. Then when we encounter a certain matter, we will not be confused or timid, but we will have good judgment and boldness. Since our mind has been trained in small things, we will be an accurate person. If we want to be used by the Lord and be useful vessels in His hand, we do not necessarily need to be very knowledgeable, but our character must be trained.

Exercising in seven crucial items for prayer

  Question: We all know that there are different lines in the service of the church: the line of the gospel, the line of life, and the line of handling matters, etc. In our daily exercise we pay much attention to rising early and finding a place to pray. Then we read 1 Samuel 1, 4, 6, and 7 and see how Hannah’s prayer was answered and how she had fellowship in prayer. To summarize, there are seven items we need to pray for: first, for God; second, for the church; third, for our country; fourth, for the saints; fifth, for people to believe in the Lord; sixth, for the Jews; and seventh, for ourselves. In other words, first, we need to pray for God’s kingdom to come. Second, we need to pray for the revival of the church and for the serving ones, including the elders, deacons, and responsible ones in the small groups. Third, we need to pray for our country and for those who are in authority, praying for the health and wisdom of those in high position that we may live in tranquility and godliness so that the gospel may be widely spread. Fourth, we need to pray for the prayerlessness of the saints, for those who have been lost, for the growth in life, and for the saints to join the pursuing meetings and to attend prayer meetings in groups. Fifth, we need to pray for the sending of workers for the preaching of the gospel and for the salvation of our friends, relatives, and colleagues. Sixth, we need to ask God to bless the Jews so that they may repent and believe in Jesus. Seventh, we need to pray for our enlightenment so that we will know the self, for our cleansing so that we may be delivered from sins and wrongdoings, and for our being granted a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know God’s will and principles. May all of us serving ones enter into the four stages of the experience in life so that we may grow in life unto maturity (see The Experience of Life). Is anything still lacking?

  Answer: This is good. I hope that all the serving ones and responsible brothers in the churches would not only have an actual exercise themselves but also learn to lead the saints into these life practices. We must exercise properly related to the seven items for prayer; these are truly good topics. When a person first begins to pray and cannot fully follow the sense of his spirit to pray with words, he may first pray according to regulation. Gradually, however, his mouth and mind will match each other. Then he can break away from his regulated prayer and enter into the prayer of the spirit. I hope that all the saints will try this. This way is quite good in the initial stage. It would be best if we could practice the four stages of spiritual life in every place, as our brother fellowshipped. The co-workers, elders, deacons, and responsible ones for the small groups should take the lead to exercise. In this way all the churches spontaneously will have a living and expression of spiritual reality.

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