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We have covered seven main points concerning the practice of fellowship. We will now continue.
Although we divided the lessons on the practice of fellowship into different points and have covered each point, our intention is not to understand more doctrine but to enter into the reality of fellowship in our daily living. Therefore, the saints who participate in this training should not merely come to listen to doctrine or learn some truth; rather, they should practice according to our fellowship. As we listen to these lessons, we should make a resolution before God to set aside a specific time each day to practice this kind of fellowship. After scheduling a time, we should check with one another to see whether we are practicing according to our plan. We can also ask each other where we practiced this fellowship. In addition, many of those who are beginning to fellowship with us may not be clear regarding the procedures of fellowshipping with God and may have difficulty practicing certain points. Hence, these difficult points should be considered and resolved in the meeting for new believers. As we practice, we will learn.
The living of a Christian depends entirely on his fellowship with God. If we truly enter into and live in this fellowship, many problems will be resolved. The teachings we have received and the truth we have understood are merely outward. In order to receive real help and solve our problems, we need to enter into this kind of fellowship. The empowering, enlightening, enjoying of rest, rejoicing, believing, overcoming of trials, temptations, and hardships, and comforting for a Christian all depend on fellowship. All of a Christian’s problems can be solved in fellowship. Therefore, our fellowshipping will bring in a great blessing. Of course, we cannot expect to succeed by practicing only two or three times. We should thank the Lord if we are able to practice for two or three months and learn the lessons of fellowship.
All orthodox Christians agree that there are two important means to fellowship with God — prayer and reading the Bible. In these lessons we are devoting one lesson specifically to prayer and another to reading the Bible, in order to consider these two from the standpoint of how a new believer can fellowship with God through prayer and reading the Bible.
Prayer is for contacting God and having fellowship with Him. The emphasis here is not on asking God concerning different matters. Prayer is a means and a way of fellowship. Fellowship with God must be by prayer and through prayer. In the lesson on prayer we stressed that the real meaning of prayer is to contact God and absorb Him. Now in this lesson we want to see how we can practically contact God and fellowship with Him through prayer.
In whatever we do, we need to have ability as well as practice. For example, although man has the natural ability to ride a bicycle, this ability can be developed only through practice. In the same way, in terms of spiritual ability, every believer can pray and contact God. However, in terms of practice, many new believers have not yet learned and lack practice; hence, they do not have the skill and may not even know how to pray. I am speaking from my own experience. When I was newly saved, I knew I should pray, I desired to pray, and I wanted to pray. However, I did not know how to pray. Gradually, after practicing and learning from others’ experiences, I came to the conclusion that there are actually some secrets and points to consider in the matter of prayer. I hope that you will practice these points properly.
First, prayer that contacts God consists of words spoken genuinely from the heart. We must pray according to our inward feeling. We should not exercise our mind like a student taking an exam. Neither should we focus on the wording of prayer as if we are writing an essay. Such prayers are not very genuine; they are rather pretentious. When we come before God to pray, we should not be pretentious. We should speak what we feel within. When we are angry, we should voice our anger before God. When we are happy, we should voice our happiness before God. When we are sad, we should voice our sadness before God. When we are under pressure, we should speak of this pressure before God. When we sense that we are sinful, we should confess it before God. We should speak what we feel within, speaking genuine words from our heart. This can be likened to a young child who always speaks what is in his heart to his parents. The words of our children are always genuine.
There is the danger that new believers will not open their mouths in the meetings because they are influenced by the prayers of those who have been saved for a long time. The prayer of such saints often flows with well-thought-out words like a torrent of water. When new believers compare themselves with these saints, they hesitate to open their mouth. This is abnormal. The church is a family, not a court. In a court one needs to carefully choose each word because a slight mistake will have serious consequences, but in a family one does not need to be so accurate in his wording. Very often the youngest child, who least knows how to speak, speaks the most because he does not care whether his words are right or wrong. The result is that his speaking is genuine. This should be our practice; we should not make up anything but simply pray according to our inward feeling. We should not be afraid of not knowing how to pray. God never blames people for not knowing how to pray. There are many examples in the Bible that prove that even unlearned prayers can be accepted by God. We may pray such prayers, but He will understand. He knows what we mean; He always answers us according to what is right. We do not need to worry, and we do not need elaborate prayers when we fellowship with God. We must speak genuinely from our heart.
Second, our prayer should not be influenced by the things in our memory. Many people have a difficult time praying because they are influenced by their memory. I have had this experience. When I rose in the morning, I would consider the things I needed to pray for in morning watch. Then when I knelt down to pray, I would spend much effort trying to remember what I should pray for, and as a result, I failed to contact God in spirit. This is wrong. We should never try to remember things to pray for when we fellowship with God. Even if we do remember something, we should let it go so that it does not interrupt our prayer.
Some people make a record of the various items they prayed for on Monday, what they prayed for on Tuesday, and so forth. This is a good practice. If a new believer can practice in this way, it will be beneficial. This type of prayer, however, is not focused on our fellowship with God. The prayer that we are speaking of here is related to fellowship with God. In this kind of prayer we need to forget everything. We do not need to remember any prayer burdens, such as prayer requests that we have received or promised others. This is not necessary. We must view prayer in a very simple way. Whether or not we remember certain items for prayer is of no consequence. We need not focus on any items that we may remember.
Third, we should not compose sentences; that is, we should not focus on the wording of our prayer. It does not matter whether our words are disorderly, disconnected, or even incoherent. We should simply utter the words as they come. However, those who are learning to pray should learn how to speak before God. We will speak concerning this in the future. Presently, as we are learning to fellowship with God in prayer, we can ignore matters of wording and phrasing and simply speak spontaneously. It is not important whether our wording is accurate as long as we fellowship with God.
Fourth, we must rely upon the precious blood of the Lord Jesus and learn to apply the effectiveness of His blood. Experience shows that when we pray according to the above points — not being pretentious, not praying according to memory, not caring about the wording, but praying spontaneously before God — it will be easy for us to sense our sins. This is a certainty. If we are pretentious and try to remember the things that we need to pray for, the feeling of being sinful will dissipate. If we contact God in a simple and spontaneous way, we will definitely sense within that we are sinful and have problems and faults. When this sense comes, we should learn to rely upon the precious blood and ask for God’s forgiveness based on the effectiveness of the Lord’s shed blood.
We must confess our sins in order to rely upon the precious blood for God’s forgiveness. The more we confess, the more we will touch God, and the more thorough our confession, the deeper we can enter into God. However, we need to be careful not to ask, “Have I sinned? Did I sin yesterday, the day before yesterday, or this week?” This is introspection. Confession that comes out of introspection has no spiritual value.
Both in the East and in the West those in religion advise people to examine themselves. Chinese sages say that we should examine ourselves three times a day. Many revivalists and spiritual men in Christianity speak concerning introspection. They use the only verse in the Bible, Haggai 1:7, that speaks of considering one’s ways, as the basis for advising people to examine themselves. However, experience has proven that introspection is harmful to a Christian’s spirituality. When a person wants to draw near to God, introspection is an interruption, a hindrance. Confessing our sins during our fellowship with God does not depend on introspection; it is altogether a matter of a spontaneous feeling. If we do not feel that we have sinned, we do not need to examine ourselves. When we feel that we have sinned, we should confess that sin before God and ask for His forgiveness through the precious blood. This point is very important.
When learning how to fellowship with God, many believers neglect confession and therefore never learn to fellowship in a proper way. In the so-called “charismatic movement,” those who were revived were blessed through confessing. They knew that confession could help them touch God. However, they did it excessively, and it became harmful. When we practice confession in our fellowship with God, we should neither neglect it nor be excessive. We should confess in a spontaneous way. This matter is truly important and profitable.
Because there was no one to lead us in these important points concerning fellowship, we groped for many years, going in circles and wasting much energy with no progress. Gradually, we began to consider this matter and learned from other people’s experiences. We have spent twenty to thirty years thoroughly and accurately considering the matter of fellowship. I know the condition of fellowship. When we come before God without being pretentious or memorizing the things we need to pray for and we simply place ourselves before Him and let the Holy Spirit shine in us, He causes us to sense and see certain sins or mistakes that we have committed. At that time we should confess the sin according to this sense. We should confess only as much as we sense. We do not need to take care of what we have not sensed. While confessing, we need to receive the precious blood, rely on the blood, and apply the effectiveness of the blood. If we continue praying in this way, we can be assured that we will touch God’s presence and contact Him.
We should never be distracted and consider other things after we confess our sins. Once we are distracted, the Spirit will stop moving within us. For example, it is very good for a sister to sense the need to confess as she is fellowshipping with God. However, she may suddenly remember that her child needs to go to school and that breakfast is not ready. Once she begins to have such thoughts, the fellowship within will stop. Or she may remember a relative who is recovering from an illness and needs prayer. If she begins to pray for this one, the inward feeling will disappear, and it will be difficult for her to continue fellowshipping. Therefore, when we sense something in our fellowship with God, especially the need to confess, we should never think of other things or bring other things into our fellowship. Even though we are still praying, these things can become serious distractions, and we will have no way to touch God’s presence. Instead, they will cause us to lose His presence.
We should not feel restrained when we confess according to the inner feeling. If we feel like crying, we should cry. If we feel like laughing, we should laugh. If we feel sad, we should be sad. If we feel happy, we should rejoice. We should not be restrained in our inner feeling. There is, however, another side to this matter. As we become skillful in fellowshipping with God, we should learn to exercise self-control. Initially, however, there is no need to exercise any restraint. For example, immediately after confessing their sins, some people become afraid and hesitant to confess further. As a result, the Spirit stops moving within them. This is a pity. The Holy Spirit is signified by a dove, which is very sensitive and gentle. If we limit Him or disagree with Him even a little, He will retreat. We must obey Him all the time. If He wants us to confess, we must not hesitate, no matter what the sin may be. This applies only to confession before God, not before men. In confessing before men, there are times when we should exercise restraint.
As humans, we are very complicated. According to our experience, even our prayers are complicated. Sometimes we are concerned for this, and at other times we are concerned for that. It is difficult for us to simply and closely follow the inner feeling and confess. But if we are willing to be simple and not be concerned with other things but follow the feeling to confess, our prayer will lead us deep into God. We may even have the experience of the outpouring and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
According to general experience, after we have a thorough confession, we can praise and give thanks. However, this is not a rule. This is not a procedure to memorize and follow. We should not think that we must always praise and give thanks after confessing. Rather, after thoroughly confessing, a spontaneous feeling to praise God and give Him thanks may arise within us. At this time we must release our inner feeling of praise and thanks without any reservation. The more we release this feeling, the more we will touch God. If we withhold it, we will lose the feeling of God’s presence. Therefore, we must convert a feeling of praise and thanks into words and fully release them. The more we praise and give thanks, the better; the more thorough this release is, the better.
Toward the end of our fellowship, if there is still time, we should also worship God. It is rather difficult to describe exactly what worship is and what our inner condition should be when we worship. We may say that worship is a lingering before God. We should not simply get up and leave as soon as we have finished praising and thanking God. No, we should linger before Him a little longer. This kind of lingering is the issue of our heart’s desire for God. It involves beholding, waiting, and inquiring; we behold God’s glory, lingering before Him to wait on Him and inquire of Him. This is not an inquiring related to specific things. Instead, it is a waiting out of a desire to know His will. All these things are included in worshipping.
At this point some people spontaneously receive the burden to pray for certain practical affairs or to intercede, but this is not required. We should not expect that there will always be a need to intercede for practical affairs each time we fellowship with God. If our time and energy do not allow us to do this, we should not take up this burden. Our God is not a hard master. He never requests us to do what exceeds our limits. Therefore, we should not force ourselves to pick up the burden to pray for practical affairs. We do not need to do this every time we fellowship. However, the first nine points that we have spoken of should be considered as principles to be followed each time.
Let us speak briefly to the leading ones concerning how to lead the meeting for the practice of fellowship.
If we want to lead new believers into this kind of fellowship, we must first tell them all the main points. We should not speak too much at one time. We should save considerable time to allow them to ask questions. Sometimes we can ask them to repeat what has been spoken in order to be sure that they understand and are clear concerning those points. Each point should be discussed in detail so that everyone can understand.
After they are clear concerning the main points, we should ask them to commit to begin practicing. We should ask, “Brother So-and-so, how many minutes do you plan to use each day to practice, ten minutes or fifteen?” We should discuss their schedule with them and give them suggestions, helping them to set aside a suitable time. The time should not be too early or too late, nor too long or too short. This is a good way to fellowship with them. We may ask, “Brother, what time do you go to work? What are the things you need to do at home?” He may respond, “I am a teacher. I go to work at eight o’clock every morning. Since there are things to be done at home in the morning, I cannot set aside a time in the morning. There is no way.” In that case, we must help him find another time. We must lead him in this way and help others one by one. However, we should not get into unnecessary details or be too rigid. Once we get into unnecessary details in the meeting or we are too rigid, everyone will lose interest. We must do this in a lively way, helping them one by one to set aside a time and promise to practice.
We should help them in this way. We should reserve eight to ten minutes before the end of the meeting to ask them to pray for the Lord’s blessing to carry out what they have purposed to do in order that they can learn to pray and fellowship with the Lord from that day onward.
There is still a need at the beginning of the next meeting to ask them about the main points spoken in the previous meeting. Then we need to ask them whether they have practiced according to their schedule. If they are practicing, we should ask them to give a testimony to see if they have encountered any difficulties or problems. There may not be the opportunity to cover more items in this second meeting. We can review what was spoken in the first meeting concerning fellowship, make adjustments, give explanations and a supplementary word, and answer some questions. After speaking, we need to ask them to continue practicing.
I believe it is relatively easy to lead new believers into practical experiences in this way. This will help them sense that they have a way to go on and a place to bring their questions and receive answers. In this way the new believers and those answering questions will benefit, and we can research and pursue our growth together. Moreover, this meeting will serve the purposes of speaking messages, fellowshipping, and praying. The entire meeting will be living and have God’s blessing and presence. People will also be able to touch something and learn something. Everyone will have a good taste and will thus be willing to come to the meetings.
Whereas the first points concerning the practice of fellowship are theory, the last points concerning the time, place, and procedures of fellowship require our practice. In particular, the point concerning prayer being the means of fellowship requires us to lead the brothers and sisters into a practice. It would be good to help the saints to be clear concerning these points over a period of five weeks. Only if the new believers are brought into such a living will the messages that they hear in the future have any effect on them. If they do not enter into such a living, we cannot say that the messages they hear will be of no benefit to them, but they must be in fellowship with God in order for the word to have a definite effect on them. Therefore, we must concentrate our efforts to bring the brothers and sisters into fellowship, teaching them how to pray.
Perhaps not many of the seven or eight thousand brothers and sisters in the church in Taipei live in fellowship with God. There may not be even three to five hundred saints who fellowship with God daily. It would be a great thing if we could lead the saints to practice fellowshipping with God so that after a period of time there would be two to three thousand brothers and sisters who daily fellowship with God. The result of this slow, fine work would be great and unlimited. If we want to be quick and use other means, any useful results will come even slower.
Therefore, it is worthwhile for the responsible brothers in every local church to pay full attention to this matter. On the one hand, we ourselves need to live in fellowship with more learning and practice. On the other hand, we need to try our best to help and lead others. It does not matter if there are only a few brothers and sisters initially. A large number is not necessary. As long as we lead the saints in a living, practical, and enjoyable way, the number of saints will increase spontaneously. The church will also be greatly blessed.
