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We place this chapter after the chapter on “The Cross and Prayer” on the basis of the procedure in the tabernacle. When the priest would go in to the incense altar to burn incense, he had to first pass through the offering altar. By this we have seen the relationship between the cross and prayer. After passing through the offering altar and coming into the Holy Place, we find there two items of furniture in addition to the incense altar. There is the table of the bread of the Presence followed by the golden lampstand. The bread of the Presence and the golden lampstand are for the incense altar. In other words, whoever goes before God to burn the incense must first set the bread of the Presence upon the table and keep the lamps of the lampstand in order. Keeping the lamps in order is a matter of life illumination, which we will deal with in the next chapter. In this chapter we will first look at life supply and prayer, that is, the relationship between the table of the bread of the Presence and the incense altar.
The type of the tabernacle in the Old Testament shows that the table of the bread of the Presence and the incense altar are related. It also reveals that all those who burn incense at the incense altar eat of the holy sacrifice upon the offering altar. We know that the holy things refer to Christ Himself being food to those who serve God. All those who burn incense at the incense altar are dependent on the holy things of the offering altar to be their supply. In addition, they should not neglect the aspect of the bread of the Presence while they are in the Holy Place. When they burn the incense, not only do they depend on the sacrifice for their food; they are also very much dependent upon the bread of the Presence. The holy sacrifice and the bread of the Presence being placed before God show forth the fact that the priest’s going before God to burn the incense, to pray, is related to life supply. Therefore, if we really want to understand what it means to pray before God in the Holy Place, we must know the supply of the holy sacrifice and the bread of the Presence. We must know the relationship between life supply and prayer.
The types clearly indicate to us that everyone who burns incense must take the offerings as their food and have the bread of the Presence set before God. Anyone who does not eat the sacrifice properly and anyone who does not have the bread of the Presence to bring into the Holy Place will not be able to burn incense at the incense altar. These two aspects of life supply — one on the inside and the other on the outside — are prerequisites to our prayer. Hence, one who prays before God must take in Christ as his life supply day by day.
In chapter 4 we specifically covered the life of prayer. The life of the new creation that we have received possesses numerous characteristics and innate abilities. One of these many characteristics and innate abilities is prayer. We all know that whenever we are able to pray, we feel comfortable within, but whenever we are unable to pray, we feel imprisoned, uncomfortable, and unnatural. This means that the characteristic and innate ability of the life in us demands us to pray. If we allow this ability to be expressed, it will lead us spontaneously into prayer, and we will thus feel at ease. But if our situation does not allow this life to spontaneously lead us into prayer, we will sense a condition of being bound. I believe that the children of God have this kind of experience to some extent. This sense of being bound when we fail to pray and feeling at ease when we do pray proves that the life of the new creation within us is a praying life.
All real prayers are prayers of life. A prayer of life means that such a prayer comes entirely out of life. Because it comes out of life, it is therefore a real prayer. Any prayer that is not of life is feigned, imitated, reluctant, ritualistic, and outward. In other words, it is false.
Let us assume that we have two guests visiting us. One is old, over sixty years of age, and the other is young, a little over two. As we are together, I notice that there is a tremendous difference between our guests in their words and manners. Sometimes the old one tries to copy the smile of the young one. Such a smile is pretentious, false. At other times the young one tries to imitate the language of the old one and sounds somewhat like him. However, there is still the sense that the child is feigning the speech of another. He is not yet sixty years old, but he speaks the words of a sixty-year-old. Although he fakes it very well, you still have to admit that it is false, because his life has not yet reached that stage. If he were to scream and yell, turn the plates upside-down, and throw away the bowls, one would feel that his behavior was genuine, for that behavior would genuinely reflect his level of life.
Please keep in mind that the same is true with respect to prayer. A genuine prayer is definitely of life. There is no way to imitate the tone, sound, words, form, and style of the prayers of anyone else. And even if you could imitate them very well, it would still be false.
Brothers and sisters, I hope you can see that prayer is a matter of life. We may not be so strict concerning other matters, but prayer is uniquely and absolutely a matter of life. The extent of your life determines the extent of your prayer. The measure of your life decides the measure of your prayer. Your life is the deciding factor of your prayer. The condition of your life reveals the condition of your prayer. If there is a problem with your life, there will surely be a problem with your prayer. Life and prayer are entirely in direct proportion to one another, and they run parallel to each other. All genuine prayers are prayers of life.
We have said that prayer depends also on words. But do not forget that words are the expression of the degree of one’s life. You need to reach a certain degree of life in order to speak the words of that degree. Otherwise, you may have learned to speak them, but they carry neither the backing of life nor the weight of life. We should not merely exercise ourselves in prayer yet ignore the matter of the growth in life. If we ignore the growth in life, our prayer will be little different from a performance. Hence, we need to measure our prayer by our growth in life. This is an absolute principle.
The measure of life supply being received by us determines the weightiness of our prayer. One who has the life supply may not pray with all his life supply, but one who does not have the life supply cannot possibly pray. In other words, life supply always exceeds prayer, but prayer can never exceed life supply.
Do not think that preaching is very hard and praying is very easy. If you pray in an acting or performing way, then, of course, it is very easy. But it is not an easy matter to pray a prayer of burden, a genuine prayer, a prayer that can touch the throne. Prayer is a difficult labor. According to the historical record of the human race, there has never been one who labored on something to the point of sweating blood. But in the Garden of Gethsemane there was One who did pray and sweat blood. When Moses prayed on top of the hill, he needed Aaron and Hur to support his hands. To lift up the hands is easy, but to lift up the hands and pray is not easy.
Brothers, I know no passage in the Bible that says we need to fast and preach the word, but I have certainly found it to say that we need to fast and pray. What does the Bible mean when it says to fast and pray? It does not mean just to treat our body severely. It means to exercise our whole being to bear the burden of a certain matter. Then the burden presses us to the point that we do not feel hungry, causing us to fast and pray.
Prayer can supply as well as consume life. On the one hand, prayer can truly cause one to receive supply. On the other hand, prayer can also cause one to be consumed in life to a considerable extent. If a prayer does not supply you with life, that prayer is questionable. On the other hand, if a prayer does not consume you in life, it is also questionable. Only those prayers that are a performance do not consume life. A genuine prayer that bears a burden will definitely be life-consuming. After praying thus for an hour, you need the replenishment of a large measure of life.
Therefore, one who seeks true prayer should know how to obtain the life supply. Many times when we draw near to the Lord, it is not to pray but to fellowship with Him in order to gain some life supply. To pray in a genuine way, one should not bear too many burdens daily; otherwise, it will become a real hardship and suffering. Because prayer is the highest as well as the most lasting part of spiritual work, it really consumes life. We should not overwork ourselves, and in the same principle, we should not pray excessively. This means that our prayer must not exceed the life supply. Every day we should have a time when we do not bear any burden of prayer but merely draw near to the Lord and receive His supply.
I hope that every brother and sister will remember this principle: If you do not receive the supply of life at set times daily, your prayer is certainly questionable. If there is no life supply, there is definitely no prayer life. Hence, we must learn to receive the supply of Christ as life continually. Receive the supply of life through the quiet time, meditation, calling on the Lord, reading the Word, and fellowshipping with the saints. This will enable us to have true prayers before God. We also need to learn to receive the burden in prayer. However, it must not be too heavy a burden lest we suffer loss. Receive regular life supply daily; this is a great principle of prayer.
It is very hard to always maintain our life before the Lord in a trouble-free condition. Usually and unconsciously, our life within incurs some problems. Once this happens, immediately we are not able to pray. For example, you may have a controversy with the Lord regarding a certain matter. You refuse to obey the Lord’s will. Rather, you insist on acting according to your own will. Once such a controversy exists, there is a problem in your life, and you cannot pray. Even if you do pray, your prayers are not real. You must resolve this controversy by saying to the Lord, “Lord, I will let You win again in this matter. I am willing to be defeated by You.” At this point the prayer in you can be restored.
It is not only controversies that cause problems in life. Even speaking a few unnecessary words in our daily life can affect our prayer. Hence, we must deal strictly with all the things that may affect our prayer. We must always adjust the condition of our inner life.
Nothing restricts and controls man more severely than prayer. If you do not pray for a week, you will surely be very far from the Lord and become completely loose. One who prays much every day is, without question, fully restricted. You may do as you please in everything but prayer. For example, the Lord’s teaching shows that when we pray, we need to forgive others. Whenever we do not forgive others, we cannot pray. It is because of this that some, at times, have been unable to pray. Although they may sometimes speak words of prayer, they know very well that they are not really before the throne of God. They know that there is a separation, a distance, between them and God, for they have not been able to forgive their brother. This means that their life has incurred some problem. Hence, you need to learn the lessons of prayer by dealing with your inner life. You will notice that you not only will be able to learn a great deal in prayer, but you will have daily growth in life. No other activity requires the supply of life more than prayer. Neither is there anything else that can cause a Christian to grow faster than prayer.
To learn to pray, we must learn first to continually live in life and not depart from it. We need to follow the consciousness of life and live in the fellowship of life. Whenever we depart from life, we have no way to pray. Those who pray the most and who are the most thorough and weighty in prayer are those who continually live in life. The lesson of prayer is absolutely a spiritual matter, a matter of life. Regardless of how much you have learned, it always involves the spirit and revolves around life. All the lessons of life are here in the spirit. Therefore, if we wish to learn the lessons of prayer, we need to be one who lives in life.
For example, let us consider a gospel meeting in the church. When you attend such a meeting, there are several possibilities. You may feel that since this is the church preaching the gospel, it is imperative that you, as a brother or sister serving God, participate. Therefore you attend the meeting. Another possibility may be that the elders keep telling you that this gospel preaching really needs you, and it is imperative that you come. Then, feeling that you have no choice, you come. Please remember, these are not examples of living in life. And since your reason for attending is not in life, you are not able to offer much prayer for this matter. The situation should be such that in your spirit you feel very much concerned for the gospel preaching. Then, spontaneously, you will be able to pray. Hence, brothers, in order to pray you need to learn to live in life in every matter.
The same is true concerning the relationships you have with the brothers and sisters. You may have various reasons to maintain your relationship with the brothers and sisters, but unless those reasons are in life, they can never cause you to pray for the brothers and sisters. You and I need to learn severe lessons and condemn anything that is not life. How do you know what is of life? You have to ask whether there is prayer or not. If your relationship with the brothers and sisters is of life, you will pray a great deal. It is not because the brothers or sisters ask you to pray for them; it is because your relationship with them is of life, so you cannot keep from praying for them. If it is not of life, even if you intend to pray, you will not feel the urgency in your inner being. Hence, you will simply forget it after a time.
Therefore, please remember: Where life is, there is prayer; where life is not, there is no prayer. If we do not live in life, even our prayer for our relatives cannot last long. We can only pray once, and that is all. Only in life can there be the real, lasting prayers.
Brothers, learn therefore to live in life. We must admit that there are not many praying ones in our midst, and a number of brothers and sisters have a problem in their prayer life. The reason there is inadequate prayer is that there is a problem in life. Whenever there is a problem with life, there is also a problem concerning prayer. Hence, in order to pray, one needs to learn to always live in life. Studying, discussing, exhorting, encouraging, and solving problems are futile when there are not the genuine prayers. Only by learning to live in life can one have real prayers.
Take, for example, a local church that is having problems. You may, with all good intentions, wish to be a peacemaker to straighten out their problems by ironing out all their different concepts and ideas, thus making them one. These methods, being apart from life, are useless, and you would not have much real prayer. There is only one way for you to have real prayers that touch the throne regarding the problems of the church. That way is to live in life. The solution to the problems of the church hinges on your prayer. When there is the prayer of life, the problem is solved. Unless you live in life, your prayer will surely not last long, cannot be sincere, and is therefore useless.
Why is it that whenever certain ones pray for the gospel, immediately some souls get saved, whereas others pray continually yet none get saved? The reason hinges on whether or not the praying ones are living in life. Some have told us, “You should go and work among a certain people.” Brothers and sisters, you may say this a thousand times, but it is still useless. Instead, we need men who live in life in all things. It is not a matter of having a natural view or making an ordinary observation but a matter of learning to live in life. The result will be some real prayers in life. Such prayers are of the Lord, and they will be effective. Otherwise, regardless of how hard you try to promote a matter, it is in vain.
All genuine prayers, prayers that touch the throne, issue from life. Please forgive me. I have seen many problems of the brothers and sisters in different localities, but I seldom pray for them, because I am short of life concerning those places. In other words, I do not have the capacity to take the burden. To take the burden means that in that particular matter you live in life. To make intercession is not an easy, light matter. It is not that I tell you, “Brother, please pray for such and such a church,” and you reply, “Okay.” Then as soon as you go home, you kneel down and pray, “O Lord, have pity on the church there.” This is useless. And there will not be much prayer anyway. Maybe after praying two or three times, you simply forget about it. And maybe after a month you even forget that you have prayed for that particular matter.
To have genuine prayers means that you are able to take this matter into your life. It should be that while you contact that backsliding church, by touching the inner fellowship and consciousness, you are convinced that the Lord has placed the burden of the problem of that church in you. And as you have this consciousness in you, you utter some kind of prayer. That kind of prayer you cannot forget, because if you do not pray, you bear a burden and do not feel relieved. Rather, you feel pressed and burning within. This kind of prayer is of life.
May the Lord cover me with His blood — I very much dislike a common saying in Christianity: “Please pray for me.” One day while I was at the airport for someone’s departure, I noticed some very modern, fashionable, and up-to-date people whose conversation and action produced an atmosphere that made others feel very uncomfortable. But when the time came for them to shake hands and say goodbye, they still could say to one another, “Please pray for me.” When I heard that, I felt nauseated. In Christianity this is a conventional phrase that is of little use. Every true prayer comes out of life. Anyone who is not in life surely is unable to pray.
In the Old Testament, Daniel was a praying one who lived in life, and that life was his prayer. Read those prayers of Daniel, and you can see that they were all in life. His living and his life were such that he could have prayers that were weighty before God. Likewise, after the Lord’s ascension, the one hundred and twenty prayed ten days and brought forth the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Many people bring up this matter today and encourage others to pray like them. But what is the use of such encouragement? You need to realize that they were able to pray for ten consecutive days because they lived that kind of life. The prayers of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels were also according to the same principle. He often went up to the mountain to pray because He lived that kind of life.
Prayer is altogether a matter of life. Hence, to learn the lessons of prayer, one needs to learn the lessons of life. Learn to have more dealings and adjustments in the matters of life. Also learn to live in life and take the burden of life. Thus, there will be no need for others to exhort you to pray. You will spontaneously pray. The amount of real prayer one has is definitely determined by the measure of life within him.
