Such a thought is divine, spiritual, and abstract; thus, it is not a part of our natural logic. According to our logic, we must work for everything that we want to obtain. Without working, we will get nothing. This is our thought, our logic, and we apply this logic to everything. We would even think, "How can I be regenerated?" That means, "What should I do so that I can be regenerated?" A question often asked by people in the Bible is, "What shall I do?" (Matt. 19:16; Mark 10:17b; Luke 10:25b; John 6:28; Acts 16:30). In the same principle, we may ask, "What shall I do to be holy?" or "What shall I do to be spiritual?" or "What shall I do to be victorious?" or even "What shall I do to be renewed?"

Recently I received a very brief letter that consisted of only one question: "Dear Brother Lee, Can pray-reading affect our transformation?" My answer is definitely yes. Pray- reading can affect our transformation because pray-reading keeps us in the presence of the divine element. As long as we stay in the presence of the divine element, we will absorb the divine element into us. That element will transform us. The longer we stay in the presence of the Lord, the more we will spontaneously be transformed.

In order to be renewed and transformed, we do not need to do anything; but we do need to absorb the divine element into us. There is no other way to absorb the divine element but to remain in the presence of the Lord. Furthermore, while we are remaining in the presence of the Lord, we need to breathe by calling on the Lord's name. To call on the Lord makes a great difference. If every morning we call "O Lord Jesus" only a few times, we will become a different person. Then, if we would open the Word and pray-read two or three verses, we will taste something in the word. By further masticating the word, we will taste the word even more, and we will receive more of the divine element. This element will enter into us and will be digested and assimilated by us. To say that the word nourishes us in such a way is not a superstition. The word nourishes us in the same way that food nourishes us.

Renewing is the divine element being dispensed into us. As long as this element gets into us, it is organic; it spontaneously enters into a union with us. Before food enters our stomach, the organic process of digestion cannot take place. But after the food enters into our stomach, the organic process of digestion causes the food to have an organic union with our being. This does not mean that our stomach does a work or that the food does a work. Rather, it means that an organic moving occurs in us. This moving is digestion. Although we have a stomach that is organic, if we do not eat any food for three days, there will be no organic moving within us to cause the food to be digested and assimilated.

Especially in the New Testament, our spiritual life is likened to our physical life. In John 6:57 the Lord Jesus said that He is eatable and that whoever eats Him will live because of Him. Moreover, in 7:37 the Lord said that He is drinkable. He said that He is the bread of life and the living bread (6:35, 48, 51), and He also said that He is the living water (4:14; 7:38). When we receive the Lord as the organic foodstuff, this foodstuff comes together with our organic "organs," and an organic moving takes place within us. As a result, we are sanctified, renewed, and transformed.

Concerning our spiritual experience, there are six main items: first, regeneration, and then sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification. It is very difficult to find anything concerning these six items in Christian teaching today. But these items are all part of the apostle Paul's teaching. Paul touched these six items in a very detailed way.