We must come to the Bible in the proper way in order to receive the water in the word. The water in the word is mysterious and spiritual; it is not the letters in black and white. To touch the water of life, we must use our deepest part, our spirit. If we read the Bible only with our eyes and our mind, we are using only our body and our soul, and we will receive only knowledge. When we exercise our spirit in reading the Word, we touch the life supply, the water in the word.
The way to exercise our spirit is to pray. For this reason, we all need to learn how to pray-read. To pray-read is to repeat the words of the Bible as a simple prayer to the Lord. When we practice to pray-read in this way, we will sense the water of life flowing within our spirit to quench our thirst and to water, refresh, nourish, and strengthen us. The word conveys to us the spiritual life supply, which becomes a washing to us.
The food that we eat produces a kind of washing in our body, removing the waste from our blood and tissues. If we do not eat, we will not have this kind of washing. The more that we eat and the better the food is that we eat, the more we will experience this inward, metabolic washing of life. The same principle applies in the spiritual realm. If we eat the word by exercising our spirit to pray the Word, we receive life, which affords us a metabolic washing by removing all the negative things from our inner being. As a result, our wrinkles and our spots will be washed away. As the church, we will become beautiful—sanctified, without any blemish. Eventually, the Lord will present this glorious church to Himself as His bride (Eph. 5:27).
The most crucial point in Ephesians 3 is Christ making His home in our hearts. In order to experience and enjoy Christ to the uttermost, we need to give Him the freedom to make His home in our heart, to be fully settled in our entire being. In chapter 4 there are three crucial points: mingling with the Triune God, growing by the increase of Christ, and being renewed by taking Christ as our person. We all should realize the mingling with the Triune God and experience the growth in life by the increase of Christ in us, growing up into Christ in all things. Then we will be renewed, transformed. We will put off our old man and put on the new man, which is Christ as the church. To take Christ as our person is to live not by ourselves but by Him. When we take Christ as our new person, we become the new man.
These four crucial matters in Ephesians 3 and 4 are subjective and deep, but we need to experience them in order to have the proper church life. If we all have Christ making His home in our hearts, realize the mingling with the Triune God, grow in life by the increase of Christ, and are renewed by taking Christ as our person, we will have the proper church life. The secret of experiencing these four matters is taking in the word. We must eat the word daily by exercising our spirit and pray-reading in order to experience these four crucial matters.
The word in the Bible embodies the entire Triune God. Therefore, to fully experience Christ, we must take in the word. Just as the vitamins and minerals that our body needs are in the food we eat, the word of God in the Bible conveys the spiritual nourishment that we need. Many Christians today are undernourished because they do not read or pray over the Bible. Owning a Bible but not reading or praying over it may be compared to buying much food but not cooking or eating it. If we do not eat properly, we will be weak, undernourished, and prone to sickness. Eating properly requires a certain amount of time. Every day we need to spend time to eat physically, and we likewise need to spend time to eat the word of God. When we eat the word of God adequately and properly, we will be nourished.
In the nourishing word there is washing water, which carries away all the negative things from our inner being. Physical food not only nourishes us but also cleanses us, washing all the negative things from our body. A proper and adequate diet defeats the germs and cleanses our blood and tissues. The same is true of our spiritual food, the word of God. If we eat and drink the word by exercising our spirit to pray-read the word, we will receive spiritual nourishment and washing.
Ephesians 5:29 says, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church.” Nourishes and cherishes in verse 29 relate to the washing of the water in the word in verse 26. When we pray-read the word, we receive the spiritual food. This food not only cleanses us but also nourishes and cherishes us. When a nursing mother feeds her child, the child receives the nourishment and at the same time enjoys tender care. When a baby is lying in his mother’s bosom, he receives protection, rest, warmth, and comfort; all fear and cares are gone. For a small child, to be in the mother’s bosom is the best thing, for there he enjoys nourishing and cherishing. When we pray-read the word, we have a precious, tender, and dear feeling that we are in the bosom of the Lord. We enjoy His protection, comfort, and tender care—His nourishing and cherishing. This is to enjoy Christ in a very direct and intimate way.
By enjoying Christ’s nourishing and cherishing in the word, we will never become old but will be continually refreshed, and the church will become glorious, not having spot or wrinkle but sanctified and without blemish. This is the church that the Lord is after. Thus, we all need to practice pray-reading several times a day to receive Christ’s nourishing and cherishing.