In this message we have emphasized the need for growth and transformation. How can we grow and be transformed? The only way to grow and be transformed is to have the dispensing of the Divine Trinity into our being.
As believers in Christ, we all are those who have been reborn. We all have experienced the divine birth. This birth is not merely a theological doctrine, and regeneration is more than a term. Regeneration is a spiritual fact, even a divine fact.
The Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God, and the divine life are all real. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God entered into us to impart God’s life, eternal life, into our being. In reality and in practicality, the divine life has been imparted to our spirit. This is not a doctrinal matter. Something divinely real and practical has been imparted into our being.
If the receiving of the divine life through regeneration were not a reality, then our believing in the Lord Jesus would be vanity. But believing in the Lord Jesus is not vanity; it is a marvelous reality. Through our believing in Him eternal life, the very life of God, has been imparted to our being.
From the time of our regeneration, the life-imparting Spirit has been with our spirit. Now this Spirit with the divine life abides in our spirit. Whenever we contact our Lord, the Triune God, through the exercise of our spirit, the indwelling Spirit imparts more life into our being.
From experience we have learned that we may contact the Lord by calling on His name and by proper prayer. Many times we have prayed improperly; that is, we have prayed only from our mind, neglecting our spirit. Those who pray only with the mind may sometimes pray from memory and at other times may think about what they should pray before uttering anything in prayer. In order to have a proper prayer, we need to pray by our spirit and from our spirit. When we call on the name of the Lord and exercise to have proper prayer, our spirit is exercised. At such a time the “switch” is turned on, and the “current” of the divine life flows within us. The more this current flows, the more the divine life is added to our being. The more this current flows, the more the divine life increases within us.
The increase of the divine life within us depends on our contacting the Lord by praying and calling upon Him. This is the reason the New Testament tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17). Praying without ceasing can be compared to breathing. If we want to stay alive, we must breathe all the time. No matter what we are doing, we need to breathe. Whether we are awake or asleep, whether we are working or resting, we need to keep on breathing. A husband continues to breathe even when he is exchanging words with his wife. It would be ridiculous for a husband to say, “I’m busy arguing with my wife. I don’t have time to breathe.” In order to maintain our physical life, we must breathe all the time. The principle is the same with our spiritual life. Whenever we stop breathing, we experience spiritual death. To experience death in the spiritual sense is equal to switching off the current of the divine life. Just as a person dies when his blood stops circulating, so we experience spiritual death when the divine life stops circulating within us.
Many Christians are dead, spiritually speaking. The current of the divine life does not flow within them. Do you know the reason so many Christians are spiritually dead, the reason they do not have the divine life flowing in them? The reason is that they do not contact the Lord by praying and calling on Him. For example, when a brother and his wife are exchanging words, they are not contacting the Lord. Furthermore, even when we are doing good things, the inner current of the divine life may stop flowing. In order to maintain the flowing of the divine life, we need to pray without ceasing.
How can we fulfill Paul’s charge in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing? Years ago, I tried to find a book that answered this question, but I could not find one. Eventually, through experience with the Lord I discovered that to pray unceasingly is to exercise our spirit continually. We may use walking as an illustration. Walking is an exercise of our feet. If we want to walk, we need to exercise our feet. In like manner, seeing is an exercise of the eyes, and hearing is an exercise of the ears. But what does it mean to exercise our spirit? To exercise the spirit is to pray. This means that whenever we exercise our spirit, we pray. As one example, I can testify that whenever I am giving a message, I am exercising my spirit. Through this exercise of my spirit, I look to the Lord for His instant transfusion and utterance. I do not know from one moment to the next what kind of utterance I should use. Therefore, while I am speaking, I am praying by exercising my spirit.
Praying does not necessarily mean that we utter something verbally. No, to pray is to exercise our spirit. If we realize this, then we shall see that even at work we can exercise our spirit to pray.
The Bible reveals clearly that the Spirit of God is in our spirit. Because the divine Spirit is with our regenerated spirit, when we exercise our spirit, the Spirit of God flows within us. As this divine current flows, it brings the element, even the essence, of the divine life into our being. In this way we receive more of the divine life. The result of the increase of the divine life within us is growth. Growth, therefore, is a matter of the continual increase of the divine life within us.