Question: How can we touch life? Do we need a more thorough understanding of some points?
Answer: God’s work, whether in creation or redemption, is through His word. Hebrews 11:3 says, “The universe has been framed by the word of God.” God created the heavens by His word; He also accomplished the work of redemption by His word. This is why there is the Bible and so many messages and spiritual publications. These are all for the release of God’s word. According to the Lord’s word in Matthew 13:18-23, God’s word is a seed, and in this seed there is life.
We know from experience that when God’s word enters into us, its first effect is to enlighten us. Whenever we have the Lord’s word in us, we are enlightened. When we receive this light, it becomes life. Life is the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God. Hence, we can receive God’s word by reading the Bible, listening to messages, reading spiritual publications, fellowshipping, and by the testimonies of the apostles. Sometimes the content from the Bible, messages, spiritual publications, fellowship, and testimonies of the apostles enters into our mind and memory. At a certain point, the Holy Spirit will impart the words that have entered into our mind and memory into our spirit. Then the words will impart light, and when we receive this light, it will become life, which is the Spirit, Christ, and God. Life is conveyed through the word. Once the word enters into us, it becomes light, and once we receive this light, we receive life.
Question: If we do not have light, does it mean that we cannot receive God’s word?
Answer: The word is first, and then there is light. Whether in creation or redemption, the first step of God’s work involves His speaking. He spoke, and it was done. Thus, John 1:3 says that all the things in the heavens came into being through Him as the Word. Moreover, the universe has been framed by the word of God (Heb. 11:3). God’s word is great.
Question: We have no feeling concerning the items related to prayer. What should we do?
Answer: The question you raised diminishes the content of the speaking. Our service before God must be of God, not of us. Thus, concerning the items related to prayer, when you have the inspiration, pray, and when you do not have the inspiration, do not pray.
Question: One who serves the Lord must stop himself and then rise up. Is there an absolute relationship between the two?
Answer: Let us consider a person who is learning to be a chef. A good chef is well prepared. If he needs to learn how to cook a fish when a customer asks, “Please cook a fish for me,” the customer will starve. If someone wants to be a chef, he must learn as early and as quickly as possible. When he has finished learning, he should ask his master what to cook. If the master asks him to make white rice, he should make white rice immediately; if the master asks him to make steamed buns, he should make steamed buns immediately. When a chef hears the master’s command, he must be able to meet the master’s need in a timely way. Hence, if we have not been properly trained and have wasted much time, it will not be easy for us to receive God’s command. If an apprentice has been cooking for only two days, will his master entrust him with a banquet? I believe we know that this would be absolutely impossible.
According to 2 Timothy 2:21, one who serves the Lord must first cleanse himself in order to be useful to the master. We must not have a part in any place that is improper, unclean, and full of gossip so that we will not be defiled in any way. We must learn and be dealt with every day. This is the meaning of 2 Timothy. If we prepare ourselves in such a way, we will be able to meet all the Lord’s needs when the Holy Spirit commands us. Therefore, we must study the Bible properly and read spiritual publications. We must learn how to use our time so that we can meet the Lord’s need even more.
Question: My thoughts are usually confused, and I am also timid; therefore, I do not have enough boldness in judging matters. What should I do?
Answer: Many who serve the Lord may not necessarily have the Lord’s command when they first begin to pursue the Lord. According to the record of the entire New Testament, some brothers, such as Timothy, Titus, and Mark, never received a command from the Lord directly. Their activities in the work were altogether under Paul’s command because they were all learners. Generally speaking, young brothers and sisters expect to immediately receive a direct command from the Lord when they rise up to serve the Lord, but first we should be learners, and then we will have a way.
Concerning our brother’s question, we should learn both great and small things in our daily living. For example, we must learn to control our thoughts and train our character. If we have poor judgment, we must learn even more. If we do not learn in our ordinary living, we will not be able to meet the need when we later receive the Lord’s command. We must learn in matters related to our attire and our actions, not only so that we will be detailed persons but in order to learn how to exercise our judgment.
One day, after seeing a brother’s room, I told him that I was clear that he needed to learn many lessons. We should observe our living quarters, our attire, and the way we conduct ourselves in life and handle matters. If we have never been trained, we will not be able to even hold a chair properly. If we are loose in our daily living, it will be difficult for us to meet the Lord’s need precisely when He gives us a command. From my constant observation of the condition of the young people, I know that their reading of the Bible is loose and inaccurate. Therefore, I implore all of us to have much exercise in our daily living.
In matters related to ourselves or others, we always seem to do either too much or not enough; this is not right. For instance, when someone asks us to buy one hundred pounds of something, we either buy more than one hundred pounds or less than one hundred pounds. It seems that we are always too much or not enough. This is improper. We must learn to be accurate in all things.
We have more than forty brothers and sisters who serve full time, but it is difficult to find one who is accurate. It seems that everyone is loose and easygoing. This is because they have been working in a loose, careless, and easygoing fashion from their youth. This is due to an inadequate exercise in their daily living. Hence, I often say to the young people, “Your poor study of the Bible, inadequate reading of the spiritual publications, and insufficient ability to judge are due to the lack of a strict character. Once you build up a strict character, you will be thorough and effective in whatever you do.”
Many full-time serving brothers and sisters have difficulty serving well because of inadequate character, not because they do not know how to do things. If the character of the brothers and sisters is improper, a task will not be taken seriously, and it will be done carelessly and sloppily. After repeated speakings, I hope we can learn these lessons in a practical way. In three to five months, I do not wish to see any serving ones among us being slothful, complacent, and sloppy. We should do things thoroughly and seriously, and we should deal with people in spirit and in truthfulness. If we do not build up our character in serving the Lord, we will be useless. Hence, we must study the Word of truth and familiarize ourselves with the Bible. Moreover, we must be diligent, serious, thorough, and solemn. Whether we do or do not do something, we must be proper. This kind of character must be built up within us, starting with the small things in our daily living.
We may use the workers’ home as an illustration. When I was there for a few days, I saw that sometimes the brothers and sisters would not even close the door when they left the house. If we have not learned even this, how can we serve and lead the saints? In their small reception room, there were trays and cups near the four sofa chairs. After the trays and cups were used, however, they were not returned to their original place; everything was a mess. I can give many examples that show that we have not learned these lessons properly and our character has not been built up. Hence, I do not believe that we can study the Bible well and that our serving can be on track.
If we are willing to exercise and build up our character, we surely will have light when we read the Bible, and we surely will be effective when we serve. On the contrary, if we are not willing to properly learn about many things, our mind will be loose, confused, and useless. From now on, as the Lord so leads and has mercy on us, we must learn in a serious way. Then when we encounter a certain matter, we will not be confused or timid, but we will have good judgment and boldness. Since our mind has been trained in small things, we will be an accurate person. If we want to be used by the Lord and be useful vessels in His hand, we do not necessarily need to be very knowledgeable, but our character must be trained.
Question: We all know that there are different lines in the service of the church: the line of the gospel, the line of life, and the line of handling matters, etc. In our daily exercise, we pay much attention to rising early and finding a place to pray. Then we read 1 Samuel 1, 4, 6, and 7 and see how Hannah’s prayer was answered and how she had fellowship in prayer. To summarize, there are seven items we need to pray for: first, for God; second, for the church; third, for our country; fourth, for the saints; fifth, for people to believe in the Lord; sixth, for the Jews; and seventh, for ourselves. In other words, first, we need to pray for God’s kingdom to come. Second, we need to pray for the revival of the church and for the serving ones, including the elders, deacons, and responsible ones in the small groups. Third, we need to pray for our country and for those who are in authority, praying for the health and wisdom of those in high position that we may live in tranquility and godliness so that the gospel may be widely spread. Fourth, we need to pray for the prayerlessness of the saints, for those who have been lost, for the growth in life, and for the saints to join the pursuing meetings and to attend prayer meetings in groups. Fifth, we need to pray for the sending of workers for the preaching of the gospel and for the salvation of our friends, relatives, and colleagues. Sixth, we need to ask God to bless the Jews so that they may repent and believe in Jesus. Seventh, we need to pray for our enlightenment so that we will know the self, for our cleansing so that we may be delivered from sins and wrongdoings, and for our being granted a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know God’s will and principles. May all of us serving ones enter into the four stages of the experience in life so that we may grow in life unto maturity (see The Experience of Life). Is anything still lacking?
Answer: This is good. I hope that all the serving ones and responsible brothers in the churches would not only have an actual exercise themselves but also learn to lead the saints into these life practices. We must exercise properly related to the seven items for prayer; these are truly good topics. When a person first begins to pray and cannot fully follow the sense of his spirit to pray with words, he may first pray according to regulation. Gradually, however, his mouth and mind will match each other. Then he can break away from his regulated prayer and enter into the prayer of the spirit. I hope that all the saints will try this. This way is quite good in the initial stage. It would be best if we could practice the four stages of spiritual life in every place, as our brother fellowshipped. The co-workers, elders, deacons, and responsible ones for the small groups should take the lead to exercise. In this way, all the churches spontaneously will have a living and expression of spiritual reality.