We must select hymns according to the sense in our spirit. We cannot rely merely on our mind. We should not mechanically consider the nature of a meeting, or even the stage of the meeting, and then flip through our hymnal to find a suitable hymn. Hymns that are selected in such a dead way will not be according to the spirit of the meeting. We must select hymns according to the sense in our spirit. When selecting a hymn, we need to touch our spirit to see if there is an inward confirmation. There must be an inward response so that when we sing the hymn, we will be inspired.
After selecting a hymn, we need to consider how to call out the hymn number. We should not call a hymn too loudly, too softly, or so fast that others are unable to hear the hymn that has been called. Rather, we should call a hymn number slowly and clearly. When some brothers call a hymn, it is like a gust of wind that passes by so quickly that other people do not know which hymn number was called. Other brothers call hymns in a manner that can be compared to a loud clap of thunder; it frightens people and causes them to lose their spiritual inspiration. Still others call hymns with a voice that is so quiet that even those sitting next to them have difficulty hearing the number. This also disturbs the spirit of the meeting. Because the spirit of the meeting is quite tender and can easily be disturbed, all the activities in the meeting must be refined. We must call a hymn clearly and slowly. Our voice should neither be too loud nor too soft. People must be able to hear us clearly and not be disturbed. We should not think that these are trivial matters. These matters have much impact on a meeting.
Our prayers, just as our selection of hymns, should match the nature of a meeting. If a sister begins to pray for her son, crying bitterly with tears, this will greatly affect the feeling of the meeting. This is because her prayer does not match the nature of the meeting.
The bread-breaking meeting has two sections. The first section is for remembering the Lord, and the second section is for worshipping the Father. After the bread and the cup have been passed around, someone may pray long-windedly concerning the Lord’s humbling Himself to be born in a manger and His dying on the cross. Because such prayer does not follow the progression of the meeting, even though it may match the nature of the meeting, it disturbs the entire meeting. For this reason, our prayers must follow the progression of the meeting.
It is normal for our prayers to be according to the sense in our spirit.
Our voice should not be too soft when we pray. It is difficult to hear some people when they pray, even if we strain to listen. For this reason, we should not spare our throat and hurt the ears of the brothers and sisters when we pray. At the same time, we should not yell and shout like thunder when we pray. Such ear-quivering prayers make people feel uncomfortable. The tone of our voice in prayer must be moderate, neither too high nor too low, and the pronunciation should be clear.
We should use simple words in our prayer, and our sentences should be short, not long.
We should pray with the exercise of our spirit so that our spirit comes out and releases the spirit of others.
When we pray, our sentences should be brief and our prayer should be brief. Long prayers often kill a meeting. C. H. Mackintosh said that long prayers torture the children of God. He would ask others not to punish the brothers and sisters by long prayers. D. L. Moody was in a meeting where a sister was praying nonstop, exhausting the endurance of the brothers and sisters. He stood up and wisely recommended that while the sister was still praying, they should sing a hymn. We all need to avoid long prayers in the meeting.
When praying in a meeting, we must consider the response of others. If there is not a response of Amen, we should stop our prayer. A lack of Amens means that others are not responding. Why should we continue praying if they are not responding? We should always consider the response of others to our prayer. We should stop praying when the spirit of others does not follow.