We should never be distracted and consider other things after we confess our sins. Once we are distracted, the Spirit will stop moving within us. For example, it is very good for a sister to sense the need to confess as she is fellowshipping with God. However, she may suddenly remember that her child needs to go to school and that breakfast is not ready. Once she begins to have such thoughts, the fellowship within will stop. Or she may remember a relative who is recovering from an illness and needs prayer. If she begins to pray for this one, the inward feeling will disappear, and it will be difficult for her to continue fellowshipping. Therefore, when we sense something in our fellowship with God, especially the need to confess, we should never think of other things or bring other things into our fellowship. Even though we are still praying, these things can become serious distractions, and we will have no way to touch God’s presence. Instead, they will cause us to lose His presence.
We should not feel restrained when we confess according to the inner feeling. If we feel like crying, we should cry. If we feel like laughing, we should laugh. If we feel sad, we should be sad. If we feel happy, we should rejoice. We should not be restrained in our inner feeling. There is, however, another side to this matter. As we become skillful in fellowshipping with God, we should learn to exercise self-control. Initially however, there is no need to exercise any restraint. For example, immediately after confessing their sins, some people become afraid and hesitant to confess further. As a result, the Spirit stops moving within them. This is a pity. The Holy Spirit is signified by a dove, which is very sensitive and gentle. If we limit Him or disagree with Him even a little, He will retreat. We must obey Him all the time. If He wants us to confess, we must not hesitate, no matter what the sin may be. This applies only to confession before God, not before men. In confessing before men, there are times when we should exercise restraint.
As humans, we are very complicated. According to our experience, even our prayers are complicated. Sometimes we are concerned for this, and at other times we are concerned for that. It is difficult for us to simply and closely follow the inner feeling and confess. But if we are willing to be simple and not be concerned with other things but follow the feeling to confess, our prayer will lead us deep into God. We may even have the experience of the outpouring and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
According to general experience, after we have a thorough confession, we can praise and give thanks. However, this is not a rule. This is not a procedure to memorize and follow. We should not think that we must always praise and give thanks after confessing. Rather, after thoroughly confessing, a spontaneous feeling to praise God and give Him thanks may arise within us. At this time, we must release our inner feeling of praise and thanks without any reservation. The more we release this feeling, the more we will touch God. If we withhold it, we will lose the feeling of God’s presence. Therefore, we must convert a feeling of praise and thanks into words and fully release them. The more we praise and give thanks, the better; the more thorough this release is, the better.
Toward the end of our fellowship, if there is still time, we should also worship God. It is rather difficult to describe exactly what worship is and what our inner condition should be when we worship. We may say that worship is a lingering before God. We should not simply get up and leave as soon as we have finished praising and thanking God. No, we should linger before Him a little longer. This kind of lingering is the issue of our heart’s desire for God. It involves beholding, waiting, and inquiring; we behold God’s glory, lingering before Him to wait on Him and inquire of Him. This is not an inquiring related to specific things. Instead, it is a waiting out of a desire to know His will. All these things are included in worshipping.
At this point some people spontaneously receive the burden to pray for certain practical affairs or to intercede, but this is not required. We should not expect that there will always be a need to intercede for practical affairs each time we fellowship with God. If our time and energy do not allow us to do this, we should not take up this burden. Our God is not a hard master. He never requests us to do what exceeds our limits. Therefore, we should not force ourselves to pick up the burden to pray for practical affairs. We do not need to do this every time we fellowship. However, the first nine points that we have spoken of should be considered as principles to be followed each time.