According to our experience, praying and reading the Bible always complement each other and cannot be separated when we truly fellowship with God. It is difficult for a man to walk with one leg. He can walk only if he uses both legs. Both legs function together to walk on the same path. In our fellowship with God it may seem as if praying and reading the Bible are separate matters, just like our right and left legs. If we only pray or only read the Bible, our fellowship will not be balanced and perfect. In order to have balanced and perfect fellowship, there must be praying with reading and reading with praying.
As we have seen, there are two types of prayer and two ways to read the Bible. One type of prayer is for fellowship, and the other is for asking related to matters and things. Similarly, one way to read the Bible is for fellowship, and the other is for understanding. We are not concerned with prayer that asks for things or with reading the Bible for understanding. Praying is for fellowship, and reading the Bible is also for fellowship. The emphasis in praying is not on asking for matters and things, and the focus of reading is not on understanding; rather, both emphasize fellowship. Praying is fellowship; reading is also fellowship. Praying for fellowship and reading for fellowship are two elements that are absolutely indispensable in our fellowship with God. Our fellowship with God is balanced and perfect when we have both praying and reading. Hence, we will now consider these two matters together. Otherwise, we may have an erroneous thought that we need a period of time for praying and a separate period of time for reading the Bible. Strictly speaking, these two matters should not be done at separate times. They need to complement each other, just as a man walks with both his right and left legs at the same time.
In order to understand the fundamental reasons for praying and reading the Bible together in our fellowship with God, there is a need for some basic explanation.
In the New Testament John gives the clearest explanation concerning God having a relationship with man, being man’s life, and being experienced by man. John covers several matters related to these in his Gospel and Epistles.
In his Gospel John says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness” (4:24). Here worship includes fellowship with God. This shows that if we want to fellowship with God, we must first be clear that God is Spirit. Since God is Spirit, He is in the Spirit. We should be clear concerning this first point. The first difficulty new believers encounter related to fellowship is that of wanting fellowship but not knowing where God is. This is a crucial point. John says that God is Spirit. Some other verses in the New Testament also tell us that God is in the Spirit. Hence, we should have this basic understanding of this point.
Second, it still may be vague to us to say that God is Spirit because the Spirit is abstract and intangible. Thus, in his Gospel John also says, “In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God” (1:1). In Revelation he also says that the Lord Jesus is the Word (19:13). In his writings John repeatedly speaks of God’s being, saying that God is light, and God is love (1 John 1:5; 4:8). These two points are not directly related to our fellowship with God. But John also says that God is Spirit and that God is the Word, which directly relates to our fellowship with God. Fellowship refers to our contact with God. If we want to contact God, we must know that God is Spirit and that He is the Word.
We know that God is wonderful, hidden, and mysterious. He is invisible; we cannot see Him, much less locate Him. As a result, many people have the problem of not knowing how to touch God. They do not know how to contact and fellowship with Him. Because we are so used to hearing the expression fellowship with God, we may think that this is a simple matter. But if we consider this matter seriously, we will realize that this expression is very mysterious. It is easy to understand what it means to have fellowship with a brother, because we know where to find him. But when we say that we should fellowship with God, people ask, “Where is God? How can you touch Him?” These are difficult questions. But thank God that through John He said that He is Spirit and that He is the Word. He is Spirit, and He is in the Spirit; He is the Word, and He is in the Word. Therefore, to fellowship with God is to touch God in His Spirit and in His Word.
We may consider the Spirit to be abstract, but the Word is concrete. We all agree that the Word is something concrete. We may use ourselves as an example. Our thoughts are abstract, but when our abstract thoughts become words, they are concrete. Thank God that He is not only the Spirit, but He is also the Word. If God were only the Spirit and not the Word, we would have no way to touch Him or locate Him. Many of us have been saved for many years, but have we ever considered how difficult it would be for man to receive inspiration if God had not spoken, if He had not uttered one word? Without the Word of God, it would be difficult for man to receive any inspiration. We have the sense that we are touched by God because we have the Word of God. If God had never spoken, if He were merely God and merely the Spirit but not the Word, it would be difficult for us to be touched by Him. All the inspiration we receive is from His speaking, whether in a gospel meeting, an edification meeting, or in our personal meditation. When we say that the Spirit inspires us, it is actually the Word of God that has an effect on us. The moving of the Spirit within us is actually the moving of the Word. Someone may say that a person does not need the moving of the Spirit or the Word in order to know God because the eternal power and divine characteristics of God have been clearly seen since the creation of the world (Rom. 1:20). However, we would not have this realization without these words. If God were only the Spirit but not also the Word, He would be abstract to us; we would have no way to touch Him or to contact Him. But thank God that He is also the Word. We praise Him that He is the Word. Regrettably, not many children of God have realized the preciousness of God being the Word. We need to always remember that God is the Word. If He were merely the Spirit but not the Word, we would be in a helpless situation. As far as our feeling is concerned, we must have the Word. Otherwise, even if we receive inspiration, we may still not understand it. Although we cannot say that inspiration is not possible without the Word, we can say that without the Word we will not understand the inspiration we receive. We must have the Word in order to receive inspiration and understand it. Hence, we need to see clearly that God is not only the Spirit, but He is also the Word. God is not only in the Spirit, but He is also in the Word.