God as the Spirit needs our prayer, and God as the Word needs our reading. We pray in the Spirit, and we read the Word. We need to pray in order to fellowship with God because God is the Spirit. We need to read the Bible in order to fellowship with God because God is the Word. Because God is the Spirit and is in the Spirit, we need to exercise our spirit to pray in order to contact Him. Similarly, because God is the Word and is in the Word, we need to read the Word in order to contact Him. Everyone understands this principle.
As children of God, we may not have heard and understood much doctrine, but we do have some experience. This is the same with reading the Bible. We may not necessarily know how to read the Bible, but after we read and contact the Word of God and then are quiet and meditate, we sense that we have touched God Himself. As soon as we touch the Word of God, we sense that we have touched God. We have often had this experience. Even though I may forget what I read in the Bible, I feel that I have fellowshipped with God and contacted Him.
Having said this much, I believe that we should be clearer now. We pray because God is the Spirit, and therefore, He requires our prayer. We read the Bible because God is the Word, and therefore, He requires our reading. If we understand this, we will overthrow the erroneous concepts that we pray in order to ask God to give us something or to do something for us and that we read the Bible because we want to understand doctrine. We pray because God is Spirit, not to ask for things, and we read the Bible because God is the Word, not to understand doctrine. We pray to contact God, and we read the Word to contact God. We must change our concept. This will make us proper Christians who lead a normal Christian life. If we can enter into the fellowship of praying while reading and reading while praying, we will be able to avoid the mistaken teachings of Christianity. The new believers should understand that we pray because God is the Spirit, and we read the Bible because God is the Word. We need to contact God the Spirit by praying, and we also need to contact God the Word by reading the Bible. Only when we have such a concept can we enter into a good fellowship with God.
Since we read the Bible to contact God, what we read needs to enter into us to become the Spirit. We should never think that this is difficult and time consuming. No, if we practice, the Word will easily become the Spirit whenever we read the Bible. If the words we read remain as words only, we have not practiced sufficiently and are overly relying on our mind. This is the reason I have repeatedly said that we should not intend to understand, to study, or to ponder. Once our mind is focused on studying and pondering, the words of the Bible will not enter us but will remain merely words. However, with sufficient practice, we can touch the Spirit whenever we read the Bible. When we touch the Spirit, the words will enter us and become the Spirit. When we read the Bible with our spirit, the words of the Bible will enter into us and become the Spirit. If we learn to read the Bible in this way, we will feel as if we have eaten a meal after reading. This is wonderful. Although we may read the Bible for half an hour and not remember much, we will feel as if we have eaten a full meal and taken a good bath in our spirit. Often I read the Bible with no intention to remember or ponder what I have read. Even though I do not remember what I read, my spirit is satisfied with food and drink. I feel refreshed within, as if I have just taken a deep breath of fresh air. The words of the Bible enter into me and become the Spirit.
It is wonderful that a word rises within us as a timely help in the midst of a particular need, even though we think that we do not remember much. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. We may not remember which verse, chapter, or even the book we read, but the word we contacted with our spirit entered into us and became the Spirit to be our inward help. Therefore, we need to continue to exercise to contact the Word of God with our spirit and allow the Word of God to enter into us and become the Spirit. This type of reading is different from reading for understanding. Although there is a need for that, it should be done at a different time.
This point is the reverse of the previous point. When the Word enters into us, it becomes the Spirit; this is a matter of entrance. However, the Spirit becoming the Word is a matter of operation. This operation is similar to the moving of the Holy Spirit that we usually refer to. Once the Word enters into us, it becomes the Spirit, and once the Spirit operates in us, He becomes the Word. This is a sure principle.
We need to learn to contact the words of the Bible with our spirit. When we have the inspiration of the Spirit, we need to allow the inspiration within us to become the Word. At this juncture, our mind needs to be spiritual, and our thoughts need to be trained spiritually so that we are able to interpret the inspiration of the Spirit. Our mind needs to cooperate with the Spirit so that we can interpret the meaning of the inspiration we receive. In this way, the Spirit can become the Word in us.
The Word becomes the Spirit when our reading of the Bible is turned into prayer. We should be able to understand the meaning of the Spirit and let the Spirit become the Word in our prayer. Hence, it is not good to put off our prayer until the end of our reading. When we contact the words of the Bible and the Word becomes the Spirit within us, we should pray. This prayer involves worship, thanksgiving, and praise. Whenever the Word becomes the Spirit as we read, we should pray; once the Spirit becomes the Word through our prayer, we should continue to read. As a result, the Word becomes the Spirit, and the Spirit becomes the Word. We read awhile and then pray; we pray awhile and then read. This is a sweet fellowship. The word we contact becomes the Spirit in us, and the more we pray, the more inspiration of the Spirit we receive. Gradually, the inspiration of the Spirit becomes the Word, and we read God’s Word again. As we continue reading, the Word becomes the Spirit, and we pray again. As we continue reading and praying, we will surely have good fellowship with God. We will enjoy the fellowship to such an extent that we forget our sickness, our poverty, and even the many problems in our locality. We will forget all of these things.
Some may still ask, “What about my sickness? What should I do about not having enough money?” We should not have so many questions. After this type of fellowship with the Lord, we should simply rise and say, “Lord, You know that I am still sick and that I have no money in my pocket.” This one sentence is sufficient. We should mention our needs before God in a simple way. This is strong and effective prayer. The faith we need will come spontaneously. God will do something. When we enter into God through fellowship, it is easy for us to know whether or not God wants us to mention such matters. Sometimes our inner situation is similar to Moses’ experience in his last days, when God said, “Enough! Speak no more to Me about this matter” (Deut. 3:26). We can know whether God wants us to pray about a certain matter. Then all of our prayers will hit the mark. We will be able to touch and understand God’s will. This will keep us from being overly concerned with bearing the burdens of sickness, poverty, and other things rather than fellowshipping with God and touching Him.
If we consider Abraham, we will see that his intercession touched God. He was always in fellowship and contact with God; in the end, he uttered a prayer to intercede for the city of Sodom. This was a person who touched God in his fellowship; hence, his prayer could be precise and simple yet powerful and effective. His prayer could restrict and bind God so that God had to answer.
The biography of Brother George Müller shows that he rarely begged God for anything. He lived before God and fellowshipped with Him continually. Hence, when he mentioned a certain matter to God, he first asked God whether He would do it. After he sensed that a matter was of God’s will, he would say, “Since this is Your will, I ask You to accomplish it.” His prayer was spontaneous, easy, and effortless because he was a man who touched God in fellowship. Certain matters do require us to pray with much effort, even to fast and fight, but this is another aspect of prayer. Now we need to see that prayer requires us to first touch God in fellowship.
In this kind of fellowship of praying and reading, reading and praying, a fellowship in which the Word becomes the Spirit and the Spirit becomes the Word, we need to do our best to prevent and guard against interruptions. Then we will enjoy the fellowship to the uttermost. We need to put aside and not pray for the many things that may require prayer. Truthfully, many things do not require our prayer. As long as these matters are in our heart, God knows about them and remembers them accordingly. He wants us to worship Him, fellowship with Him, absorb Him, enjoy Him, and gain Him; this is the most pleasing to Him. The Lord said that our heavenly Father knows all we need (Matt. 6:8). Thus, we should leave all these things to Him. He knows our sickness, our family problems, our lack, and our needs. We do not need to beg before Him; instead, we should be at peace and believe. The one thing, the best thing, we should do is to touch Him, worship Him, believe in Him, pursue Him, and gain Him. He will add all the other things to us. Therefore, we should not let consideration of these things interrupt us. We should try our best to stay in fellowship. If we have ten minutes, we should spend ten minutes to fellowship with Him; if we have twenty minutes, we should spend twenty minutes to fellowship with Him. We can lift up our face at any time and at any place and speak to Him of our practical needs. But when we are fellowshipping with God, we should not bring in these matters.
It is useless to merely speak concerning these things. We need to practice them diligently and help others practice them. As we gradually become more adept in the matter of fellowship, we will taste the sweetness and enjoy the riches of fellowship in reality.