John 15:7 says, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you....”
Colossians 3:16-17 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God; And in everything, whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
This Scripture first tells us to let the word of the Lord dwell in us. Then it says we need to have singing, thanksgiving, and praising, which are all related to the matter of prayer. When there is the indwelling of the Word, there is prayer.
Ephesians 5:18b through 20 says, “But be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father.”
This portion of the Scripture first tells us that we should be filled in spirit. It goes on to say that we need to have prayer by singing, praising, and giving thanks. We all know that these two books, Ephesians and Colossians, run parallel to one another. They contain many similar points which are expressed in slightly different words. For example, the passages quoted here say that Christians should always sing, praise, and give thanks to God. Colossians tells us that this is the issue of the Lord’s word indwelling us. Ephesians says that this is the result of our being filled in spirit. Although these verses express it in different ways, in reality they refer to the same thing from the same source, which is the Lord Himself. Because the Lord fills you within, singing, giving thanks, and praising come forth from you. This Lord Who is in you, is both the Spirit and the Word. When you are filled with His words, you are filled in spirit. When you are filled in spirit, you are filled with His words. Hence, His words in us are spirit.
Now we shall look at the relationship between prayer and the Lord’s word.
Prayer is a moving of the Lord in man. True prayers are God speaking forth His words from within man and through man. In the matter of prayer, nothing is more crucial than the understanding of this point. From the beginning we have pointed out clearly that prayer does not mean that man has a need and thus asks God to fulfill it. This is the human concept. The prayer which the Bible speaks of is that God has a need, and He enters into man, causing him to be conscious of that need. Then He operates within man, moves man, and places a burden on man to pray forth that particular need. This is prayer. We need to start from here if we wish to see the relationship between prayer and the Lord’s word. Because God moves in us, we can pray. Prayers that come out of ourselves are of no spiritual value. What God wants are prayers that issue from His moving within us-prayers which are initiated by Him.
In order to move in us God must come to us. If there is still a distance between Him and us, He will not be able to move in us. But when He comes to us to motivate us, He does not take the position of God, nor of the Lord, but of the Spirit. Whenever God comes to us, He is the Spirit.
Due to a lack of understanding of the mysterious things of God, men are often confused, and therefore debate a great deal concerning the trinity of the Godhead. We can understand the mystery of God’s coming to man, in a very simple way. Whenever the New Testament speaks of God coming to man, entering into man, descending upon man, or operating, moving, and stirring within man, it always speaks of the Spirit. If God does not have any dealings with man, He is simply afar off and outside man. But as the Spirit, He comes to enter into man and have dealings with man.
In the New Testament, the first mention that God is Spirit is in the Gospel of John, chapter four. There the Lord Jesus says, “God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit...” The emphasis of this verse is His contact with man. God coming to man and entering into man is Spirit.
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