Christ is the portion of the saints (Col. 1:12, Gk.). God has prepared this eternal, unlimited portion for us to enjoy. Before we consider how we can partake of Him daily, let us answer some questions.
How do we get in spirit and stay there? Many times we feel we are in our spirit, but a moment later we are out of it.
To stay in your spirit, you need to learn to abide in the Lord. The Lord today is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17). If He were just the Savior (1 John 4:14) and the Lamb of God (John 1:29), how could He get into us? He could only be in the heavens (Acts 2:32-35; Phil. 3:20). The Scripture says clearly, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). He can only be in us as the Spirit. How could we reach Him and abide in Him if He is confined to heaven? Even logically speaking, for the Lord to ask us to abide in Him surely indicates that His nature is spirit. The Greek word for spirit is pneuma, which is also the word for air. Christ today is the holy air! We have no trouble abiding in the air, and the air is obviously abiding in us!
Like the air, the pneuma, He is in us and we are in Him. If you remain there and let Christ remain in you, you will be abiding in Him. According to our experience, however, we find that, in spite of our efforts and good intentions, unconsciously we slip out of Him. I may be in Christ while talking at the dining table, then suddenly realize I am out of Him. What has been the cause? I talked too much. Overtalking may get us out of the abiding.
A hint to help you remain in spirit is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.” I used to wonder how anyone could pray twenty-four hours a day. Gradually I came to realize that to pray in the spiritual life is to breathe. Whether you are eating, speaking, or sleeping, you keep breathing.
Another kind of prayer is illustrated by drinking. This we do not do without ceasing! We may drink with our meals, and perhaps also at mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and in the evening. Drinking typifies customary prayer. David said in Psalm 55:17, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray,” indicating that he had this customary prayer at least three times a day. Acts 10:30 also hints to us that in olden times people had set times to pray. This is a habit we all need to build up. Spend at least ten minutes for customary prayer every morning. Sometimes you may find yourself burdened to pray for an hour or more. This kind of praying is like drinking.
Unceasing prayer, which can be likened to breathing, is the key to remaining in spirit. While I am speaking outwardly, I am praying inwardly. While you are operating your machine at work, you can be praying inwardly. Practice saying “O Lord” whenever you feel you are not in the spirit. There is no need to pray with composed sentences.
Suppose you are on the verge of losing your temper. Satan has filled you with anger against your husband. If you will pray “O Lord,” the anger will be gone. If you think this is just a psychological technique, try saying “O Washington” instead. It will have no effect. “O Lord” is a prayer which brings you back to the spirit. As long as you keep breathing this way, you will be filled with the pneuma. The respiratory process is complicated and hard to understand, but breathing is easy. Such is the simplicity of abiding in Christ. Pray without ceasing.
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