If we would have the first kind of walk by the Spirit, we need to pray and call on the name of the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul commands us to pray without ceasing. I have found that it is impossible to pray unceasingly if we try to pray in a formal way, asking the Lord for help. We may carry on this kind of prayer for a long time, but we cannot do it unceasingly. However, we can pray without ceasing by simply calling, “Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus.” Although I am an elderly person and have been in the Lord for many years, I am still learning to call on the Lord’s name continually. From experience I have discovered that it is very easy to forget this. Upon waking in the morning, I may begin to call on the Lord’s name. But a few minutes later, I may be distracted by some thought and stop my calling. Suddenly, I realize where I am, and I once again begin to call, “O Lord Jesus.”
Prayer is spiritual breathing. As we all know, we must breathe in order to stay alive. Wherever we may be, we can breathe spiritually by calling on the Lord’s name. All day long, no matter what we are doing, we can contact the Lord by breathing His name. As we are going through our early morning routine, we can call on the Lord Jesus. We may find that as we are taking care of practical matters, we have thirty minutes to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. If we practice, we shall build up the habit of calling on the name of the Lord. This is part of the first walk, the walk in which we have a proper daily living by the Spirit.
If we do not have the first walk by the Spirit, we are not qualified to have the second. Because many Christians do not have a proper daily life by the Spirit, they are not equipped to have the walk for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. In order to have this second kind of walk, we must practice living one spirit with the Lord. We should not be loose, careless, or lazy. We must have a proper daily life by walking in oneness with the Lord. We should pray, read the Word, contact the Lord, and conduct ourselves properly in our relations with others. We all need to have this first kind of walk by the Spirit.
A good number of Christians have a proper daily walk, but they do not have the second walk. It seems that the goal of their Christian life is simply to be nice, good, and proper. If you ask them what the goal of their Christian life is, they may tell you that their goal is to be a good Christian in order to glorify God and to go to heaven one day and to see the Lord without any sense of shame. If you had asked me many years ago what the goal of my Christian life was, I would have said that my goal was to be a good Christian and to behave properly for the glory of God. Now I realize that according to the Bible God has a specific purpose, and He has set before us a definite goal that He wants us to reach. In addition to His purpose and goal, He also has provided a way. We may liken this way to a highway which leads to a specific destination. God’s way is the line, the rule, the principle, by which we must walk to reach the goal. Praise our God that He is purposeful! He has a purpose to fulfill and a goal to reach. He also has set up a road which leads us to this goal. This road is the rule, principle, line, by which we must walk. To be sure, this walk is not the first kind of walk by the Spirit; it is the second kind of walk, the walk in line to reach God’s goal.
The Greek word for this second kind of walk, stoicheo, is used five times in the New Testament. In Galatians 5:25 Paul says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Paul also uses this word in 6:16: “And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.” Here we see that Paul connects the second walk with “this rule,” the rule of being a new creation. In Philippians 3:16 Paul also connects the second walk with the matter of rule: “Only this, whereunto we have attained, by the same rule let us walk.” In Romans 4:12 Paul connects this kind of walk with steps: “And the father of circumcision not only to those who are of the circumcision, but also to those who walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had in uncircumcision.” Paul’s use of the word steps obviously implies a way. To walk in Abraham’s steps is to walk according to a certain way.