Many believers throughout the centuries had the practice of praying with the Word of God. Although they did not use the term pray-reading, they nonetheless had the fact in their experience. One of those who practiced praying the words of the Bible was George Whitefield, a contemporary of John Wesley. George Whitefield’s practice was to pray the New Testament in Greek while on his knees. This was the secret of his power and spirituality. George Whitefield pray-read the word of life. To pray the Word is to use our spirit to “strike” the Word.
I have been reading and studying the Bible for more than fifty years. When I was a young man, I loved the Word of God and was ambitious to know it thoroughly. However, I only knew to read the Bible with my eyes and my mind. Then someone encouraged me not only to read the Word, but also to meditate on it. I began to spend time to ponder the Word, to consider it, to dwell on it. This was somewhat helpful. I was also helped by reading George Mueller’s autobiography. According to Mueller, we should not only read the Bible and meditate on it, but also pray over it. In his autobiography Mueller does not say that we should pray the Word; however, he does say that after reading a certain portion we should pray. For example, if we read a verse concerning love, we should then pray regarding love. Likewise, we should pray concerning repentance when reading about repentance in the Word. This practice of praying immediately after reading a verse is similar to pray-reading. George Mueller’s autobiography was very helpful, and I began to read the Bible and pray according to his practice. Often I actually prayed with the pure word of the Bible, making a certain verse my prayer to the Lord. In effect, I was pray-reading.
Although I had adopted the practice of praying while reading the Word, I did not yet know how to exercise the spirit. From brother Watchman Nee I received help in this matter. Brother Nee emphasized the necessity of exercising the spirit. He said that when we speak to others, especially in giving a message, we need to send forth our spirit by exercising it. He pointed out that if we use a certain part of our being while speaking to others, we shall touch the same part in them. For example, if we use our mind, we shall touch the mind of others. If we speak from our emotion, we shall touch others in their emotion. If we would touch others’ spirit, Brother Nee told us, we must use our spirit.
Because man is fallen, his spirit is dormant, whereas the mind and the emotion of the soul are extremely active. With men the mind is active; with women, it is the emotion which is active. The most idle and dormant part of the being of fallen man is the spirit. Even after we have been saved and regenerated, our spirit may remain idle and dormant. When certain sisters pray, they may pray by the emotion instead of by the spirit. As they pray to the Lord about their problems, they may weep. If they exercise their spirit instead of the emotion, they will pray in a very different manner about their problems. Instead of crying, they may say, “Lord, I thank You and praise You for all my troubles. I thank You, Lord, for my circumstances.”
Although we may be very strong in our mind, emotion, or will, our spirit may be weak, idle, and dormant. Our mind, emotion, or will may react immediately to things. Our spirit, however, may be very slow to respond. Our spirit may even be dormant when we come to the Bible, whereas other parts of our being, especially the mind, may be extremely active. In reading the Bible, we may have very little exercise of the spirit.
If we fail to exercise our spirit in reading the Word, we fail to “strike” the “match” in our spirit. As a result, the “phosphorus,” the Spirit embodied in the Word, does not ignite. If we want to experience the phosphorus embodied in the match, the Spirit embodied in the Word, we need to exercise our spirit to pray-read the Word. Then we shall strike the match in the right place and experience the fire in the Word. We can testify that by taking the Word in the proper way, exercising our spirit, we experience the burning in our spirit.