Many peoples and linguistic groups on earth today have the Bible in their own language. The Bible today has been translated into all kinds of languages and has entered into every nation. Thank the Lord, for this is a great matter! But we must know that it is useless to merely take the black and white printed words of the Bible and study them with only our mind. According to the Bible, man has three parts. The outer part is the body, within the body is the soul, and within the soul is the spirit (1 Thes. 5:23). The soul is the psyche that we sometimes hear of today. The most important part of the soul is the mind. Young people studying in school are being trained mainly in the functions of their mind: the understanding, memory, and use of their mind. But within man’s soul, that is, within man’s psyche, there is also the human spirit. The human spirit, soul, and body are the three parts of man.
As I am speaking, I believe that all of my three parts—my spirit, soul, and body—are being used. You can see my body; my mouth is moving, my hands are gesturing, and even my shoulders are moving with them. This is the activity of my body. If I did not have a body while speaking, there would be only my soul. You would hear a voice speaking without seeing a body, and you would certainly be frightened, thinking perhaps that I am a ghost. However, because I have a body while I am speaking, you need not be afraid. Moreover, if I were merely teaching at a school or making a speech, it would be enough for me to use my body and my mind, my understanding. I would not need to use my spirit. However, as I am speaking, the most important matter is my spirit. We can all tell that listening to a lesson in the classroom is one thing, while listening to a message in the meeting is another thing. The former does not require us to use our spirit, but the latter does. In the classroom, you might be touched at times to shed tears or to laugh, but these have nothing to do with your spirit. In the meetings, however, all of us, especially those of us who speak for the Lord, must have sufficient prayer and exercise to use our spirit more than our soul or outward body, because we desperately want to allow the Lord to speak His word from our spirit.
It is the same with reading the Bible. When you read the Bible, you absolutely must remember to use all three parts—spirit, soul, and body. You certainly must use your eyes and your mouth to read; this is to use your body. In Chinese, the word read does not mean to read silently but to read aloud. Reading the Bible should be done aloud. When we read the Bible, we first use our body, then our mind, and then our emotion. We must use our emotion to appreciate and love the Word. Why do you like to read novels? It is because your emotions tell you to keep on reading them. Why do you nod off when you read the Bible? It is because you do not appreciate it with your emotions. Therefore, you must pray and ask the Lord to cause you to desire His Word. However, this is not enough. You have used only two of your three parts, your body and soul, but you still have not used your spirit.
Our spirit is our innermost part. The best way to use our spirit is to pray with our spirit. For example, when we want to use our feet, the best way is to walk. In the same way, if we want to use our spirit today, the best way is to pray. It is very easy to gossip and to criticize others, because you do not need to use your spirit for this. All you have to do is make a telephone call, and your gossip and criticism will come out. But if you want to use your spirit, you must pray. Therefore, when you read the Bible, not only your eyes and mouth must cooperate, and not only must you use your soul to understand and love the Word, but you must also pray, expressing in prayer what you have read and understood. This prayer is the use of your spirit. In this way, you use your spirit, soul, and body, and you will not merely be touching the Bible without contacting the Lord. However, if you do not use your spirit to pray, then you may remain in a situation where you only touch the Bible without contacting the Lord. This means that you only seek Bible knowledge without seeking the Lord.
We must simultaneously seek the Lord and His Word. First we need to seek the Lord. Whenever we are going to read the Scripture, even before we open the Bible, we should pray. It does not matter whether it is in the morning, in the evening, or at noontime; whenever you open the Bible, before you read the Lord’s Word, you should always pray first. You do not have to follow any formalities, so you may either kneel or sit. The only thing you need to do is spontaneously express the feelings in your heart. This expression of your heart is prayer, and it is the coming forth of your spirit: “O Lord, I love You. I thank You that now I am coming to read Your Word.” All it takes is a short, simple prayer like this for you to seek the Lord. Do not despise this simple practice; it is truly precious. You do not need to say the same thing every time, because it is not a matter of what you say. The point is that you pray, showing that your heart is turned to the Lord and that you are seeking the Lord.
When you pray, first seek the Lord. Then when you open the Bible to read, you will be able to inwardly understand what you are reading, and you will desire the Word. At this time, you will spontaneously turn what you have read, desired, and understood into a prayer. For example, you might read John 1:1, and perhaps you will pray, “O Lord, I praise You that You are the Word who was in the beginning. You existed from the beginning, and You are the Word of the beginning. When we breathe, we breathe You in as this Word. This Word defines God.” In this way you turn the Lord’s word into prayer; your prayer can be many words or just a few words. It is even all right to pray only one sentence. You can say, “O Lord, thank You that You are the Word who was in the beginning.” When you turn the Lord’s Word into your prayer, the Spirit comes, and at the same time you are seeking the Lord.
If you pray in this way, the Lord says that His words are spirit and life. If you do not pray like this but only open the Bible to read, then even though this Bible is the Lord’s word, it is only words in black and white letters to you. The modern Chinese philosopher Mr. Hu Shih also read and studied the Bible, but he studied only with his mind and never touched the Spirit; therefore, he did not receive life. We are not like this. Whenever we read the Bible, we first pray to the Lord to open to Him that our spirit may contact Him, and then we read and are able to understand. Once we understand, we spontaneously have a desire, and then at this time we turn what we have read and desired into a prayer. Then when we pray, the words of the Bible become the Spirit and life. This is a marvelous experience!