Question: Can you share more concerning how we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus?

Answer: First, we always should be reminded that we are in the Lord. Second, we have to build up ourselves by learning the Word in a gradual way. We also have to realize to what degree we know the Word. If in deciding to do a certain thing, we realize that we do not have an adequate knowledge of the Word, we should check with other more mature saints as to whether or not we should do a certain thing. This is for our seeking of the Lord's will. We should not be so quick to say that whatever we do is of the Lord. We need to know the Word.

Question: What does it mean to ask in the name of the Lord?

Answer: To ask or pray in the Lord's name means to pray as one who is really one with the Lord. To be in the Lord's name means to be one with the Lord, to live by the Lord, and to let the Lord live in us. To be in the Lord's name requires us to abide in the Lord and let Him and His words abide in us that we may actually be one with Him. Then our asking will be His asking in ours. Thus, we will be restricted in our prayer from praying too freely.

Question: It seems that this matter of being in the name of the Lord requires some amount of realization which comes through growth. How can we prevent the matter of being in the name of the Lord from becoming a religious formality with the new ones? How can we properly bring new ones into this kind of practice?

Answer: I am not speaking this word to new ones but to believers who have some amount of growth in life. You should not copy my fellowship and give it to the new ones. That would be premature. You have to feed the new ones according to their age. To lead the new ones into calling upon the Lord's name is okay, but the content of this message may be too advanced. You have to realize that the Lord taught the disciples concerning praying in His name after three and a half years of teaching. You have to learn how to feed and perfect the new ones.

Question: In the past I had an experience of praying for someone. In that prayer I had the sense of the Lord's flow, and the result of the prayer was close to spectacular. Afterwards, I thought that this may have been an experience of praying in the Lord's name. During the prayer, I felt that the Lord was praying with me in a strong way. But I have not had such an experience again. What do you think about this kind of experience?

Answer: We need the teachings from the Bible, but we should not apply the teachings of the Bible to our feelings. We should apply the teachings to ourselves, but not to our feelings. The Bible says to pray in the name. We should just pray. Do not try to analyze, while you are praying, whether or not your prayer is in the name. If you do, this will frustrate you to the uttermost.

Our feelings are always undependable. When we pray, we may feel that only we are praying and the Lord is absent. Yet the Lord may actually be in our prayer. On the contrary, we may feel that as we are praying, the Lord is really praying with us. Yet this may not be the case at all. I have a great deal of experiences like this. Sometimes, according to my feeling in prayer, I consider that a spectacular result will happen, such as giving an outstanding message. Eventually, the message I give is very poor, but everyone is helped by the message. I have found that my feelings are always undependable. We should apply all of the teachings of the Bible to ourselves, but we should forget about our feelings.