In the same principle, the way to be in the spirit is to set your mind on the spirit, making your mind one with the spirit. Then you are in the spirit. When you are in the spirit, you are spiritual. When you are in the flesh, you are fleshly, or even fleshy. How can the minding of the spirit become the setting the mind on the spirit? To use our illustration once more, how can the light green become dark green? When we call on the Lord’s name, when we pray-read the Word, when we fellowship with the saints, when we attend the meetings, when we read the ministry, we get more “color” added to us. When we sing and praise more “green” is added to us to make us “dark green.” We have to do these things again and again and again. I have been very much impressed and helped by watching the young ones practicing on the piano. It is very difficult for my fingers to touch all those keys. It is really an activity, a doing, to me. But after someone practices a number of years it becomes not a matter of activity but a principle of law. It is the same in typing. In my English college, I learned to type in 1925. In order to graduate from that typing lesson, we had to type 60 words per minute. But for many years I have not practiced typing. Occasionally, I type an envelope, or a short note. Because of the lack of practice, my fingers work mostly by activity. Sometimes, of course, they work by law. In my memory I cannot remember where the keys are, but when I put my fingers on the keys, my unknowledgeable fingers right away become knowledgeable because fifty-six years ago I practiced a lot. The point is this: you get used to a certain thing by practicing it. Then the activity becomes a principle.
You have to begin with minding and keep minding by these few practices of calling on the Lord’s name, of pray-reading the Word, of fellowshipping with the saints, of attending the meetings, of singing the praises, and of reading the life-study messages. These are good practices. These may be considered like the keyboard of a piano. You need to practice playing on these keyboards. You need to get used to playing on these keyboards until something is built up in your being. Then that practice of the minding will become the setting of the mind. That practice of minding makes your mind one with the spirit. If you consider the illustration of playing a piano or typing on a typewriter, you will realize this is altogether possible. If you will practice, you will make it. When your mind is set on the spirit, making your mind one with the spirit, then the spirit becomes the spirit of your mind. There would be no distinction between the mind and the spirit; there would be no separation. The two would become one. Your mind would be the spirit, and your spirit would be the mind, because your mind would be on the spirit, and your spirit would be saturating your mind. When this is the case, the law of the Spirit of life functions, not by activity, but by principle.
We will leave the two major things found in verses 7 and 8 until another time, and instead we will read Romans 8:26-27 concerning the interceding Spirit. “And in like manner the Spirit also joins in to help us in our weakness; for we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; but He Who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to God.” Here the mind is mentioned once again, but it is the mind of the Spirit. Ephesians 4:23 speaks of the spirit of the mind, but Romans 8 speaks of the mind of the Spirit. The spirit of the mind is for renewing and the mind of the Spirit is for interceding. In Ephesians 4:23 the spirit becomes the spirit of the mind, and in Romans 8 the mind of the Spirit is for interceding. The mind becomes the mind of the Spirit.