But by what way can we be in the spirit? The answer is in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. For years and years I had a problem with this chapter, and it was not only a problem for me, but also for many Bible expositors. The problem is in Hebrews 9:3-4. According to the Old Testament, only one thing was in the Holy of Holies—the ark. The Holy Place had three things: the showbread table, the lampstand, and the incense altar. This is clearly told in Exodus. But Hebrews 9 tells us that the incense altar is now behind the second veil. All the Bible scholars cannot solve this problem. Some say that there might be something wrong in the manuscript, and they insist that “altar” must be translated “censer.” They say that it is not the golden altar but the golden censer. However, all the Greek manuscripts have the word for altar. Some expositors say that the altar of the incense was brought inside the veil only on the day of atonement.
But after all these years of practical experience in the priesthood, I believe there is an explanation. That is, at the time of the New Testament, the altar of incense must be behind the veil, because to burn the incense is to pray. Prayer must be in the spirit—“praying at every time in spirit.” Even in the Old Testament, the altar of incense was not too far away from the Holy of Holies. It was very close to the veil. But according to the Greek manuscript of Hebrews 9, the altar of incense is now behind the veil in the Holy of Holies. This tells us that the prayers of the saints today must be in the spirit, not in the soul. They must be in the Holy of Holies, not in the Holy Place. We must believe in the authority of the Holy Spirit who composed the New Testament with the incense altar inside the veil.
The Old Testament had only the law within the ark, but Hebrews 9 has the law plus the hidden manna and the budding rod within the ark. It also tells us that the ark, which typifies Christ, and the incense altar, which signifies our prayer, are both within the Holy of Holies. The only way to get into the Holy of Holies, therefore, is to pray. There is no other way to get into our spirit; we have to pray.
We have been talking about considering, thinking, being excited, and being decisive or indecisive as the real proofs that we are in the soul. If this is true, how can we get out of the soul and into the spirit? There is only one way, and that is by praying. We must forget about our thinking, our considering, our excitement, and our decisions. That is, we must forget about our mind, our emotion, and our will. This is just the soul. Instead, we must turn to the Lord and pray. We all know that when we turn to the Lord in prayer, immediately we are in the spirit. The only way for us to get into the spirit is to pray, but not to pray according to our thinking, opinions, concepts, or understanding. We must pray according to what we sense deep within. Then we are in the spirit.
We must spend more time in prayer, because the more we pray, the more we are in the spirit. If we would pray two hours daily, we would be in the spirit for at least two hours. But because we are so used to thinking in our mind, even while we are praying we leave the spirit and get into the mind again. Even while we are praying, we are exercising our mind!
The Lord’s intention is that, after we are regenerated, we must be in the spirit and no longer in the soul. But on the contrary, after being regenerated we are still in the soul, exercising our mind, our wisdom, our knowledge, our understanding, etc. This is why we have so much trouble. The more clever we are, the more trouble we will have. I have noticed that those who are simple do not have as much trouble as the clever ones. The more capable, wise, and clever we are, the more difficult it is to be in the spirit.
In my whole Christian life, I cannot tell you how many clever sisters I have seen. When I was in the Far East, I came to the conclusion that every clever sister has a very hard-dealing husband. There is almost no exception. Every sister who is so clever, highly educated, and adequately cultured has a hard-dealing husband, plus some troublesome little children. So, I would advise the sisters to be simple and not so clever. Just be simple. If you would be simple, it will save you a lot of trouble. Why is this? Because when you are clever, you are too much in the mind; the Lord gives you a hard-dealing husband and two little ones to cross you and force you to pray. You are so clever, and so much in the mind that no one can help you. Not even the Holy Spirit within can help you. You need a hard-dealing husband and two troublesome little ones. Then you will realize that your cleverness does not help. The situation will force you to pray. It will force you to forget about your clever mind and get into the spirit to contact the Lord.
In the Far East, I saw some simple sisters, and their husbands were so easy to deal with. We must believe in God’s sovereign hand. If we are too clever and too much in the mind, the Lord’s sovereign hand will prepare a proper husband or wife for us. The Lord will always cause us to be in a situation that will bring our cleverness to nought. It will force us not to exercise our mind anymore to meet the situation, but to pray. We have been too much in the mind, so we need to be forced into the spirit.