When we read the Bible in a proper way, especially when we pray-read it, we receive inspiration. This inspiration is the moving of the living Spirit within us. This moving of the Spirit is the function of the Spirit, and in the New Testament this function is called faith. Faith is always intimately related to the Word and the Spirit. Whenever we read of faith in the New Testament, we should realize that both the Word and the Spirit are implied. For example, Ephesians 3:17 says, "That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith." The phrase "through faith" implies the Word and the Spirit. The same is true of Ephesians 2:8, which says that we are saved by grace through faith. The faith through which we are saved is the faith that implies the Word and the Spirit. In Colossians 2:5 Paul speaks of "the firmness of your faith in Christ," and in verse 7, of "being established in the faith." In these verses also faith implies the Word and the Spirit.

If we did not have the Word, we could not have the Spirit. Likewise, if we did not have the Word and the Spirit, there would be no way for us to have faith. But when we are filled with the Word, we are automatically filled with the Spirit. Then we are spontaneously filled also with faith.

When I was young, I often heard Christians talking about faith. I began to pray that the Lord would give me a strong faith. But the more I prayed for faith, the less faith I had. Gradually I learned that the way to have faith is not just to pray for it, but to take in the Word in a proper way. By reading the Word again and again, my faith was strengthened.

Brother Nee encouraged us to take a few verses every morning and repeat them and muse upon them. When I did this, I found that I had faith spontaneously. As I look back on my experience, I realize that I had not only faith, but also the inner sense that I had been filled with the Spirit. Thus, from our experience we know that when we have the living Word in us, we also have the Spirit and faith.

The four books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians all speak of the Word, the Spirit, and faith. In Galatians, the emphasis is on faith; in Ephesians, on the Spirit; and in Colossians, on the Word. In Philippians the emphasis is on all three. According to Galatians, faith comes from hearing the Word. Although Ephesians strongly emphasizes the Spirit, the Spirit is mentioned only once in Colossians, in 1:8, where Paul speaks of the saints' love in the Spirit. Philippians speaks of both the bountiful supply of the Spirit and also of the word of life (1:19; 2:16). In Ephesians the Word is called the word of God (6:17); in Philippians, the word of life; and in Colossians, the word of Christ (3:16). Again and again I wish to point out the fact that apart from the Word we cannot have the Spirit or faith.

If we would enjoy Christ and experience Him, we must have the Spirit, and we must also have faith. Without the Spirit, how can we experience Christ? And without faith, what way do we have to enjoy Christ? If we would have the Spirit and the faith to experience Christ and enjoy Him, we must come to the Word again and again. Faith and the Spirit are found in no place other than the Word. The more we get into the Word, the better. The Christian life is a life that is continually dealing with the divine Word. The Word must be before our eyes, in our spirit, in our heart, in our mind, in our mouth, and on our lips. Our whole being must be saturated with the Word of God. When the Word is outside us, it is simply the Word. But when the Word enters into us, it becomes the Spirit who gives us the faith to enjoy Christ and experience Him.