CHAPTER TWENTY

PRACTICING TO PRAY 
ACCORDING TO THE SENSE OF THE SPIRIT

Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:26

We need to say something more concerning the matter of prayer.

TRUE PRAYER BEING A MINGLING OF GOD 
AND MAN IN THE SPIRIT

True prayer involves two parties—God and man. Such prayers are the issue of the Spirit of God being mingled with man’s spirit and of man’s spirit being mingled with the Spirit of God. When a man exercises his spirit to pray, he is praying with his spirit in God’s Spirit, or we can say that God’s Spirit is praying in his spirit. In such prayers it is difficult to differentiate whether man’s spirit is praying or God’s Spirit is praying, because man’s spirit and God’s Spirit are fully joined together. The human spirit and the divine Spirit are intimately joined during prayer. As we pray, God and man are joined together in the most thorough and perfect way. However, there are many prayers in which God and man are not joined together. These are prayers in which man is not praying in his spirit but rather praying by himself with his mind. These prayers are outside of God; they are merely human prayers in which God is not mingled with man. I hope we all understand that prayer is absolutely a matter of God being mingled with man. Our prayers must be in the Spirit.

TRUE PRAYER BEING MAN’S RESPONSE 
TO GOD’S INITIATION

Since prayer is an expression of the union of God and man, no true prayer can be uttered without God’s initiation. If a prayer is not initiated by God, it is not genuine prayer. All those who truly know the meaning of prayer know that prayer is not merely a matter of God being mingled with man but a matter of God initiating something within man. Hence, when we pray, we must learn to be calm and not follow our thoughts. Instead, we should turn from our mind to our spirit and follow the sense within our spirit. In genuine prayer a person has a certain sense in his spirit even before he prays. This sense in the spirit is initiated by God’s Spirit within our spirit. When the Spirit of God mingles with our spirit, He initiates or suggests something in our spirit, which is not necessarily in the form of intelligible words. Many times it is merely a sense or a feeling in our spirit.

Therefore, when we pray, we must not only turn to our spirit, but we must also wait on God’s initiation. We should be calm and turn to our spirit. At the same time we should not be too quick to utter something. Rather, we should wait for God’s initiation and the sense in our spirit. Please remember that everyone who opens his mouth quickly speaks invariably from himself and from his own initiation. Whenever we pray, we must learn to turn to our spirit. Then we must learn to wait for God’s initiation. We should be calm and touch the sense in our spirit in order to pray according to that sense.

THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS 
FOLLOWING THE SENSE 
THAT GOD HAS INITIATED IN THE SPIRIT

In genuine prayer the initiation and the entire process must be from God’s urging. An electrical sound system is driven by electricity to transmit sounds. Not only are microphones and loud speakers driven by electricity, but the entire process, including the amplification and transmission, is driven by electricity. In the same principle, God should be the initiator of our prayer, and the entire process of our prayer should be an experience in which God prays with us and mingles Himself in our prayers.

Since the presence of God and our mingling with Him are absolutely related to the sense in our spirit, we should learn to allow our inner sense to be the initiating and motivating element within us when we pray.

It is wonderful that we are often able to comprehend the feeling in our spirit when we pray. At times a feeling may lead us to confess our failures and shortcomings or to pray for the church. Another feeling may lead us to pray for a brother in difficulty or to pray for the message meeting on the Lord’s Day. We may even have a feeling to praise Him, thank Him, or exult in Him. Sometimes we may have a feeling not to pray for anything, or even to praise or thank Him, but simply to bow down before Him and worship Him. There is no need for words or sounds. We simply prostrate before God in silence and worship Him. The more we worship, the fresher our spirit becomes, and the more we are satisfied. As we worship, we feel that we are touching God in our spirit. This is a prayer of worship that is generated by the feeling of the Holy Spirit within us.

As soon as we understand the meaning of these feelings from God, we should follow them in prayer. We should never restrict ourselves to the topic that we decided on prior to our prayer. If we restrict ourselves in this way, we will be in our mind, and we will be the initiator and motivator of our prayer. Our spirit is not the only requirement for proper and genuine prayer. Prayer must be a joint prayer in which God is mingled with our spirit. In this prayer God and man mingle together, and God is the Initiator and Motivator. Spiritual prayer is never directed by our mind, memory, or thoughts. It is directed by the sense in our spirit, and this sense comes from God’s initiation.

Hence, in genuine prayer we pray together with God; we pray by accompanying Him. We pray according to the feeling that God gives us. This enables God to pray with us in our prayer. We are praying, and He is also praying. He and we pray together. He is within us; He is praying one with us. This is indeed an amazing matter.

Whether or not such prayers are answered is secondary. The primary matter is that we pray by following the sense in our spirit; we allow God to pass through us and to mingle Himself with us. In this way we enjoy God and absorb Him. Even though we may offer supplication for the church, for a brother in dire need, or even for ourselves, our main sensation will be that we have absorbed God and have been filled with Him.

Of course, there are times when we misunderstand the feelings from God. For example, when the inward feeling urges us to pray, we may think that we should pray for our children. But as we begin to pray for our children, the inner sense wanes, and we feel that something is not right within. This is similar to when a brother likes what he is hearing, his countenance is bright, and he is happy, but if something is said that he does not like, the expression on his face will change. If there is a change in our conversation, his countenance may become bright once again. We have all experienced this. This also happens in our fellowship with the Lord. Sometimes we may sense God’s presence, as if He is smiling within us. If our prayer is against the inward sense, we feel cold and withdrawn within. When this happens, we should change the direction of our prayer. We should never think that we must finish our own prayers before responding to the sense from God. If God is not praying with us, and our prayer is not touching God, we should stop praying as soon as the sense within begins to wane, in order to check the inner sense. If the sense is leading us to pray for the church, we should immediately pray for the church. If we do so, the inner sense will become bright, and we will touch God’s presence again. This is the way to continue in prayer. If we follow the inner sense, God’s Spirit will follow our prayer, and we will receive more feelings. Our responsibility is simply to pray according to these feelings. Verbalize the feelings one by one. This is genuine prayer that breathes in God. Through such prayer we are in God, we breathe Him in, and God is in us. In such prayers we obtain God even before our prayers are answered. This is what it means to enjoy God and absorb Him through prayer.