The Ministry of the Word and God’s Dispensing for God’s Economy
Message One
“Steadfastly in Prayer and in the Ministry of the Word”
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Acts 6:4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.
I. Continuing steadfastly in prayer—Acts 6:4: (Monday)
A. To pray means that we realize we are nothing and can do nothing; this implies that prayer is the real denial of the self—Mark 8:34; 9:29.
B. A praying person must be one who wants God and God’s will—Matt. 26:39; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38.
C. The real significance of prayer is to contact God in our spirit and to absorb God Himself—Jude 20; John 14:13; 15:7:
1. Prayer is the contact of man’s spirit with the Spirit of God, during which man breathes God into himself—Jude 20; John 4:24.
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2. Real prayers are those in which man is mingled with God as the Spirit in his spirit; this prayer, uttered in the mingling of God and man, is entirely initiated and motivated by God; it is God praying within man, and man praying within God—Jude 20; Eph. 6:18; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; James 5:17. (Tuesday)
3. Only the prayers in which we contact God, breathe in God, absorb God, and are filled with God are real prayers; only this kind of prayer should be offered to God—Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4.
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D. In the Bible there is a highest and most spiritual prayer, which is the prayer of authority—Matt. 18:18-19; Mark 11:23-24; Eph. 1:20-22; 2:6; 6:12-13, 18-19: (Wednesday, Thursday)
1. If we want to be a praying person, we must learn the prayer of authority; binding and loosing—this is the prayer of authority—Matt. 18:18.
2. The prayer of authority is not asking God to do something, but applying God’s authority, taking God’s authority to deal with problems and to deal with the things that should be removed; the prayer of authority is very much related to the overcomers; every overcomer must learn to speak to “this mountain”—Mark 11:23; Zech. 4:7; Matt. 21:21.
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II. Continuing steadfastly… in the ministry of the word—Acts 6:4: (Friday)
A. Prayer should precede the ministry of the word, just as the apostles did—Acts 6:4.
B. A pattern of the ministry of the word is Ephesians 3:17a: That Christ may make His home in your hearts—Eph. 3:17-19:
1. When Christ spreads into our hearts, He becomes our person; we need not only to receive Christ as life in our spirit but also to receive Him as a person in our hearts—Eph. 3:17a; Gal. 2:20.
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2. The Christ who is making His home in our hearts is the immeasurable and unsearchable Christ; when Christ makes His home in our hearts, we will apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height, and depth, which are the dimensions of the universe and also the dimensions of the immeasurable Christ—Eph. 3:18. (Saturday)
3. When Christ makes His home in our hearts, we are filled unto all the fullness of God; the genuine church life is the issue of the immeasurable and unsearchable Christ making His home in our hearts; if we let Christ make His home in our hearts, we will be filled with The Triune God to the extent that we become His full expression—Eph. 3:17a, 19; 4:16.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word—Acts 6:4.
Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says happens, he will have it. For this reason I say to you, All things that you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and you will have them—Mark 11:23-24.
Word of Appetizer
What is true prayer? What is the prayer of a twofold person?
True prayer is a prayer in which man in his spirit is mingled with God who is Spirit; true prayer is the twofold prayer of a God-man, a prayer in which the Spirit of God is mingled with man’s spirit and man’s spirit is mingled with the Spirit of God.
The prayer in which we contact God, inhale God, absorb God, and are filled with God is true prayer; only this kind of prayer should be offered to God.
Spiritual Burden
If we want to have true prayer, prayer that is initiated by God and that touches God, we must pray in the Holy Spirit; to pray in the Holy Spirit means that we and the Holy Spirit pray together in the fellowship of the two spirits.
In the Bible there is a highest, most spiritual prayer, which is the prayer of authority; if we want to be a praying person, we must learn the prayer of authority. The prayer of authority is not asking God to do something, but it is using God’s authority, taking God’s authority to deal with problems and to deal with the things that ought to be removed; the prayer of authority is very much related to the overcomers; every overcomer must learn to speak to “this mountain.”
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
“Steadfastly in prayer”; the real meaning of prayer is that man in his spirit contacts God and absorbs God Himself; in the Bible there is a highest, most spiritual prayer, which is the prayer of authority.
“Steadfastly… in the ministry of the word”; prayer should precede the ministry of the word, just as the apostles practiced; an example of the ministry of the word is Ephesians 3:17a: “That Christ may make His home in your hearts.”
The Experience of Life
When Christ spreads into our hearts, He becomes our person; if we take Christ as the person in our hearts, the person living in our hearts will not be our self but Christ; when Christ makes His home in our hearts, we will apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height, and depth, which are the dimensions of the universe and also the dimensions of the immeasurable Christ.
If we let Christ make His home in our hearts, we will be filled with The Triune God to the extent that we become His full expression; the more Christ occupies our inner man, the more we will be able to be built together with others in the Body.
Practice and Application
A praying person must be one who wants God and God’s will; if we want to have true prayer, prayer that is initiated by God and that touches God, we must pray in the Holy Spirit; to pray in the Holy Spirit means that we and the Holy Spirit pray together in the fellowship of the two spirits.
If we want to be a praying person, we must learn the prayer of authority; this kind of prayer is what the Lord described in Matthew 18:18. The prayer of authority is not asking God to do something, but it is using God’s authority, taking God’s authority to deal with problems and to deal with the things that ought to be removed.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The correct meaning of prayer (Rom. 8:26-27)
(What is true prayer?)
T2 True prayer is always the Holy Spirit within man expressing God’s intention through man (Rom. 8:26-27)
(True prayer is always a prayer of two parties; what is the prayer of two parties?)
Day 2
T1 Praying in the Holy Spirit (Jude 20)
(Please illustrate that Elijah’s prayer can be said to be God within Elijah praying to Himself.)
T2 The principle of prayer is that prayer should not be initiated by man, but should be initiated by God (James 5:17)
(Please illustrate that every good prayer is the Christ within us praying to the Christ on the throne.)
Day 3
T1 The highest meaning of prayer is that God can gain His interests (Dan. 9:19)
(Please illustrate that a prayer up to the standard is never man praying for himself, but man praying for God.)
T2 Measuring our prayers by the deepest and most severe principle (Dan. 9:19)
(Please illustrate with experience that whether it is the purpose, motive, or hope of prayer, there is mixture within us.)
Day 4
T1 A praying person must reach a realm where he wants only God and God’s will in the universe (Matt. 26:39)
(Please illustrate that when the Lord Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, we can see this very clearly in Him.)
T2 Merely exhorting people to have faith is useless (Mark 11:23-24)
(Please illustrate that only a person filled with God is filled with faith.)
Day 5
T1 Our inner man, which is our regenerated spirit, has the life of God as its life (Eph. 3:16-17)
(Please illustrate that we souls have an outward vessel—the body, and an inward vessel—the spirit.)
T2 Letting Christ spread into every part of our heart (Eph. 3:16-17)
(Please illustrate that the more Christ spreads within us, the more He settles down and makes His home in us.)
Day 6
T1 The spreading of Christ is immeasurable (Eph. 3:18-19)
(Please illustrate that when we experience Christ in His spreading, we will see that the dimensions of the universe are the dimensions of Christ.)
T2 …that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:18-19)
(Please illustrate what the term “the fullness of God” refers to here.)
