«　WEEK 4　DAY 2　»

　　Luke 11:2-3 "And He said to them, When you pray, say, Father, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread."

　　Luke 11:13 "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

　　Many of us have the experience that when we are dry and have no way to go on, we need other brothers and sisters to intercede for us before we can get through. Once I was sick for one hundred seventy-six days. I prayed for my own sickness every day, but it did not work. When I became exhausted, I asked a brother whom I did not think too highly of to pray for me. Amazingly, I received help from his intercession, and my condition became better within a short period of time.…The supply of the Body of Christ is a reality. You cannot get through in many things no matter how much you struggle. But once you give the matter to the Body, the problem is solved. This is the supply of the Body of Christ.…As members in the Body, we receive our supply through the other members. Therefore, it is foolish to try to separate ourselves from the other members. (CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ, “pp. 800-801)

　　In Luke 11:1-13 we have the Man-Savior's teaching on prayer. If we read this section carefully again and again, we shall see that prayer means that we pray ourselves into God. When the disciples saw [the Lord] praying, they wanted Him to teach them to pray. Then the Lord went on to say, “When you pray, say, Father, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us into temptation” (vv. 2-4).…If we would pray this way again and again, the result will be that we shall pray ourselves into God.… What shall we do now that we are in God? We shall simply receive Him with His riches into us.…We need to pray ourselves into God and then, as those in Him, receive Him and His riches.

　　There is no need to pray in detail concerning our shortcomings.…The prayer, “Father, forgive me as I forgive others, ” is inclusive. The more you pray like this, the more you will realize that you pray yourself into God. Then in God you will receive the life supply. The life supply is indicated in verses 11 through 13: “But what father among you whose son shall ask for a fish will instead of a fish hand him a snake? Or if he shall also ask for an egg will hand him a scorpion? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Here the life supply is indicated by the fish, the egg, and the Holy Spirit. In verse 5 it is indicated by the loaves. If we include the loaves, we have four items of the life supply. When we pray ourselves into God, we receive His riches as our supply. As we remain in Him, we receive His riches, the riches that are embodied in His Spirit. When we receive the Holy Spirit as our life supply, signified by the loaves, the fish, and the egg, we can feed ourselves, and we can also feed all those under our care. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 230-232, 234)

　　Every Christian should know that he is only a member. If he does not have the other members, he will not survive. In the Body all the members must be joined together before they can become the Body. All the members in the Body are related to one another, and they cannot be separated from one another. Between the members there must be a mutual supply and a mutual relatedness. Only then can the members survive. If a Christian lives an independent life, sooner or later he will weaken and dry up.…In order to go on with the Lord, we must recognize His supply for us in the Body and avail ourselves of it. The whole Body is built up through the interdependence among the members.(CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ, “p. 799)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 27