Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-13; Eph. 6:17-18; Col. 1:3, 9; 3:1-4, 15-17; 4:2, 12; Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 6　DAY 1　»

　　Luke 11:1-4 …While He was in a certain place praying, when He ceased, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray….And He said to them, 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.

　　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 some hear this, they may say, “…How can you say that to pray is to pray ourselves into God?” Apparently, this matter is not found in 11:1-13. Actually, in these verses we see that to pray is to pray ourselves into God.

　　We do not know what the Lord was praying for. When the disciples saw Him 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). I have spent much time considering this brief word. My conclusion is that if we would pray this way again and again, the result will be that we shall pray ourselves into God. In other words, the issue of this prayer is that we find ourselves in God. (Life-study of Luke, p. 230)

　　[If you pray], “Father, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come,”… a number of times, you will find that you are in God. This is both my understanding and my experience.

　　Once we have prayed ourselves into God, what shall we do now that we are in God? We shall simply receive Him with His riches into us.

　　Suppose [a] brother prays something like this: “Father, You are just and fair. You know that my wife is wrong. I ask You to vindicate me.” The more the brother prays like this, the farther he will be away from God in his experience. He needs to pray, “O Father, sanctify Your name. Your kingdom come. Father, give me bread for this day, and forgive me even as I forgive my wife. Father, do not bring me into that trial again.” The more the brother prays like this, the more he will find himself in God. This illustrates the point that to pray is to pray ourselves into God.

　　Because we are easily distracted from God, we should spend time every morning with Him, praying ourselves into Him. 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 governing principle of our prayer should be that prayer always brings us into God. Do not pray if your prayer does not bring you into God. This does not mean that you should not ask the Lord to heal you if you are sick…. If your way of praying distracts you from the Lord and does not bring you into Him, you should change your way of praying. Seek to pray in such a way that you are brought into God. The prayer that brings us into God is the right kind of prayer. We know from our experience with the Lord that often we have prayed properly and have prayed ourselves into God. 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 [Luke 11:5-13].

　　The totality of these riches—the riches of the earth, the water, and the air—is the Holy Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit is the life supply. When we pray ourselves into God, we should remain in God to receive the Holy Spirit as our life supply. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 230-231, 234, 233-234)

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

«　WEEK 6　DAY 2　»

　　Col. 3:10-11 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

　　1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

　　We all love the Lord's presence and anointing, and we all love to have fellowship with Him. But how can we enjoy the Lord's presence and have fellowship with Him? The only way is to pray. When we pray, we enter into fellowship with the Lord and become conscious of the fact that we are truly one spirit with Him and that He is actually one spirit with us. The more we pray, the more we experience being one with the Lord, and the more we enjoy His presence and have fellowship with Him. What a marvelous reward! It is always difficult at first to have a proper prayer life. But if you practice this for a long period of time, it will get easier and easier, for you will realize the rewards of praying. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 582)

　　Often when we pray, we do not enter into genuine prayer…. The main hindrance is not sin or worldliness; it is cultural opinion….However, if we persevere in prayer, we shall eventually pray in a genuine way. This means that in our prayer we are released from cultural opinions and enter into the spirit. Whenever we experience genuine prayer, we are outside of our culture; in particular, we are outside of our cultural opinion. During times of genuine prayer, we are in our spirit, and we are one spirit with the Lord. It is at these times that we live Christ.

　　Furthermore, at such times of genuine prayer the death of Christ works within us in a prevailing way to terminate all the negative things in our being. Spontaneously, Christ's resurrection power also prevails in us. As a result, we are actually one with Christ and identified with Him. This experience during times of genuine prayer gives us a taste of the normal Christian life.

　　The more genuine prayer we have, the more we shall have the experience of being outside our cultural opinions, of being one spirit with the Lord, and of living Christ. The sad thing is that when we stop praying, we automatically revert to our culture. Then we strive to live according to our own asceticism. When we enter into genuine prayer, we are far away from asceticism and all other isms, for we are one with the living Lord. Furthermore, when we pray in this way with others, we are truly one in the praying spirit. Then we touch the reality of the one new man, where there is no Greek or Jew, barbarian or Scythian, circumcision or uncircumcision. We realize that the new man is constituted of Christ alone and that in this realm there are no differences of culture….In our natural life we make up our minds to do good, and we endeavor to accomplish what we have determined to do. This is the suppression of the self; it is not the living out of Christ.

　　To pray perseveringly means that we should never depart from the praying spirit. We should remain in a praying condition. To be in this condition is to be out of our opinion and to be one spirit with the Lord, living Him and taking Him as our life and as our person. Spontaneously we are away from everything other than Christ, and we are living by this living person… We must pray perseveringly in order to be preserved in such a praying condition. In other words, our daily living should be the same as our experience in times of genuine prayer. Our experience in prayer should become a model of our daily Christian life.

　　Gradually the Lord is showing us what it means to live Him. One aspect of living Christ is that of remaining in a praying condition. When we are in this condition, we are outside of culture. Because we are one spirit with this living person, taking Him as our life and as our person, there is no striving to live properly. Rather, as we are one with the Lord in spirit, the death of Christ is applied to us, and His resurrection power becomes prevailing in us. Then we spontaneously live Him. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 279-280)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 33

«　WEEK 6　DAY 3　»

　　Eph. 6:17-18 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.

　　Col. 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.

　　According to Paul's word in Colossians 4:2, the thing that requires our perseverance is prayer. We need to persevere in prayer because prayer involves a battle, a fight. Two parties, God and Satan, are hostile to each other. The meaning of the name Satan is adversary….On the one hand, he is the enemy trying to defeat God; on the other hand, he is the adversary within God's realm seeking to cause damage. As the adversary, Satan opposes God from within God's realm, God's kingdom. This is the reason the Bible clearly indicates that even today Satan has access to the place of God's throne. In the book of Job we see that Satan can stand before the throne of God and accuse people before Him (Job 1:6-12). It is difficult for us to understand why God allows His enemy such freedom. According to Revelation 12:10, Satan accuses us day and night. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 577-578)

　　Although the battle raging in the universe is between God and Satan, another party is involved. This third party consists of God's chosen and redeemed people, the ones who will actually decide the outcome of the battle. If we take sides with Satan, God will lose, even though He is almighty As the infinite, all-powerful Creator, God will not lower Himself to fight against one of His creatures. Thus, it is necessary for another of God's creatures—man—to fight against Satan. In a very real sense, God needs us….He must maintain His status as the Creator. For this reason, He needs us to carry on the actual work of warfare.

　　In order to fight on God's side against Satan, we need to persevere in prayer. This perseverance is needed because the course of the whole world is away from God. To pray is to go against the current, the trend, in the fallen universe. Persevering in prayer is like rowing a boat upstream….No doubt, to persevere in this way, either in rowing or in praying, requires a great deal of energy. The entire universe is under Satan's influence and is contrary to God's will. Hence, there is a strong current in the world in opposition to the will of God. As those who take sides with God, we find that the whole universe is against us and, in particular, against our prayer. When we try to pray, we may…be disturbed by [a telephone call], by our children, by callers at the door, or by any animal pets there may be in the house. Because there is so much resistance to our prayer, we definitely need to persevere in prayer.

　　In Colossians 4:2-4 Paul turns to the matter of prayer. In verse 2…to persevere is to continue persistently, steadfastly, and earnestly. In prayer we need to be watchful and alert, not negligent. Such watchfulness should be accompanied by thanksgiving. Prayer is spiritual breathing. To pray is to breathe. When some saints hear a word about prayer, they immediately ask how to pray. We should forget about how and simply pray. For example, a child learns to walk by walking….In the same principle, we learn to pray by praying.

　　In 4:2 Paul charges us to persevere in prayer. This means that we should not merely continue in prayer, but we should strive to continue. Almost everything in our environment is contrary to prayer. In order to pray, we must go against the tide, the current, of our environment. If we fail to pray, we shall be swept downstream. Only prayer can enable us to go against the current. Therefore, we need to persevere in prayer, to pray persistently. Paul also encourages us to watch in prayer. We need to be watchful against the enemy. We do not know what will happen in the next few minutes. We need to be watchful because the Christian life is a life of fighting, a life of warfare. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 578-579, 252-254)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 65, 30

«　WEEK 6　DAY 4　»

　　Col. 3:15-16 And let the peace of Christ arbitrate in your hearts, to which also you were called in one Body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

　　Within us we all have something called the peace of Christ. This is the peace about which Paul speaks in Ephesians 2:15, where we are told that in Himself Christ created one new man out of two peoples. By creating the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man, Christ has made peace. This is the very peace in Colossians 3:15. Believers with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities have been created into one new man. The oneness of the new man produces genuine peace. Apart from Christ and the church, those of different races and nationalities cannot be truly one. We in the Lord's recovery are one because we are in Christ and in the church…. [In the new man] there is oneness because Christ is all and in all. This oneness is our peace. The peace of Christ in Colossians 3:15 is simply the peaceful oneness in the new man.

　　In verse 16 Paul goes on to say, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ. In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son, and the Son speaks not only directly in the Gospels, but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation. All these may be considered as His word. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 243-245)

　　Colossians is focused on Christ as our Head and our life. The way for Him to exercise His headship and to minister His riches to us is through His word. Hence, the emphasis is on the word of Christ.

　　The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament. We need to be filled with this word. This means that we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to make home in us. The Greek word rendered “dwell” [in Colossians 3:16] means “to be in a house, to inhabit.” The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being. Furthermore, the word of Christ must dwell in us richly. The riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) are in His word. When such a rich word inhabits us, it must inhabit us richly. The word of Christ should have free course within us. We should not simply receive it and then confine it to a small area of our being. On the contrary, it should be given a free course to operate within us. In this way the word will inhabit us and make home in us.

　　Certain saints love the Bible and read it daily. But in their living it is their concept, opinion, and philosophy that move within them, not the word of Christ. They may study the Bible, but they do not allow the word of Christ to dwell in them. Neither do they permit it to move, act, and have its being in them. As a result, what prevails in their being is their philosophy, not the word of Christ.

　　In Colossians 3:12-15 Paul speaks of the necessity of being ruled by the peace of Christ, and in verses 16 and 17, of the word of Christ dwelling in us richly. To live in union with Christ means that in our living we are not apart from Christ. In John 15 the Lord tells us to abide in Him, for apart from Him we can do nothing. In the eyes of God, whatever we do apart from Christ has no value. Therefore, if we are separated from the all-inclusive Christ revealed in Colossians, we cannot do anything. The living of the saints must be in union with Christ. This means that in our living we need to be one with Him.

　　The word let in verses 15 and 16…indicates that both the peace of Christ and the word of Christ are already present. However, we need to allow them to operate within us. We need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in us, and we must let the word of Christ dwell in us. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 245-247, 239-241)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 29, 63-64

«　WEEK 6　DAY 5　»

　　Col. 3:1-2 …Seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things which are above…

　　Heb. 8:1 …We have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.

　　Rev. 5:6 And I saw in the midst of the throne…a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God…

　　[Colossians 3:1-4] refers to our living…. We are not to live in an earthly way or in a worldly way. Instead, we should live in a heavenly way, seek the things which are above, and set our mind on them.

　　The Lord Jesus has two types of ministries, His ministry on earth before His resurrection and His ministry in heaven…. According to Hebrews 1:3, having finished His ministry on earth, the Lord sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Although His earthly ministry has been completed, His ministry in heaven is still going on. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 523-524)

　　Christ today is ministering in a higher and more extensive way. As the High Priest, He intercedes for us and cares for all the churches, transmitting into them the heavenly supply. Christ is more busy now than when He was on earth. On earth He cared mainly for His disciples. But in heaven He is caring for a great many churches and for millions of saints. Not only does He intercede for us as the High Priest, but He ministers on our behalf as the heavenly Minister. Furthermore, according to Revelation 5, He as the heavenly Administrator is executing God's universal government. He is the Lamb with seven eyes carrying out God's administration. As the High Priest, He intercedes; as the heavenly Minister, He ministers; as the Redeemer with the seven eyes of God, He administers the government of God for the accomplishment of God's purpose. These are the things above on which we are to set our mind.

　　Christ is not idle. He is interceding, ministering, and executing God's administration. We on earth should respond to Christ's activities in heaven. Although Christ in His earthly ministry fully accomplished redemption for our salvation, He has not yet completed the building up of His Body. For the building up of the Body, His ministry in heaven is necessary. It is not the desire of Christ simply to have a large group of saved people; He wants the saved ones to be built up together as His Body. Christ desires a Body, a building, a bride. In order to have the Body built up, Christ must carry on the work of His heavenly ministry.

　　Between Christ in heaven and us on earth there is a divine transmission, a heavenly current. If we are receiving this transmission, we shall respond to Christ's work in heaven. However, if in our experience we are not continuously connected to Him or if we allow insulation to build up between us and Him, the transmission will cease….Day and night, we should be infused with a supply from heaven and experience the transaction between the heavenly Christ and us. We should continually respond to Christ's interceding, ministering, and executing of God's administration.

　　To seek the things above means that we correspond to Christ's heavenly ministry. According to Colossians 3, corresponding to Christ's heavenly ministry by seeking the things above is the first aspect of our Christian walk.

　　Christ today is living in the heavens to intercede for the churches, to minister the heavenly life supply to the saints, and to carry out God's administration… We thank the Lord that a number of those in the local churches today have their receivers open and operating. When they sense that Christ is praying in heaven for a certain matter, they join Him to pray on earth for that very matter. For example, sensing that the Lord is praying for the church in Accra, Ghana, they join in to pray for the church there. To pray together with Christ in this way is to have one living with Him. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 524, 549-550, 533)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 59, 61-62

«　WEEK 6　DAY 6　»

　　Col. 3:1-2 If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth.

　　When we set our mind on the things above during our times of prayer, we become a reflection of Christ's ministry in the heavens. Through our prayer, Christ, the Head, is given a way to carry out His administration through His Body. When we pray, we are a heavenly ambassador on earth with the extension of God's kingdom.

　　When we pray, we enter into the Holy of Holies and approach the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.” Prayer is the way to come forward to the throne of grace. Coming forward to the throne of grace, we receive mercy and grace to meet our timely need. When we pray, approaching the throne of grace, mercy and grace will become a river flowing in us and supplying us. How rewarding this is! Receiving the flow of grace in prayer is actually more important than having our prayers answered. Whether or not our prayer is answered is secondary.

　　To receive this river of grace is to have our spiritual battery charged with heavenly current. The heavenly current, the divine electricity, is the Triune God as grace flowing out of the throne and into us. The supply and enjoyment this brings is unspeakable….This surely is a reward for persevering in prayer. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 581-582)

　　If we seek the things above and have one living with Christ, we shall be wholly occupied with the enterprise of our Master. Our heart will be with Him in heaven, where He is interceding for the churches, supplying the saints, and administrating God's government. This will be our concern, our desire. If we take Christ as life and seek the things which are above in such a way, the lustful members will be put to death, the evil elements in the fallen soul will be put away, and the old man will be put off. Furthermore, we shall automatically put on the new man.

　　Do you not aspire to be one with the Lord in the heavenlies and to have a heart that is one with His heart? Do you not long to be one with Him in His priesthood, ministry, and administration? I would encourage all the young people especially to care for God's purpose by seeking the things which are above and living together with Christ.

　　We expect that through the enjoyment of Christ the one new man will come forth and be expressed in a practical way. We do not want the new man merely in doctrine, but in reality and in practice. The new man does not come by way of organization. Something organized may be a society or a religion, but it is not the new man. The new man comes forth only by our taking Christ as our life and living together with Him.

　　I am happy that there are so many young people in the Lord's recovery. The recovery certainly has a glorious future. We all need to care for the Lord's interests. While He is praying in heaven, we respond in prayer on earth. Thus, we experience the transmission between Christ and us, a transmission that will make us happy and full of joy. Christ works in the heavens, and we work on earth. In this way, we not only enjoy Christ as the reality of our necessities, but we also take Him as our life and have one living with Him.

　　Our living with Christ is not aimless; it has a definite purpose. This purpose is to be one with Christ in His intercession for the churches, in His ministry of the heavenly life supply to the saints, and in His administration of God's government….The result of living together with the Lord in such a way is the new man…. The new man is the spontaneous issue of our taking Christ as our life and living Him. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 534-535)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 60