PRAYER and GOD's MOVE Message One Prayer and God's Move in the Books of the Law and History

PRAYER AND GOD'S MOVE Message One Prayer and God's Move in the Books of the Law and History

Scripture Reading: Gen. 18:17-33; Exo. 17:8-16; 30:1-10; 1 Sam. 1:10-2:11; 12:23; Neh. 1:4-11

I. Genesis 18 presents a clear revelation of the basic principles of intercession: A. God revealed to Abraham His intention to destroy Sodom, because He was seeking an intercessor— Gen. 18:17-22; cf. Heb. 7:25; Isa. 59:16; Ezek. 22:30. B. The proper intercession is not initiated by man but by God’s revelation; thus, the proper intercession expresses God’s desire and carries out God’s will—vv. 17, 20-21; 19:27-29; Psa. 27:4-8; Heb. 4:16; 7:25; James 5:17. C. Apparently, Abraham was interceding for Sodom; actually, he was interceding for Lot by implication, showing that we should intercede for God’s people who have drifted into the world— Gen. 14:12; 18:23; 19:1, 27-29. D. Intercession is an intimate conversation with God according to the inward intention of His heart; for this we must learn to linger in the presence of God—18:22-33; Matt. 6:6. E. Intercession is according to God’s righteous way; in Abraham’s intercession for Lot, he did not beg God according to His love and grace; he challenged God according to His righteous way—Gen. 18:23-25; Rom. 1:17. F. Abraham’s intercession did not terminate with Abraham’s speaking but with God’s, showing that genuine intercession is God’s speaking in our speaking—Gen. 18:33; John 15:7; Rom. 8:26-27. II. Exodus 17 shows us how to fight against Amalek by praying with the interceding Christ— 17:8-16: A. As the one praying on the mountaintop, Moses typifies Christ, but as the one whose hands became heavy, Moses represents us. B. This signifies that while Christ is praying in the heavens, we too need to pray on earth—1 Tim. 2:8. C. Because the flesh never changes or improves, in order to prevail against the flesh, we need to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17; Col. 4:2), joining ourselves to Christ in His intercession. D. However, often our praying hands become heavy; thus, we need a stone to support us, and we need the help of Aaron and Hur: 1. The stone, a solid base for our prayer life, refers to our realization that in ourselves we are weak and that in order to sustain our prayer, we need Christ to be our support—John 15:5b. 2. Aaron, the high priest (Exo. 28:1; Heb. 5:1, 4), signifies the priesthood; the priesthood is related to the Holy of Holies, which in our experience is always related to our spirit (Heb. 10:19 and note); hence, to sustain our prayer and to thus defeat the flesh, we need the priesthood to strengthen our spirit. 3. Hur, who was of the tribe of Judah (Exo. 31:2), signifies the kingship (Gen. 49:10); we also need to be obedient to the Lord under His authority, the kingship; Hur is also related to the building of the tabernacle (Exo. 31:2-5), and the direction of Exodus is toward this goal; this indicates that we need to take the building of the church as the goal of our prayer. III. Exodus 30 reveals the golden incense altar; the incense altar signifies Christ as the Intercessor—vv. 1-10; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34: A. We need to participate in Christ’s interceding life—vv. 26-27; 1 Tim. 2:1; Eph. 6:18-19; Col. 4:3; 1 Thes. 5:25; 2 Thes. 3:1; Heb. 13:18. B. Christ’s interceding life, His prayer life, is the center of the divine administration—7:25; Rom. 8:34; Rev. 8:3. C. The arrangement of the tabernacle with its furnishings is an accurate and detailed picture of God’s administration, God’s economy, in the universe: 1. According to this picture the Ark is the focus, but in practice the incense altar is the center. 2. According to Rev. 8:3-6, the intercessor is not merely the individual Christ but the corporate Christ, the Head with the Body; Christ as the Head is interceding in the heavens, and the church as the Body is interceding on earth—1 Tim. 2:1. D. In Exodus the incense altar is revealed after the tabernacle and its furniture and the equipping of the priesthood are revealed; this indicates that the priestly service begins at the incense altar, at the place where prayers of intercession are offered to God—Luke 1:10. E. The incense altar is the place from which the activities at all the other places in the tabernacle are motivated; it is not merely one item on the passageway through the tabernacle; rather, it can be compared to a motor that causes everything to operate: 1. It makes all the aspects of the tabernacle and the outer court effective in our experience. 2. The prayer of intercession also motivates others to come to Christ at the altar of burnt offering, at the laver, at the table, at the lampstand, and at the Ark in the Holy of Holies. 3. The prayer offered at the incense altar, a prayer that is offered in Christ and with Christ as the incense, governs God’s dispensing of grace and motivates the execution of the divine administration; hence, this prayer governs the universe. IV. Hannah’s prayer was an echo, a speaking out, of the heart’s desire of God; it was a human cooperation with the divine move for the carrying out of God’s eternal economy—1 Sam. 1:10-20: A. God could motivate Hannah as a person who was one with him on the line of life; the line of life is a line that brings forth Christ for the enjoyment of God’s people, that on earth God may have His kingdom, which is the church as the Body of Christ, the very organism of the Triune God—John 10:10; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17-18; Eph. 1:22-23. B. As long as God can gain a person who is one with Him on the line of life, He has a way on earth; Hannah’s prayer indicates that God’s move with His answer to Hannah’s prayer was to produce a Nazarite who was absolute for the fulfilling of God’s desire—1 Sam. 1:19—2:11. V. The prophet Samuel knew that God’s work on earth requires the coordination of man’s prayer; therefore, Samuel told the children of Israel, “As for me, far be it from me that I would sin against Jehovah by ceasing to pray for you”—1 Sam. 12:23: A. Samuel was a Nazarite who had always lived in God’s presence and understood God’s heart; hence, he was God’s co-worker on earth. B. Had he not prayed for the children of Israel, God would not have had a way to work among them; if Samuel had not prayed, he would have hindered God’s work, which would have been a sin, an offense against God. VI. Nehemiah's prayer by fasting bound God by His own word—1:4-11: A. In his prayer to God, Nehemiah stood on God’s word and prayed according to it (vv. 8-9); thus, God was bound by His own word. B. As a person who loved God, Nehemiah prayed to God to contact Him in fellowship (1:4; 2:4b; 4:4-5, 9); furthermore, Nehemiah trusted in God and even became one with God; as a result, he became the representative of God.

2 WEEK 1 - DAY 1

Heb. 7:25 Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them. Gen. 18:17 And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do. 22b Abraham remained standing before Jehovah. In this message we come to another seed of the divine revelation sown in the book of Genesis—the seed of intercession. In the first seventeen chapters of Genesis, there is no record of any intercession. Although we may suppose that Melchisedec was interceding behind the scene for Abraham, there is no record of this. The first clear mention of intercession in the Bible is in Genesis 18, where we see that Abraham was the first intercessor. This record of intercession is not simply a seed, for it contains a certain amount of development. In Genesis 18 we not only have a story of intercession but a clear revelation of the basic principles of intercession. Intercession is a great thing in the Bible. Without it God’s economy cannot be accomplished. The excellent ministry of Christ today as our kingly and divine High Priest is a ministry of intercession. Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 both tell us that Christ is interceding for us. Since this matter of intercession is so important, we must devote an entire message to it, mainly considering the basic principles of intercession. The first basic principle of intercession is that it must be according to God’s revelation (18:17, 20-21). The only intercession that counts in the eyes of God is that which is according to His revelation. This means that proper intercession is not initiated by us but by God in His revelation. This is clearly portrayed in Genesis 18....The glorious intercession which Abraham made before God in Genesis 18 was not a prayer from man on earth to God in heaven; it was a human conversation between two friends. God came down from heaven, lowering Himself, putting on the form of a mortal man, and conversing with Abraham. Eventually, He indicated to Abraham that He was the Almighty God; yet they continued to talk as two friends. When Abraham was in this condition, he was prepared and qualified to receive a revelation from God’s heart concerning His desire. Intercession is an intimate talk with God according to the unveiling of His heart’s desire. This is the first principle of intercession. In order to fulfill the first basic principle of intercession—that it should be according to an intimate revelation of God’s heart’s desire—we need to pass through a long process. We need to be dealt with, circumcised, and terminated. Then we shall be ready for intimate fellowship with God. God will come to us on a human level, not on a divine level, just as He came to Abraham. Suppose God would come to you in this way today and you would serve Him a meal and talk with Him, speaking with Him face to face. How good it is to talk with God in this way! When we have fellowship with God like this, we do not have the sense that we are talking to the almighty, majestic God, but to another human being. This is the meaning of intercession being according to the revelation of God. This intercession is always intimate, mysterious, and in the way of implication. In principle, Abraham’s intercession for Lot was like the intercession in the church in the New Testament. In Abraham’s time, God’s people on earth were composed of two families, the families of Abraham and Lot. A part of God’s people, Lot’s family, had drifted into the wicked city of Sodom. In like manner, some of the church people have drifted into the world. Just as Abraham interceded for that part of God’s people who had drifted into Sodom, so we must intercede for the brothers and sisters who have drifted into the world. Abraham’s intercession was the first that resembles the intercession in the church life. Since all proper intercession is according to the revelation which is out of God’s heart, it must also be according to God’s heart. Intercession is not according to God’s word. As I have already pointed out, although God did not mention Lot by name, Abraham realized what was on God’s heart. Abraham did not intercede according to the outward word of God but according to the inward intention of God’s heart. Proper intercession must always touch the heart of God. While Abraham was interceding, God was happy and could say within Himself, “How good it is that I have found a man on earth who knows My heart!” (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 677, 681-682)

3 WEEK 1 - DAY 2

Gen 18:23 And Abraham came near and said, Will You indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed destroy and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25b Far be it from You! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justly? Abraham’s challenge to God was according to God’s righteous way (18:23-25). Abraham said to the Lord, “You are the Judge of all the earth. Shall You do this? This is not Your righteous way.” Proper intercession is neither according to God’s love nor according to His grace, but according to His righteousness. The strongest challenge to God is not to say to Him, “God, are You not a loving God?” If we say this, God might say, “Yes, I am a loving God, but to love is up to Me. When I feel happy, I love. But if I don’t feel happy, I don’t love. What’s wrong with My doing this?” We have nothing to say to this. We should say to God, “God, are You not the righteous One?” If we challenge God according to His righteousness, God would reply, “I certainly am righteous.” He would never say, “If I am happy, I shall be righteous, but if I am unhappy, I won’t be righteous.” What kind of a righteous God would this be? We must challenge God according to His righteousness because His righteousness binds Him more than His love and His grace do. God has no obligation to be loving or to show grace, but He is held responsible to be righteous. Nothing binds God as firmly as His righteousness. Every good intercessor knows that the way to bind God effectively is to challenge Him according to His righteousness. We should say, “Will the Judge of all the earth do such a thing?” And God will reply, “No, as the just One I would never do that. But you must show Me the proper number that will justify the city. If you show Me the justifying number, I’ll be justified and I’ll be righteous. I would never destroy that city.” Proper intercession never begs God according to His love but challenges Him according to His righteous way. I believe that many in the Lord’s recovery will be brought into this kind of intercession. When God came down to visit Abraham on a human level, He was seeking one intercessor. Today God has come down to the human level once again, not to seek an individual but a corporate people. I believe that in not too long a time there will be a people on earth absolutely like Abraham, knowing the heart of God and making a challenging intercession in His presence. We may say to God, “Lord, don’t You know that You have promised us definitely in the New Testament to finish the good work that You have begun?” Abraham did not cry and plead with God to spare Sodom for Lot’s sake; he challenged Him. Likewise, we should not weep and beg but should challenge God. He does not want to hear our crying; He wants to hear our challenging intercession. Abraham’s intercession echoed the desire of God’s heart concerning Lot. As he was interceding according to God’s heart, his intercession spontaneously expressed God’s desire. Proper intercession always expresses God’s desire. This is another principle of intercession. If our intercession is initiated by our seeing of God’s revelation in our intimate fellowship with Him, whatever we say to Him in our intercession will be the expression of His desire, the echo of His intention. True intercession is not to express our desire but God’s desire. It is not to seek anything according to our intention but to seek the fulfillment of God’s intention. Intercession must also carry out God’s will. Although God had a will to rescue Lot, without Abraham’s intercession God had no way to carry out His will. Proper intercession always paves the way for the accomplishing of God’s will. It lays the tracks for the heavenly locomotive. God desired to rescue Lot from Sodom, but He had to find a way to do this. Thus, He visited Abraham for the purpose that he might intercede on Lot’s behalf. Abraham was intimately close to God’s heart, and God was able to open His heart to him. Immediately Abraham echoed back to God His heart’s desire in a challenging intercession. This intercession was the expression of God’s desire and the carrying out of His will. This chapter does not end with Abraham’s speaking; it ends with God’s speaking. Verse 33 says, “And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had finished speaking to Abraham” (Heb.). The record here is the record of Abraham’s intercession. But it does not say that Abraham had finished his speaking; it says that the Lord had finished His speaking. Proper intercession is always God’s speaking. Apparently we are speaking; actually God is speaking in our speaking. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 685-686, 687)

4 WEEK 1 - DAY 3

Exo. 17:11 And when Moses lifted his hand up, Israel prevailed; and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Although the interceding Christ does not need anyone to support His hands, we need our praying hands to be stayed up. It is easy for them to become heavy. We know that to deal with the flesh we need to pray. But often our hands become heavy. Thus, we need the help of Aaron and Hur. Aaron, the high priest, signifies the priesthood, and Hur, who was of the tribe of Judah, signifies the kingship. The grandson of Hur, Bezaleel, was given the ability to work on the fixtures for the tabernacle (31:2-5). As we shall see when we consider the later chapters of Exodus, the tabernacle, God’s building, was constructed by the priesthood and the kingship. Our prayer needs to be sustained by the priesthood and the kingship. Sometimes our praying hands become heavy not because we lack the desire to pray, but because we are lacking in incentive and encouragement. This means that we may be in need of Aaron and Hur, in need of the priesthood and the kingship. The priesthood is related to the Holy of Holies. In our experience, the Holy of Holies is always related to our spirit. Hence, to be heavy in prayer indicates a problem or shortage in our spirit. For some reason, our spirit is not keen, active, or positive with the Lord. This causes our prayer to become heavy. Our experience confirms this. At such times of heaviness, we should not deal with our prayer by trying to pray more. Instead, we should deal with our spirit. In our spirit there is the shortage of the priesthood. We need Aaron, the high priest, to strengthen our spirit. Another reason for heaviness in prayer is rebellion against the kingship. If you say that you are not rebellious, then I would inquire about the matter of disobedience. Can you say that you are never disobedient toward the Lord? For example, a sister may sense a restraining of the Lord keeping her from going to a department store, but she may disobey this restraint and go anyway. In the course of a single day we may disobey the Lord many times. We go against the authority, the kingship, within us. Therefore, due to the shortage of the kingship, we easily become heavy in prayer. Our prayer also becomes heavy when we do not care for the building up of the tabernacle. Hur is related to the building. In fact, the direction of the book of Exodus is toward the building of the tabernacle. We have pointed out that Bezaleel, the grandson of Hur, was granted the gift by God to become skilled in working on various aspects of the tabernacle. This indicates that our prayer needs to be with a view to the building of the church. What God is doing today is toward this goal. If our prayer life does not have in view the building of the church, our prayer will not last very long. But if we have the priesthood and the kingship and care for the building up of the tabernacle, the church, our prayer life will not become heavy. Rather, it will be supported by the priesthood and the kingship, and it will have the building of the church in view. Then we shall be able to fight against the flesh, Amalek, by means of our prayer. In 17:12 we are told that Aaron and Hur took a stone and put it under Moses, and he sat on it. This indicates that our prayer life must have a solid base. When I was young, I learned to pray, but my prayer did not have a solid base. This is also true of many Christians today. They have learned to pray, but they lack a solid base for their prayer life. I do not believe that, according to the context of Exodus 17, the strong base for our prayer life is Christ directly. Instead, I believe that the stone used as the strong base refers to our realization that in ourselves we are not able to sustain a prayer life. It is the recognition of the fact that we need support. In our natural life we, like Moses, are not able to persevere in prayer. We simply cannot continue our prayer all day long. Thus, we need to realize our weakness. This realization gives us the strong base we need for our prayer life. When you are about to pray, you need to realize that in yourself you are not able to pray. Every praying person can testify that it is not possible to have a prayer life without a strong base. We need something solid to uphold our life of prayer. Whenever you pray, tell the Lord, “Lord, I am not able to continue in prayer. I need a solid base for my prayer, and I take You as such a base.” (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 545-548)

5 WEEK 1 - DAY 4

Ex 30:1 And you shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 7 And Aaron shall burn on it fragrant incense; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it. 8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations The incense altar signifies Christ as the Intercessor to maintain the relationship between God and His people (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; Rev. 8:3). The arrangement of the tabernacle with its furnishings is an accurate and detailed picture of God’s administration, God’s economy, in the universe. According to this picture the Ark is the focus, but in practice the incense altar is the center. The interceding Christ is the center of the execution of God’s government on earth. According to Rev. 8:3-6, the intercessor is not merely the individual Christ but the corporate Christ, the Head with the Body. Christ as the Head is interceding in the heavens, and the church as the Body is interceding on earth (1 Tim. 2:1). In Exodus the incense altar is revealed after the tabernacle and its furniture and the equipping of the priesthood are revealed. This indicates that the priestly service begins at the incense altar, at the place where prayers of intercession are offered to God (Luke 1:10). The incense altar is the place from which the activities at all the other places in the tabernacle are motivated. It is not merely one item on the passageway through the tabernacle. Rather, it can be compared to a motor that causes everything to operate. Hence, in our experience of the tabernacle (see note 43 in Heb. 9), the incense altar stands by itself as a turning point. It makes all the aspects of the tabernacle and the outer court effective in our experience. The prayer of intercession also motivates others to come to Christ at the altar of burnt offering, at the laver, at the table, at the lampstand, and at the Ark in the Holy of Holies. According to Rev. 8:3, the incense altar is directly in front of the throne of God’s authority, which is also the throne of grace (see note 22 in Rev. 4). The prayer offered at the incense altar, a prayer that is offered in Christ and with Christ as the incense (see note 71 [of Exodus 30]), governs God’s dispensing of grace and motivates the execution of the divine administration. Hence, this prayer governs the universe. (Exodus 30:1, note 1) If it were not for the incense altar, no one would come to the altar of burnt offering. No one would repent and come to the altar to confess his sins. It is the prayer at the incense altar that motivates sinners to come to the altar of burnt offering. Because of this prayer, one day we repented. Do you know the reason you repented? You repented because the incense altar, the heavenly White House, sent forth a message urging you to repent. Thus, without the incense altar, the altar of burnt offering cannot function, and no one can repent. Some may have the experience of repentance, but they may not yet be regenerated. Thus, there is the need of more prayer at the incense altar. Either Christ Himself as the Head or the church as the Body needs to pray, “O Father, look at these people. They have repented, but they have not yet been regenerated. Father, forgive their sins and regenerate them.” As a result of further prayers from the incense altar, others will be motivated to come to the laver. They will want to plunge into the laver and be immersed in the Spirit.... Prayer is going on in the heavenly White House not only that the believers will be nourished through the Word, but also that they will be enlightened. Light always comes after the showbread table. In the Holy Place first we come to the table to be nourished and then to the lampstand to be enlightened. The sequence is the same in the Gospel of John. In John 6 we have the feeding, and in John 8 we have the light. When we are fed, we shall receive light. However, if the saints are to be fed and enlightened, there must be prayer for this offered at the incense altar. After we experience the feeding and the enlightening in the Holy Place, we need to enter into the Holy of Holies to touch God’s testimony. In the Lord’s recovery we do not care merely to carry out a work; we are here for the carrying out of God’s testimony. In a very real sense we are not in a field laboring; rather, we are in the Holy of Holies touching the testimony. However, some of the churches have not yet come into the Holy of Holies to contact God’s testimony. Instead, they are still in the Holy Place at the showbread table. These churches need more prayer. I am concerned for those of us who are still at the table and who have not yet come into the Holy of Holies to touch the central point of the tabernacle, God’s testimony. There is the need of more prayer concerning this. I believe that this prayer is being offered at the incense altar. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1597-1599)

WEEK 1 - DAY 5

1 Sam. 1:10 And she was bitter in soul and prayed to Jehovah and wept much. 11 And she made a vow and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your female servant and remember me and not forget Your female servant, but give to Your female servant a male child, then I will give him to Jehovah for all the days of his life, and no razor will come upon his head.

In [1 Samuel] 1:1-20 we have a word regarding Samuel’s origin. We should not consider that Samuel came out simply from his father, Elkanah. Actually, Samuel came out of God’s economy. God had His eternal economy, but the carrying out of God’s economy had come into question. God had ordained that Aaron’s descendants would be the priests for the carrying out of His economy, but that priesthood became stale and waning. God’s heart’s desire was to gain someone to replace that priesthood. In order to gain such a person, God brought together in marriage Elkanah and Hannah. Elkanah had two wives. According to God’s sovereign arrangement, the second wife, Peninnah, had children, but Hannah had no children. Furthermore, “her rival provoked her bitterly to irritate her, because Jehovah had shut up her womb” (v. 6). This forced Hannah to pray desperately not mainly for herself but for God. She promised God that if He gave her a male child, she would return the child to Him by the vow of a Nazarite. God was pleased with Hannah’s prayer and her promise and He opened her womb. Hannah conceived, bore a child, and named him Samuel. From this we see that actually no human being was the origin of Samuel. God was the real origin, who motivated His people sovereignly and secretly. This couple was in cooperation with the move of God on earth for the accomplishment of God’s economy. Elkanah and Hannah were not the only ones moving; they were moved by the moving One, by the unique, divine Mover, who was moving secretly behind the scene. Under God’s sovereign dealing, Hannah was suppressed in her soul with a burden in her spirit to pour out before Jehovah. This was God’s move. Because of God’s moving in her, Hannah could not have peace until she prayed for a son. God, the sovereign One, kept moving her and motivating her so that she had to pray, even though Eli, the one taking care of the service in God’s house, did not understand her. In her prayer Hannah cooperated with the move of God. God could motivate Hannah as a person who was one with Him in the line of life. As long as He can gain such a person, He has a way on earth. I hope that at least some of us will be today’s Hannahs and say, “Lord, if You have anything on Your heart to accomplish for Your purpose, I am here. I am remaining in the line of life for the carrying out of Your economy.” If you do this, I have the full assurance that you will be the ones whom God will move. He will come to you and motivate you. God needs many Hannahs, persons who can bring forth some Samuels to turn the age. The origin of Samuel was especially his God-seeking mother with her prayer (vv. 9-18). Her prayer was an echo of the heart’s desire of God. Her prayer was a human cooperation with the divine move for the carrying out of God’s eternal economy. We should no longer pray old prayers in a formal way. Instead, we need to pray something that is an echo of what is on God’s heart. This means that what we say in our prayer is exactly what God wants to speak. Such a prayer is the speaking out of God’s heart. Hannah’s prayer was like this. God wanted a Samuel, yet He needed Hannah’s cooperation to pray to Him, saying, “Lord, I need a son.” This prayer was very human, yet it was a cooperation with the divine move for God’s economy. In a very particular way, the origin of Samuel was the moving God with His answer to the prayer of Samuel’s mother (vv. 19-20). After such a prayer as Hannah prayed, it was easy for God to do something, because man’s cooperation had become a base on which He could move. The moving God answered the prayer of Samuel’s mother according to His desire and intention for His move among His elect. God’s move in response to Hannah’s prayer was in keeping with the principle that God needs man’s cooperation with His move in His economy. This is the principle of incarnation. (Life-study of 1 Samuel, pp. 9-12)

7 WEEK 1 - DAY 6

1 Sam. 12:23 As for me, far be it from me that I would sin against Jehovah by ceasing to pray for you. Neh. 1:4 And when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and I mourned for some days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, 5 And said, I beseech You, O Jehovah the God of heaven... 6a Let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant, which I pray before You now day and night... Samuel was faithful to God to do according to what was in God’s heart and mind. His whole being and person, not just his doing, living, and work, were according to God. Samuel’s being and God’s heart were one. For this reason it is not too much to say that Samuel, a man according to God, was the acting God on earth. God’s mind was Samuel’s consideration. He had no other thought, consideration, or thinking. His living and working were for the carrying out of whatever was in God’s heart. As a consequence, Samuel was one who turned the age. […]Samuel ministered as a man of prayer. Samuel prayed for God’s elect, the children of Israel (7:3-14; 8:6; 15:11b). Samuel prayed for the children of Israel to be kept in the way of God, to be one with God, not to be ensnared by the idols of the nations, and to enjoy God as Eben-ezer, which means “the stone of help.” Samuel prayed for God’s elect that God’s desire of His will in His elect might be fulfilled. Up to this day God has helped us, but why has He helped us? God has helped us that His desire might be fulfilled. We need to realize that God’s helping us is for His fulfillment of His economy and that we are enjoying the blessing in this fulfillment. Today God is blessing us in every way for the fulfillment of His economy to build up the Body of Christ. In Samuel’s consideration, ceasing to pray for God’s elect was to sin against Jehovah (12:23). We also need to pray for God’s people. In particular, the co-workers and elders need to pray for the churches every day. God admitted to Jeremiah that Samuel, like Moses, was a man standing before Him for His people (Jer. 15:1). Moses was a priest, a prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18), and a judge, and he always prayed for God’s people. In these matters Samuel was the same. He was a priest, a prophet, and a judge who prayed for God’s people. In the Old Testament, only Moses and Samuel were qualified to participate fully in the priesthood, the prophethood, and the judgeship. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 28-29, 33-34) In his prayer by fasting (vv. 4-11), Nehemiah first praised God for what He is, praising Him for His keeping of His covenant and lovingkindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments (v. 5). Then he confessed the sins of the children of Israel (vv. 6-7) and asked God to remember His word to Moses that He would bring the captivity of His people even from the ends of heaven back to the place of His dwelling (vv. 8-9). Nehemiah stood on God’s word and prayed according to it. Thus, God was bound by His own word. Nehemiah continued by begging God to hear his prayer and the prayer of those who took delight in fearing His name and to cause him to prosper and to find compassion before Artaxerxes the king of Persia (vv. 10-11a). Nehemiah loved God, and he loved God’s interest on earth concerning His economy. This interest included the good land, the temple, and the city of Jerusalem, all of which Nehemiah loved. Even though he was a common person without a rank such as that of a king or of a captain in the army, he took care of God’s interest on earth. Nehemiah was also one who always prayed to God to contact God in fellowship. When he heard that the people in Jerusalem were suffering and that the wall of Jerusalem had been broken down and that its gates had been burned with fire, he wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed (1:2-4). In verse 11 he prayed, saying, “I beseech You, O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayer of Your servants, who take delight in fearing Your name; and cause Your servant to prosper today, and grant him to find compassion before this man.” Here Nehemiah was praying that he would find favor with the king. When the king asked him regarding his request, Nehemiah “prayed to the God of heaven” (2:4). Furthermore, Nehemiah was a person who trusted in God and who was one with God. Burdens were placed upon his shoulder by God, but in bearing these burdens he trusted in God. Nehemiah knew that the good hand of God was upon him (vv. 8, 18), and he asked God to remember him (5:19; 13:14, 31). This indicates that he trusted in God and was one with God. (Life-study of Nehemiah, pp. 2-3, 30)

Hymn 785

1 Praying to express the Lord, We must not ourselves express, But let Christ reveal Himself, His desire in us impress.

2 Praying to express the Lord, We must utter His intent, Quieting our human thoughts That with His our mind be blent.

3 Praying to express the Lord, Ever looking unto Him As a mirror to reflect All His glory from within.

4 Praying to express the Lord, Letting Him beseech in us; Christ indwelling prays within To the Christ in heaven thus.

5 Praying to express the Lord, Learning not to pray by self, Praying wholly with the Lord, Praying only by Himself.

(Outlines and ministry excerpts in this morning revival are drawn from messages given in conferences, trainings, along with various books by Witness Lee. Hymn 785 is taken from Hymns. All the above are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. All rights reserved.)