The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church
The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church |
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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee2. PrayingIn a section on prayer in Hymns, Witness Lee expresses the prayer that is in the holiest place:
Chorus Chorus (Witness Lee, Hymns, 702) Drawing from Ezekiel 36, Witness Lee encourages the the local churches to pray for the increase: In the last part of Ezekiel 36 the Lord promised that He would flock people in, but that we need to inquire of Him. In other words we need to pray for the increase. “O Lord, flock people in. You promised this to us.” In the past, whenever we prayed for an increase in number, the Lord answered. I feel we need to pray more. The Lord promised, yet He needs our inquiring. He promised that He will increase our number by flocks of men, but we must pray for this and ask Him to do it. In all the local churches, I hope that you will pray definitely and specifically for the increase of numbers. Never be content with the number that you have at the present time. We all should aspire to be doubled within a period of time. We all must pray, “Lord, flock people in!" (Witness Lee, Visions of Ezekiel, 135) Witness Lee comments on several spiritual exercises including praying to the Lord: Paul in Ephesians 6 said that the Spirit today is the word. The Bible must become the word as the Spirit. This means your Bible must be one with the Spirit. Your Bible is the Spirit, and the Spirit is your Bible. How can we get this? There is no other way except by calling on the Lord, by touching the Lord daily and moment by moment. If we are all such persons living in the presence of the Lord by calling on Him, by praying to Him unceasingly day after day and hour after hour, we will be the reality of the fulfillment of the typology in 1 and 2 Kings. This is my strong burden I would fellowship with the elders. Every local church needs this. Do not invent many formalities. You yourself should practice calling on the Lord. You yourself should practice pray-reading the word as the Spirit. You need to practice the unceasing prayer. You need to practice never quenching the Spirit, but rather, fanning the Spirit all the time into flame. You need to practice not despising any prophesying. (Witness Lee, Living a Life, 32-33) Witness Lee encourages us to combine calling, praying, and reading into one joint practice: Make calling, praying, and reading three-in-one. Then it will be hard to discern whether you are reading, praying, or calling on the name of the Lord. While you are calling, you are praying; while you are praying, you are reading; while you are reading, you are praying; while you are praying, you are calling. Then the word of the Bible becomes spirit and life to you (John 6:63). It is by this way that we take the Lord into us all the time. …At the end of the whole Bible, the last call from God is a call to take the water of life freely (22:17). The Spirit and the bride yearn that the thirsty ones would come to take the water of life for their satisfaction. When you drink the water, you get the food. This is God’s final call, and this will produce the new city, the holy city, the New Jerusalem. All that we need is to come and drink the water of life that we may feed on Christ as the tree of life. This will produce the Body of Christ, the church life, the local churches, and ultimately the holy city, New Jerusalem. (Witness Lee, Growth of Christ, 20-21) |
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