事奉类 › 灵与灵的事奉 › 第三篇　只有灵能接触神

第三篇　只有灵能接触神

灵与灵的事奉

📖 研读 📊 汇集 🇬🇧 English 📋 对照
　　读经：
　　约三6：“从肉身生的，就是肉身；从灵生的，就是灵。”
　　六63节：“叫人活着的乃是灵，肉体是无益的；我对你们所说的话，就是灵，就是生命。”
　　腓三3：“因为真受割礼的，乃是我们这以神的灵敬拜，在基督耶稣里夸口，不靠着肉体的。”
　　罗八6：“体贴肉体的就是死；体贴圣灵的乃是生命平安。”
　　前两次我们已经看见，神要人向祂所有的事奉，必须是在灵里。为着要使我们在灵里事奉祂，祂就道成肉身，死而复活，进到祂的灵里，又在祂的灵里，来和我们接触，就是来和我们的灵接触，使我们已死的灵得以活过来，好叫我们在这活过来的灵里，和祂的灵接触，借以事奉祂。只有我们的灵和祂的灵接触相交而有的事奉，才是祂所要的事奉，才能蒙祂悦纳。神今天就是要我们这样在灵里来拜祂。
　
　　但是今天我们所读的圣经，却给我们看见，在事奉祂的事上，有两个不同的源头：一个是肉体，一个是灵。约三6说，“从肉体生的，就是肉体（原文；）从灵生的，就是灵。”这给我们看见，有两种不同的源头，生出两样不同的结果。－约翰福音一种源头是肉体，另一种源头是灵。当然从什么源头生出的，就是什么结果。从肉体生出的，只能是肉体，绝不能是灵；从灵生出的，也绝不能是肉体，只能是灵。
　　约六63说，“叫人得着生命的（原文）乃是灵，肉体是无益的。”灵和肉体既是不同的源头，就有不同的性质。他们的性质既然不同，他们的性能也就两样。灵（神的灵）的本质是神的生命，所以灵能叫人得着生命。肉体的本质是虚空的，是等于－约翰福音零的，所以肉体使人无益。
　　罗八6说，“体贴肉体的就是死，体贴灵的乃是生命平安。”肉体不只使人无益，并且叫人死。灵不只叫人得着生命，并且使人有平安。人凭着肉体事奉神的结果，就是“无益”，就是“死”；人凭着灵事奉神的结果，就是“生命，”就是“平安。”
　　虽然如此，腓三3，给我们看见，人怎样有凭着灵事奉神的可能，人也照样有凭着肉体事奉神的可能。并且在我们这肉体还未脱尽，灵还未长大的人身上，这可能性是太大了。我们原是灵死了，而堕落到肉体里，凭着肉体活着的人。虽然因着神的救恩，我们的灵已经活过来，但是我们还在肉体里活着，并且我们的灵还没有成熟，还不够刚强，甚或因着我们对于属灵事情的无知，我们还不知道，事奉神必须凭着灵，不该凭着肉体。所以我们在得救以后，向神的事奉，像我们作人一样，大多是凭着肉体，很少是凭着灵，出于灵的，是在灵里的。
　　许多人以为我们的肉体，只会去犯罪，不会来事奉神，我们只有凭着肉体犯罪的可能，没有凭着肉体事奉神的可能。在他们想，只有人凭着肉体去犯罪，绝没有人凭着肉体来事奉神。但是，不但圣经告诉我们，人怎样能凭着肉体犯罪，人也照样能凭着肉体事奉神，而且事实也给我们看见，许多人怎样凭着肉体犯罪，也照样凭着肉体事奉神。无疑的，保罗在未得救以前，就是凭着肉体事奉神（徒二二3，腓三4~7）。许多基督徒虽然得救了，却也像保罗未得救的时候一样，仍是凭着肉体事奉神。人的肉体能用在犯罪的事上，也能用在事奉神的事上。
　　也有人想，人的肉体用在犯罪的事上，虽是错的，但用在事奉神的事上，却是对的；人虽不可凭肉体去犯罪，却可凭肉体来事奉神。但那知凭肉体事奉神，不只不能蒙神悦纳，并且根本不能事奉得通，根本不能接触着神，因为肉体是不通神的，是不能接触神的。
　　肉体包括人堕落的身体和魂。人本是属灵的，由灵作主。但人的灵因着人的堕落而死了，人的魂就兴起来代替灵支配人，而服在人身体的私欲之下。人的身体因有了私欲（就是从撒但而来的罪，）就变成肉体。人的魂既服在人身体的私欲之下，也就属于肉体了。所以肉体在圣经里，乃是指着一切在灵之外，属魂和属血肉的东西（许多时候也是指着属魂和属血肉的人）。一切在灵之外的，都是肉体。人凭着这些在灵之外的东西事奉神，就是凭着肉体事奉神。这是不通，不灵的。
　
　　我们已经看见，神是个灵，所以祂给人创造一个灵，要人用灵事奉祂。并且在祂的救恩里，祂是在祂的灵里，来和人的灵接触。所以我们要事奉祂，就必须在我们的灵里和祂的灵接触。没有一个人，他的灵没有给神的灵碰着，而他能认识神，事奉神，和神有接触。神向人所要的事奉，乃是在人的灵里的。神和人所要有的接触，也是在祂的灵和人的里的。所以一个人要事奉神，必须是在他的灵里碰着神的灵，必须是他里面的灵给神的灵接触一下，必须是他的灵，和神的灵，灵灵相交，灵灵相接，他才能接触神，才能事奉神。因为只有这样的人才能认识神，才能懂得神的事。若不是在灵里碰着神的灵，没有一个人能懂得神的事。那就像一个人不用眼看，而来摸颜色一样；也像一个人不用耳听，而来抓声音一样，乃是不可能的。人的灵若没有给圣灵碰着，人就没有法子明白神的事。所以就不能事奉神。
　
　　所以我们要看清楚，我们事奉神，是该用我们人的那一部分。我们只能用灵，不能用身体接触神。我们的灵是能感觉到神的，但我们的身体是不能的。我们身体任何的一部分，任何的一个觉官，都不能感到神，都不能觉得神。许多初听道的人，盼望他们的眼能看见神，他们的手能摸着神，他们的身体的一部分能碰着神，能感到神，这是不能的。因为神不在人的身体上给人接触祂。
　　还有的人，要祷告神之先，就有一个观念，以为他祷告神，神就要临到他的身体上，他的身体就会感觉发烧，就要发抖。所以他要祷告之先，就预备好了，要身体发烧，发抖。祷告之后，不发烧，不发抖，他就以为神不灵！不真！他这样以为神会临到他的身体上，他预备用他的身体接触神，乃是错误的。人不能用身体来接触神，因为神不是要人用身体来接触祂。一个人如果一直盼望在身体上感觉神，就会有一个结果，不是神临到他的身体上，乃是鬼临到他的身体上。鬼就是撒但的邪灵，乃是附在人的身体上。神的圣灵不是这样。圣灵是来到人的灵里，邪灵是附到人的身体上。这有很大的分别。人如果用身体接触神，结果，怕他要接触了邪灵。这是不该的，也是不可的。
　
　　人不能用身体接触神，也不能用魂接触神。人的身体是不通神的，人的魂也是不通神的。不管是人魂里的心思，意志，或情感，都是不通神，不能明白神，不能接触神的。但是今天的人，总是要用人魂里的心思，来思想神，来明白神，来把神想通了。人听见了神，就在那里想，想神大概就是这样一个光景，就是那样一种情形。人对神的认识，多是头脑（就是人魂里的心思）里面的想像。结果，人对神的认识，多是幻想的，多是一套虚空的东西。因为人的头脑（心思）不能接触神，不能碰着神，人的思想也不能明白神，也不能领会神。人的头脑─人魂里的心思─不是接触神，接受神的机关。
　　有的人信主，是用头脑相信圣经的道理，没有用灵接受主。我碰到这样的人不少。你若问他们，信不信主？他们很坚定的答应说，信。你再问他们，得救了没有？他们就要把弗二8背给你听：“你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信。”你问他们，有没有永生？他们就会对你背约三16：“叫一切信祂的，不至灭亡，反得永生。”但是你若实在的把他们追问一下，他们到底有没有得救，到底有没有永生，他们就没有把握了，就不敢说了。因为他们没有得救的经历。他们的头脑里虽然有了圣经的道理，但他们的灵里还没有主。他们只在头脑里接受了圣经的道理，还没有在灵里经历主的救恩。
　　许多人听道，只是用头脑领会，不是用灵接受。结果，只是他们的头脑碰着了道，他们的灵却没有碰着神。尽管他们的头脑受了道的影响和教导，但他们的灵却没有受神的感动和对付。甚至可能一个人的头脑对于一篇道明白得十分清楚，领会得非常透彻，而他的灵却丝毫未碰着神。他的头脑里满了道，但他的灵里还没有神。神的道可以借着人的领会，进到人的头脑里，但神的自己是借着祂的灵，进到人的灵里。
　　许多弟兄姊妹读经，也是只用头脑，不用灵。所以他们不能在圣经里得着灵感，不能借着读经在灵里碰着神。他们的头脑能研究清楚许多的道理，他们的思想能想通了许多的真理，但他们的灵没有在神的话里，被神摸着，得着神生命的供应，没有给神在祂的灵里，借着祂的话，来感动，来加强，来光照，来洁净。
　　许多弟兄姊妹祷告，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们早晨晚上按规矩祷告，都是从他们的头脑里背出那么一套，像背书一样。先从自己背起，背完了自己，再背家庭，再背教会，再背国家，再背世界。从自己背到全世界。天天祷告，都是那样背了一遍，早晨来不及，晚间再补上。起头几天背，还感觉有味道，背长了，就感觉是一个重担。但是背长了，也是－约翰福音一个习惯，不背，心里又不平安。这种用头脑按套的祷告，不能叫人在灵里碰着神，摸着神的同在，得着神的供应，只能叫人心里感觉是重担，叫人灵里感觉枯燥，虚空，没有滋润，满足。
　　许多时候，弟兄们在聚会里拣诗祷告，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们所拣的诗歌，是他们按着某种需要，用头脑衡量出来的，不是在灵里受感出来的。他们所作的祷告，是他们照着那种情形，用思想编造出来的，不是从灵里释放出来的。所以无论是他们所拣的诗歌，或是他们所作的祷告，都不能摸着神，都不能碰着人里面的灵，叫人的灵感觉到神，将人的灵带起来。
　　就是许多人讲道，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们在未讲之前，先用思想选出题目，再用头脑想好段落，配上故事，加上比喻，到讲的时候，就用头脑的记忆，将他们所已经想好了的道，从他们的头脑里，分段按条的讲说出来。这样的讲道，－约翰福音十足的是用人的头脑，是靠人的思想，难怪不只不能叫听的人触着神，不能叫听的受感动，就是连讲的人自己也不能摸着神，也不能受感动。
　　连弟兄姊妹探望人，在属灵的事上和人接触，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们和人谈福音，讲属灵的事，乃是凭着他们的悟性所领会的真理，他们的头脑所记得的道理，不是凭着灵里所受的感动，不是靠着灵里所得的启示。所以他们的话语，不能将神释放出去，不能打动人里面的灵；他们的探望，也不能解决人属灵的难处，叫人得着神和神的供应。
　　这一切属灵的事，这一切事奉神的事，无论哪一件，若是人摸它，只用头脑，不用灵，都不能叫人碰着神，得着神；都不能叫人摸着神的生命，受到神的供应。
　　人魂里的心思，怎样不能接触神，人魂里的情感和意志，也照样不能接触神。人的情感可以被打动，人的意志也可以有转变，但人仍可以没有触着神。许多时候，－约翰福音一个人听道，读经，祷告，聚会，受劝勉，被带领，他的情感可以受了很大的感动，他的意志也可以因着他的情感所受的感动，而有了厉害的转变，坚强的定规，要如何向着神，要如何为着神，但他仍可以丝毫没有碰着神，丝毫没有和神接触。因为他的情感和意志虽然被属灵的事物打动了，但他的灵却没有被神感动。属灵的事物可以打动他的情感和意志，但神是要感动他的灵，摸着他的灵。他的情感和意志能接触属灵的事物，却不能接触神。
　
　　我们必须清楚，而且记得，神是个灵；只有灵能接触灵，能碰着灵。所以，我们要接触神，就必须用灵。我们在任何的事上，要接触神，要碰着神，都必须用灵。在灵以外，任何属灵的事，都不能叫我们碰着神。一件事可以非常属灵，但我们在那件事上若不用灵接触神，那件事虽然非常属灵，还不能叫我们碰着神。光是属灵的事，还不能叫人碰着神。有了属灵的事，还必须人在那件属灵的事上用灵接触神，才能叫人碰着神。
　　一个人信主，光是用头脑领受福音的道理，是不够的，还必须用灵接受主。人的头脑只能接触道理，不能接触主。人若只接触了道理，而没有接触主，人就不能得救。人必须接触了主，才能蒙到主的救恩。但是人要接触主，就必须用灵。一个人必须越过─深过─他的头脑，在他深处的灵里，让圣灵光照，接受圣灵的感动，感觉自己的罪恶，承认自己是一个罪人，接受死而复活的基督，就是永活的救主（不是死的道理），他才能在他的灵里碰着主的灵，─也就是接触着主自己，─而得着主的救恩。
　　这和人仅仅在头脑里领受福音的道理，是大有分别的。那是人在头脑里明白，领会，以道理为目标；这是人在灵里受感，接受，以基督为对象。那个可以在头脑里明白，领受许多的道理，而没有碰着基督；这个可以在灵里接触了基督，而不懂得许多的道理。那个虽然可以叫人的头脑受了道理的教导，有了道理的知识，但不能叫人的灵得着基督的拯救，有了基督的生命；这个乃是叫人的灵受了圣灵的光照，得着圣灵的重生，虽然不一定叫人的头脑懂得许多福音的真理，有了许多福音的知识。
　　人可能明白许多的道理，还没有得着主的救恩。人可能在头脑里有有罪的知识，而在灵里却没有有罪的感觉─头脑知道自己有罪，灵却不感觉自己有罪。人可能在头脑里明白基督，领会基督，但在灵里还没有接触基督，碰着基督。所以会这样，乃是因为人只用头脑研究基督的道理，而不用灵接触基督的自己。当人肯用灵来接触基督，肯在他的灵里受圣灵的感动，而来接触基督，接受基督，他就要在他的灵里碰着基督，得着基督，而蒙到基督生命的救恩，使他从灵里到外面都会有了改变。
　　一个人听道，也必须越过─深过─魂的心思，情感，和意志，而在灵里受到神的灵感，接触基督自己。人若只用心思，情感，和意志来听道，就只能在心思里明白道的意思，在情感里受道的感动，在意志里因着道而有所决定。这些只能叫人接触道的本身，不能叫人碰着道里面的基督。道的本身不过是字句，不过是知识，不能叫人得着生命的拯救，不能使人受到属灵的供应。道里面的基督才是生命，才是灵，才能叫人得着生命的本身，使人得到属灵的实际。人可以用心思，情感，和意志来接触道的本身，但人要碰着道里面的基督，就必须用灵，就必须在灵里寻求，仰望，亲近，敬拜基督，而与祂接触，和祂相交。
　　一个人读经，虽然该用专一，集中的思想查读，默想，但更该用安静，渴慕的灵，借着神的话语─圣经─寻求神和祂的启示，而接受祂的光照和供应。心思只能明白圣经的字句，领会其中的道理，不能接触其中所启示的神，不能接受其中所说的生命。这是唯有灵借着心思明白的圣经，领会的道理，所能作的。所以人读经，必须在灵里，借着神的话语，亲近祂，接触祂，与祂相交，和祂来往，才能碰着祂，得着祂，蒙到属灵的光照，受到生命的供应。
　　一个人祷告，更是需要用灵，更是需要在灵里。虽然圣经说，“也要用悟性（就是心思）祷告，”但那不是说，只用悟性祷告，乃是说，要用悟性领会灵里的负担和感觉，而用悟性的话语把那负担和感觉祷告出来。人如果只用悟性，只用心思，只用头脑祷告，人就受不到灵感，感不到神的同在。人必须用灵，必须在灵里祷告，必须在灵里有了负担和感觉，然后用悟性将灵里的负担和感觉祷告出来，才能摸着神和祂的同在，才能得到灵的滋润和供应。
　　或者有人要问，怎样是用头脑祷告？怎样是用灵祷告？用头脑祷告，就是只凭头脑所记，所想的去祷告，一点没有灵里的感觉。许多时候，人是先定规好了，要怎样祷告，然后用记忆力将所定规的，从头脑里祷告出来。许多时候，人虽然没有先定规要怎样祷告，但去祷告的时候，总是用头脑思想─甚至思索─怎样祷告，而照着所思想─思索─的，作出祷告来。许多时候，人是将一套的事情，或是照着套文，像背书一样的祷告出来。也有许多时候，人是仅仅照着祷告事项的记载或报告，将那些事项用祷告来述说一遍。诸如此类的祷告，都是只用头脑，而不用灵的。这样的祷告，不过是出于人的头脑，再经过人的口说出来而已，丝毫没有灵感，不只不能感动神，不能感动人，就是连自己也不能感动，因为不是出于灵里活的灵感，乃是出于头脑里死的知识。
　　用灵祷告就不同了。用灵祷告，虽然也需要用头脑，但头脑并非是祷告所来自的源头，不过是祷告所经过的机关。用灵祷告的祷告，不是出于头脑的，乃是出于灵，而经过头脑的；乃是人不凭着头脑所记，所想的，只凭着灵所感觉，所负担的，而用头脑领会灵里所感觉，所负担的，把它祷告出来。虽然有时也是先有头脑的知道和记忆，而后祷告，并且也好像是照着头脑的知道和记忆而有祷告，但头脑的知道和记忆是已经变作灵里的感觉和负担。人必须先在灵里有了感觉和负担，而后再用头脑，再用悟性，将灵里的感觉和负担祷告出来，才是用灵祷告。这样的祷告，需要人越过─深过─心思，情感，和意志，而在灵里和神的灵接触，得着灵的感觉和负担。这样的祷告，是只跟随灵感，而不照着套文的，是新鲜而不陈旧的，是叫祷告的人摸着神，而感觉神的同在的，同时也是叫祷告的人自己和听见的人，都受灵的感动，都得灵的滋润和供应。
　　这样在灵里的祷告，许多时候是人原来所没有想到的。比方有的人原来是要去为他的事工，身体，或是为他的家庭，儿女祷告。但是当他进到神面前的时候，神的灵就碰着他的灵，叫他感觉他在神面前满了亏欠。这时他在灵里所感觉，所负担的，就是他的亏欠，他就顾不得为他的事工，身体，或是为他的家庭，儿女祷告，只好随着他灵里的感觉，将自己在神面前的亏欠，一一的向神承认出来，以卸去他灵的负担。这样的祷告，能叫他摸着神，能叫他更深的进入神里面，和神有交通，更深的充满神，得着神甜美的滋润和丰富的供应。他若肯不顾他头脑里所记好，要预备祷告的事，只顾他灵里的感觉，而随着那感觉一直祷告，他就必要在他的里面蒙到神无限属灵的福气，感觉非常喜乐，平安，舒服，满足，非常新鲜，明亮，活泼，有力。祷告完了，不只他自己觉得满了神的同在，就是别人遇到他，也会感觉在他身上有一个莫名其妙的情形和能力。
　　所以，弟兄姊妹，我们祷告，必须先用灵接触神，先在灵里碰着神，有了出于神的感觉和负担，而后再用悟性，再用头脑，把灵里所受的感觉和负担，变作话语祷告出来。我们祷告，必须先拒绝头脑的记忆和思想，而用灵亲近神，摸到神的感觉，接受神的负担。这不是说，我们不可以把事情记在头脑里，带到神面前去祷告，乃是说，一切要祷告的事，必须先在我们的灵里，变作我们从神来的感觉和负担，然后才可以在神面前成为我们所该有的祷告。所以，我们把一件事带到神面前去祷告的时候，不能一开头就从我们的头脑里把那件事祷告出来，必须先在灵里接触神，摸神的感觉，如果那件事在神面前会变作我们灵里的感觉，我们才可以为它祷告；否则，就是原来定规要为它祷告，也不可为它祷告。如果灵里没有感觉，仍为它祷告，就是凭头脑祷告，就是用头脑祷告，必不能摸着神和祂的同在，因为是在头脑里，作出于头脑的祷告。只有在我们灵里变作感觉和负担的事，我们为它祷告，才能叫我们在祷告里摸着神的同在，得到神的滋润。
　　我这次在马尼拉，有弟兄问说，什么叫作头脑的祷告？什么叫作灵的祷告？我虽然觉得不容易说，我觉得可用一句简单地话，回答他，就是：头脑的祷告是想出来的，灵的祷告是感觉出来的。凡是我们用思想想出来的祷告，都是头脑的，因为都是出于头脑的。凡是我们从里面深处的感觉发出的祷告，都是灵的，因为都是出于灵的。我们应当为许多的事祷告，但我们不能只凭头脑所记，所想的去祷告。一切要祷告的事，都必须先在神面前变作我们灵里的感觉和负担。我们只能随着我们灵里的感觉，为着我们灵里的负担祷告，因为我们只能在我们灵里接触神而祷告。我们可以把许多事带到神面前，但还必须看神是否使它们变成我们灵里的感觉和负担，才可以定规为不为它们祷告。我们只能为着有灵感的事祷告，只能在灵感里摸着神而祷告，也只能在灵感里祷告那摸着神的祷告。
　　我们在祷告里，不只向神祈求，该随着灵里的感觉，就是向神赞美，感谢，也该随着灵里的感觉。我们不该只凭着道理，知识，或外面事物的感触，而赞美，感谢神。如果这样，我们的赞美，感谢，虽然是向着神的，却不能使我们摸着神，因为是字句的，是仪式的，是外面的，是头脑的，是不在灵里，而且也是没有灵的。唯有随着灵里的感觉，而有的赞美，感谢，才能叫我们摸着神，得着神悦纳的印证，就是神在我们灵里给我们同在的感觉，因为这样的祷告是在灵里的，也是满有灵的。
　　一个人带领一个聚会，或是在聚会中拣诗，祷告，说话，作见证，都该是在灵里，都该是从灵的感觉里作出来。许多时候，人在聚会中所有的动作，不过是照着规矩，常识，或某种需要。那些动作都是人凭着头脑或情感而有的，不是人在灵里，凭着灵的感觉而作的，所以都是仪式的，套文的，知识的，头脑的，或情感的，不能叫人感觉神的同在，得着神的供应。人在聚会中，必须敞开自己的灵向着神，在灵里接触神，和神相交，从神得到灵感，而后有动作，才能叫人感觉神的同在，得着神的供应。人在聚会中一切的动作，都该是这样在灵里而有的。比方人在聚会中拣诗，不能只照着对诗歌的认识，或对某种聚会需要某种诗歌的常识，而拣出适时适事或适题的诗歌，还必须在灵里摸着聚会的灵，对于某点从神有了灵感，而选出能表达，能释放，能摸着那灵感的诗歌。再比方人在聚会中说话或作见证，也是不能只照着外面的情形和需要，而说出合乎那种情形的话语，或作出应付那种需要的见证，还必须在灵里，对那种情形和需要，摸着神的感觉，从神得着灵感，而照着灵里的感觉有所发表。这个光在头脑里，有聚会的常识是不够的，还必须在灵里和神有交通，有接触，摸着神的感觉，得着灵感才可以。唯有这样，才能叫人的灵感觉生命和实际；否则，只能叫人的灵感觉死亡和虚空。
　　一个人讲道，也是如此，不能只凭着道理的知识，照着外面的情形和需要而讲一篇适合那种情形，应付那种需要的道。若是那样，就是知识的，字句的，头脑的，不是在灵里的。在灵里的讲道，必须人在灵里，对某种情形，或某种需要摸着神的感觉，从神受了灵感，而用适宜的道理和话语，将灵里的感觉释放出来。这样的讲道，才能叫讲的人自己摸着神的同在，得着神的供应，叫听的人受到生命的造就，得到属灵的帮助。
　　就是我们去探望人，也必须在灵里，跟随灵的感觉，和人接触；不能只凭着头脑里所懂得，所记得的道理，照着人外面的情形和需要，和人接谈。只凭着自己头脑里面的道理，照着外面的情形，和人接谈，不能将人带到神面前，更不能将神分给人，供应人灵里的需要，解决人灵里的难处。只有在灵里摸着神，而从神同在的感觉里，和人接触，才能叫人碰着神，得着神，才能叫人在灵里得到属灵的光照或安慰，生命的供应或造就。只有在神同在的灵里和人接触，才能摸着神的灵，也摸着人的灵，才能使人的灵碰着神的灵，使人在灵里得着神的灵各种的供应和帮助。
　　所以我们在事奉神的事上，无论作什么，都必须用灵，都必须在灵里，才能摸着神，才能碰着神。这在宇宙中是一个大的定律。这个定律，就是人接触神，必须用人的灵，必须在人的灵里。人要接触神，必须照着这个定律，必须履行这个定律。不照着这个定律接触神，就是违反神的定规，就不能摸着神，就不能碰着神。因为神是个灵，人要接触祂，必须用灵，必须在灵里。只有灵能接触灵，所以只有灵能接触神。
　　读经：　　约翰福音三章六节：“从肉身生的，就是肉身；从灵生的，就是灵。”
--------本段经节汇集--------
约3:6  
从肉体生的，就是肉体；从那灵生的，就是灵。
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　　六章六十三节：“叫人活着的乃是灵，肉体是无益的；我对你们所说的话，就是灵，就是生命。”　　腓立比书三章三节：“因为真受割礼的，乃是我们这以神的灵敬拜，在基督耶稣里夸口，不靠着肉体的。”
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腓3:3  
真受割礼的，乃是我们这凭神的灵事奉，在基督耶稣里夸口，不信靠肉体的。
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　　罗马书八章六节：“体贴肉体的就是死；体贴圣灵的乃是生命平安。”
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罗8:6  
因为心思置于肉体，就是死；心思置于灵，乃是生命平安。
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　　前两次我们已经看见，神要人向祂所有的事奉，必须是在灵里。为着要使我们在灵里事奉祂，祂就道成肉身，死而复活，进到祂的灵里，又在祂的灵里，来和我们接触，就是来和我们的灵接触，使我们已死的灵得以活过来，好叫我们在这活过来的灵里，和祂的灵接触，借以事奉祂。只有我们的灵和祂的灵接触相交而有的事奉，才是祂所要的事奉，才能蒙祂悦纳。神今天就是要我们这样在灵里来拜祂。
　
　　但是今天我们所读的圣经，却给我们看见，在事奉祂的事上，有两个不同的源头：一个是肉体，一个是灵。约翰福音三章六节说，“从肉体生的，就是肉体（原文；）从灵生的，就是灵。”这给我们看见，有两种不同的源头，生出两样不同的结果。一种源头是肉体，另一种源头是灵。当然从什么源头生出的，就是什么结果。从肉体生出的，只能是肉体，绝不能是灵；从灵生出的，也绝不能是肉体，只能是灵。
--------本段经节汇集--------
约3:6  
从肉体生的，就是肉体；从那灵生的，就是灵。
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　　约翰福音六章六十三节说，“叫人得着生命的（原文）乃是灵，肉体是无益的。”灵和肉体既是不同的源头，就有不同的性质。他们的性质既然不同，他们的性能也就两样。灵（神的灵）的本质是神的生命，所以灵能叫人得着生命。肉体的本质是虚空的，是等于零的，所以肉体使人无益。
--------本段经节汇集--------
约6:63  
赐人生命的乃是灵，肉是无益的；我对你们所说的话，就是灵，就是生命。
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　　罗马八章六节说，“体贴肉体的就是死，体贴灵的乃是生命平安。”肉体不只使人无益，并且叫人死。灵不只叫人得着生命，并且使人有平安。人凭着肉体事奉神的结果，就是“无益”，就是“死”；人凭着灵事奉神的结果，就是“生命，”就是“平安。”
--------本段经节汇集--------
罗8:6  
因为心思置于肉体，就是死；心思置于灵，乃是生命平安。
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　　虽然如此，腓立比书三章三节，给我们看见，人怎样有凭着灵事奉神的可能，人也照样有凭着肉体事奉神的可能。并且在我们这肉体还未脱尽，灵还未长大的人身上，这可能性是太大了。我们原是灵死了，而堕落到肉体里，凭着肉体活着的人。虽然因着神的救恩，我们的灵已经活过来，但是我们还在肉体里活着，并且我们的灵还没有成熟，还不够刚强，甚或因着我们对于属灵事情的无知，我们还不知道，事奉神必须凭着灵，不该凭着肉体。所以我们在得救以后，向神的事奉，像我们作人一样，大多是凭着肉体，很少是凭着灵，出于灵的，是在灵里的。
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腓3:3  
真受割礼的，乃是我们这凭神的灵事奉，在基督耶稣里夸口，不信靠肉体的。
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　　许多人以为我们的肉体，只会去犯罪，不会来事奉神，我们只有凭着肉体犯罪的可能，没有凭着肉体事奉神的可能。在他们想，只有人凭着肉体去犯罪，绝没有人凭着肉体来事奉神。但是，不但圣经告诉我们，人怎样能凭着肉体犯罪，人也照样能凭着肉体事奉神，而且事实也给我们看见，许多人怎样凭着肉体犯罪，也照样凭着肉体事奉神。无疑的，保罗在未得救以前，就是凭着肉体事奉神（徒二二3，腓三4~7）。许多基督徒虽然得救了，却也像保罗未得救的时候一样，仍是凭着肉体事奉神。人的肉体能用在犯罪的事上，也能用在事奉神的事上。
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徒22:3  
保罗说，我是犹太人，生在基利家的大数，在这城里长大，在迦玛列脚前，按着我们祖宗严紧的律法受教，我为神热心，像你们众人今日一样。
腓3:4  
其实我也可以信靠肉体；若别人自以为可以信靠肉体，我更可以：
腓3:5  
论割礼，我是第八天受的，我是出于以色列族便雅悯支派，是希伯来人所生的希伯来人；按律法说，是法利赛人；
腓3:6  
按热心说，是逼迫召会的；按律法上的义说，是无可指摘的。
腓3:7  
只是从前我以为对我是赢得的，这些，我因基督都已经看作亏损。
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　　也有人想，人的肉体用在犯罪的事上，虽是错的，但用在事奉神的事上，却是对的；人虽不可凭肉体去犯罪，却可凭肉体来事奉神。但那知凭肉体事奉神，不只不能蒙神悦纳，并且根本不能事奉得通，根本不能接触着神，因为肉体是不通神的，是不能接触神的。　　肉体包括人堕落的身体和魂。人本是属灵的，由灵作主。但人的灵因着人的堕落而死了，人的魂就兴起来代替灵支配人，而服在人身体的私欲之下。人的身体因有了私欲（就是从撒但而来的罪，）就变成肉体。人的魂既服在人身体的私欲之下，也就属于肉体了。所以肉体在圣经里，乃是指着一切在灵之外，属魂和属血肉的东西（许多时候也是指着属魂和属血肉的人）。一切在灵之外的，都是肉体。人凭着这些在灵之外的东西事奉神，就是凭着肉体事奉神。这是不通，不灵的。
　
　　我们已经看见，神是个灵，所以祂给人创造一个灵，要人用灵事奉祂。并且在祂的救恩里，祂是在祂的灵里，来和人的灵接触。所以我们要事奉祂，就必须在我们的灵里和祂的灵接触。没有一个人，他的灵没有给神的灵碰着，而他能认识神，事奉神，和神有接触。神向人所要的事奉，乃是在人的灵里的。神和人所要有的接触，也是在祂的灵和人的里的。所以一个人要事奉神，必须是在他的灵里碰着神的灵，必须是他里面的灵给神的灵接触一下，必须是他的灵，和神的灵，灵灵相交，灵灵相接，他才能接触神，才能事奉神。因为只有这样的人才能认识神，才能懂得神的事。若不是在灵里碰着神的灵，没有一个人能懂得神的事。那就像一个人不用眼看，而来摸颜色一样；也像一个人不用耳听，而来抓声音一样，乃是不可能的。人的灵若没有给圣灵碰着，人就没有法子明白神的事。所以就不能事奉神。
　
　　所以我们要看清楚，我们事奉神，是该用我们人的那一部分。我们只能用灵，不能用身体接触神。我们的灵是能感觉到神的，但我们的身体是不能的。我们身体任何的一部分，任何的一个觉官，都不能感到神，都不能觉得神。许多初听道的人，盼望他们的眼能看见神，他们的手能摸着神，他们的身体的一部分能碰着神，能感到神，这是不能的。因为神不在人的身体上给人接触祂。　　还有的人，要祷告神之先，就有一个观念，以为他祷告神，神就要临到他的身体上，他的身体就会感觉发烧，就要发抖。所以他要祷告之先，就预备好了，要身体发烧，发抖。祷告之后，不发烧，不发抖，他就以为神不灵！不真！他这样以为神会临到他的身体上，他预备用他的身体接触神，乃是错误的。人不能用身体来接触神，因为神不是要人用身体来接触祂。一个人如果一直盼望在身体上感觉神，就会有一个结果，不是神临到他的身体上，乃是鬼临到他的身体上。鬼就是撒但的邪灵，乃是附在人的身体上。神的圣灵不是这样。圣灵是来到人的灵里，邪灵是附到人的身体上。这有很大的分别。人如果用身体接触神，结果，怕他要接触了邪灵。这是不该的，也是不可的。
　
　　人不能用身体接触神，也不能用魂接触神。人的身体是不通神的，人的魂也是不通神的。不管是人魂里的心思，意志，或情感，都是不通神，不能明白神，不能接触神的。但是今天的人，总是要用人魂里的心思，来思想神，来明白神，来把神想通了。人听见了神，就在那里想，想神大概就是这样一个光景，就是那样一种情形。人对神的认识，多是头脑（就是人魂里的心思）里面的想像。结果，人对神的认识，多是幻想的，多是一套虚空的东西。因为人的头脑（心思）不能接触神，不能碰着神，人的思想也不能明白神，也不能领会神。人的头脑─人魂里的心思─不是接触神，接受神的机关。　　有的人信主，是用头脑相信圣经的道理，没有用灵接受主。我碰到这样的人不少。你若问他们，信不信主？他们很坚定的答应说，信。你再问他们，得救了没有？他们就要把以弗所书二章八节背给你听：“你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信。”你问他们，有没有永生？他们就会对你背约翰福音三章十六节：“叫一切信祂的，不至灭亡，反得永生。”但是你若实在的把他们追问一下，他们到底有没有得救，到底有没有永生，他们就没有把握了，就不敢说了。因为他们没有得救的经历。他们的头脑里虽然有了圣经的道理，但他们的灵里还没有主。他们只在头脑里接受了圣经的道理，还没有在灵里经历主的救恩。
--------本段经节汇集--------
弗2:8  
你们得救是靠着恩典，借着信；这并不是出于你们，乃是神的恩赐；
约3:16  
神爱世人，甚至将祂的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信入祂的，不至灭亡，反得永远的生命。
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　　许多人听道，只是用头脑领会，不是用灵接受。结果，只是他们的头脑碰着了道，他们的灵却没有碰着神。尽管他们的头脑受了道的影响和教导，但他们的灵却没有受神的感动和对付。甚至可能一个人的头脑对于一篇道明白得十分清楚，领会得非常透彻，而他的灵却丝毫未碰着神。他的头脑里满了道，但他的灵里还没有神。神的道可以借着人的领会，进到人的头脑里，但神的自己是借着祂的灵，进到人的灵里。　　许多弟兄姊妹读经，也是只用头脑，不用灵。所以他们不能在圣经里得着灵感，不能借着读经在灵里碰着神。他们的头脑能研究清楚许多的道理，他们的思想能想通了许多的真理，但他们的灵没有在神的话里，被神摸着，得着神生命的供应，没有给神在祂的灵里，借着祂的话，来感动，来加强，来光照，来洁净。　　许多弟兄姊妹祷告，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们早晨晚上按规矩祷告，都是从他们的头脑里背出那么一套，像背书一样。先从自己背起，背完了自己，再背家庭，再背教会，再背国家，再背世界。从自己背到全世界。天天祷告，都是那样背了一遍，早晨来不及，晚间再补上。起头几天背，还感觉有味道，背长了，就感觉是一个重担。但是背长了，也是一个习惯，不背，心里又不平安。这种用头脑按套的祷告，不能叫人在灵里碰着神，摸着神的同在，得着神的供应，只能叫人心里感觉是重担，叫人灵里感觉枯燥，虚空，没有滋润，满足。
--------本段经节汇集--------
约书亚记一章（略，若需要被汇集，请勾选“不忽略整章”）
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　　许多时候，弟兄们在聚会里拣诗祷告，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们所拣的诗歌，是他们按着某种需要，用头脑衡量出来的，不是在灵里受感出来的。他们所作的祷告，是他们照着那种情形，用思想编造出来的，不是从灵里释放出来的。所以无论是他们所拣的诗歌，或是他们所作的祷告，都不能摸着神，都不能碰着人里面的灵，叫人的灵感觉到神，将人的灵带起来。　　就是许多人讲道，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们在未讲之前，先用思想选出题目，再用头脑想好段落，配上故事，加上比喻，到讲的时候，就用头脑的记忆，将他们所已经想好了的道，从他们的头脑里，分段按条的讲说出来。这样的讲道，十足的是用人的头脑，是靠人的思想，难怪不只不能叫听的人触着神，不能叫听的受感动，就是连讲的人自己也不能摸着神，也不能受感动。　　连弟兄姊妹探望人，在属灵的事上和人接触，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们和人谈福音，讲属灵的事，乃是凭着他们的悟性所领会的真理，他们的头脑所记得的道理，不是凭着灵里所受的感动，不是靠着灵里所得的启示。所以他们的话语，不能将神释放出去，不能打动人里面的灵；他们的探望，也不能解决人属灵的难处，叫人得着神和神的供应。　　这一切属灵的事，这一切事奉神的事，无论哪一件，若是人摸它，只用头脑，不用灵，都不能叫人碰着神，得着神；都不能叫人摸着神的生命，受到神的供应。　　人魂里的心思，怎样不能接触神，人魂里的情感和意志，也照样不能接触神。人的情感可以被打动，人的意志也可以有转变，但人仍可以没有触着神。许多时候，一个人听道，读经，祷告，聚会，受劝勉，被带领，他的情感可以受了很大的感动，他的意志也可以因着他的情感所受的感动，而有了厉害的转变，坚强的定规，要如何向着神，要如何为着神，但他仍可以丝毫没有碰着神，丝毫没有和神接触。因为他的情感和意志虽然被属灵的事物打动了，但他的灵却没有被神感动。属灵的事物可以打动他的情感和意志，但神是要感动他的灵，摸着他的灵。他的情感和意志能接触属灵的事物，却不能接触神。
　
　　我们必须清楚，而且记得，神是个灵；只有灵能接触灵，能碰着灵。所以，我们要接触神，就必须用灵。我们在任何的事上，要接触神，要碰着神，都必须用灵。在灵以外，任何属灵的事，都不能叫我们碰着神。一件事可以非常属灵，但我们在那件事上若不用灵接触神，那件事虽然非常属灵，还不能叫我们碰着神。光是属灵的事，还不能叫人碰着神。有了属灵的事，还必须人在那件属灵的事上用灵接触神，才能叫人碰着神。　　一个人信主，光是用头脑领受福音的道理，是不够的，还必须用灵接受主。人的头脑只能接触道理，不能接触主。人若只接触了道理，而没有接触主，人就不能得救。人必须接触了主，才能蒙到主的救恩。但是人要接触主，就必须用灵。一个人必须越过─深过─他的头脑，在他深处的灵里，让圣灵光照，接受圣灵的感动，感觉自己的罪恶，承认自己是一个罪人，接受死而复活的基督，就是永活的救主（不是死的道理），他才能在他的灵里碰着主的灵，─也就是接触着主自己，─而得着主的救恩。　　这和人仅仅在头脑里领受福音的道理，是大有分别的。那是人在头脑里明白，领会，以道理为目标；这是人在灵里受感，接受，以基督为对象。那个可以在头脑里明白，领受许多的道理，而没有碰着基督；这个可以在灵里接触了基督，而不懂得许多的道理。那个虽然可以叫人的头脑受了道理的教导，有了道理的知识，但不能叫人的灵得着基督的拯救，有了基督的生命；这个乃是叫人的灵受了圣灵的光照，得着圣灵的重生，虽然不一定叫人的头脑懂得许多福音的真理，有了许多福音的知识。　　人可能明白许多的道理，还没有得着主的救恩。人可能在头脑里有有罪的知识，而在灵里却没有有罪的感觉─头脑知道自己有罪，灵却不感觉自己有罪。人可能在头脑里明白基督，领会基督，但在灵里还没有接触基督，碰着基督。所以会这样，乃是因为人只用头脑研究基督的道理，而不用灵接触基督的自己。当人肯用灵来接触基督，肯在他的灵里受圣灵的感动，而来接触基督，接受基督，他就要在他的灵里碰着基督，得着基督，而蒙到基督生命的救恩，使他从灵里到外面都会有了改变。　　一个人听道，也必须越过─深过─魂的心思，情感，和意志，而在灵里受到神的灵感，接触基督自己。人若只用心思，情感，和意志来听道，就只能在心思里明白道的意思，在情感里受道的感动，在意志里因着道而有所决定。这些只能叫人接触道的本身，不能叫人碰着道里面的基督。道的本身不过是字句，不过是知识，不能叫人得着生命的拯救，不能使人受到属灵的供应。道里面的基督才是生命，才是灵，才能叫人得着生命的本身，使人得到属灵的实际。人可以用心思，情感，和意志来接触道的本身，但人要碰着道里面的基督，就必须用灵，就必须在灵里寻求，仰望，亲近，敬拜基督，而与祂接触，和祂相交。　　一个人读经，虽然该用专一，集中的思想查读，默想，但更该用安静，渴慕的灵，借着神的话语─圣经─寻求神和祂的启示，而接受祂的光照和供应。心思只能明白圣经的字句，领会其中的道理，不能接触其中所启示的神，不能接受其中所说的生命。这是唯有灵借着心思明白的圣经，领会的道理，所能作的。所以人读经，必须在灵里，借着神的话语，亲近祂，接触祂，与祂相交，和祂来往，才能碰着祂，得着祂，蒙到属灵的光照，受到生命的供应。　　一个人祷告，更是需要用灵，更是需要在灵里。虽然圣经说，“也要用悟性（就是心思）祷告，”但那不是说，只用悟性祷告，乃是说，要用悟性领会灵里的负担和感觉，而用悟性的话语把那负担和感觉祷告出来。人如果只用悟性，只用心思，只用头脑祷告，人就受不到灵感，感不到神的同在。人必须用灵，必须在灵里祷告，必须在灵里有了负担和感觉，然后用悟性将灵里的负担和感觉祷告出来，才能摸着神和祂的同在，才能得到灵的滋润和供应。　　或者有人要问，怎样是用头脑祷告？怎样是用灵祷告？用头脑祷告，就是只凭头脑所记，所想的去祷告，一点没有灵里的感觉。许多时候，人是先定规好了，要怎样祷告，然后用记忆力将所定规的，从头脑里祷告出来。许多时候，人虽然没有先定规要怎样祷告，但去祷告的时候，总是用头脑思想─甚至思索─怎样祷告，而照着所思想─思索─的，作出祷告来。许多时候，人是将一套的事情，或是照着套文，像背书一样的祷告出来。也有许多时候，人是仅仅照着祷告事项的记载或报告，将那些事项用祷告来述说一遍。诸如此类的祷告，都是只用头脑，而不用灵的。这样的祷告，不过是出于人的头脑，再经过人的口说出来而已，丝毫没有灵感，不只不能感动神，不能感动人，就是连自己也不能感动，因为不是出于灵里活的灵感，乃是出于头脑里死的知识。　　用灵祷告就不同了。用灵祷告，虽然也需要用头脑，但头脑并非是祷告所来自的源头，不过是祷告所经过的机关。用灵祷告的祷告，不是出于头脑的，乃是出于灵，而经过头脑的；乃是人不凭着头脑所记，所想的，只凭着灵所感觉，所负担的，而用头脑领会灵里所感觉，所负担的，把它祷告出来。虽然有时也是先有头脑的知道和记忆，而后祷告，并且也好像是照着头脑的知道和记忆而有祷告，但头脑的知道和记忆是已经变作灵里的感觉和负担。人必须先在灵里有了感觉和负担，而后再用头脑，再用悟性，将灵里的感觉和负担祷告出来，才是用灵祷告。这样的祷告，需要人越过─深过─心思，情感，和意志，而在灵里和神的灵接触，得着灵的感觉和负担。这样的祷告，是只跟随灵感，而不照着套文的，是新鲜而不陈旧的，是叫祷告的人摸着神，而感觉神的同在的，同时也是叫祷告的人自己和听见的人，都受灵的感动，都得灵的滋润和供应。　　这样在灵里的祷告，许多时候是人原来所没有想到的。比方有的人原来是要去为他的事工，身体，或是为他的家庭，儿女祷告。但是当他进到神面前的时候，神的灵就碰着他的灵，叫他感觉他在神面前满了亏欠。这时他在灵里所感觉，所负担的，就是他的亏欠，他就顾不得为他的事工，身体，或是为他的家庭，儿女祷告，只好随着他灵里的感觉，将自己在神面前的亏欠，一一的向神承认出来，以卸去他灵的负担。这样的祷告，能叫他摸着神，能叫他更深的进入神里面，和神有交通，更深的充满神，得着神甜美的滋润和丰富的供应。他若肯不顾他头脑里所记好，要预备祷告的事，只顾他灵里的感觉，而随着那感觉一直祷告，他就必要在他的里面蒙到神无限属灵的福气，感觉非常喜乐，平安，舒服，满足，非常新鲜，明亮，活泼，有力。祷告完了，不只他自己觉得满了神的同在，就是别人遇到他，也会感觉在他身上有一个莫名其妙的情形和能力。　　所以，弟兄姊妹，我们祷告，必须先用灵接触神，先在灵里碰着神，有了出于神的感觉和负担，而后再用悟性，再用头脑，把灵里所受的感觉和负担，变作话语祷告出来。我们祷告，必须先拒绝头脑的记忆和思想，而用灵亲近神，摸到神的感觉，接受神的负担。这不是说，我们不可以把事情记在头脑里，带到神面前去祷告，乃是说，一切要祷告的事，必须先在我们的灵里，变作我们从神来的感觉和负担，然后才可以在神面前成为我们所该有的祷告。所以，我们把一件事带到神面前去祷告的时候，不能一开头就从我们的头脑里把那件事祷告出来，必须先在灵里接触神，摸神的感觉，如果那件事在神面前会变作我们灵里的感觉，我们才可以为它祷告；否则，就是原来定规要为它祷告，也不可为它祷告。如果灵里没有感觉，仍为它祷告，就是凭头脑祷告，就是用头脑祷告，必不能摸着神和祂的同在，因为是在头脑里，作出于头脑的祷告。只有在我们灵里变作感觉和负担的事，我们为它祷告，才能叫我们在祷告里摸着神的同在，得到神的滋润。　　我这次在马尼拉，有弟兄问说，什么叫作头脑的祷告？什么叫作灵的祷告？我虽然觉得不容易说，我觉得可用一句简单地话，回答他，就是：头脑的祷告是想出来的，灵的祷告是感觉出来的。凡是我们用思想想出来的祷告，都是头脑的，因为都是出于头脑的。凡是我们从里面深处的感觉发出的祷告，都是灵的，因为都是出于灵的。我们应当为许多的事祷告，但我们不能只凭头脑所记，所想的去祷告。一切要祷告的事，都必须先在神面前变作我们灵里的感觉和负担。我们只能随着我们灵里的感觉，为着我们灵里的负担祷告，因为我们只能在我们灵里接触神而祷告。我们可以把许多事带到神面前，但还必须看神是否使它们变成我们灵里的感觉和负担，才可以定规为不为它们祷告。我们只能为着有灵感的事祷告，只能在灵感里摸着神而祷告，也只能在灵感里祷告那摸着神的祷告。　　我们在祷告里，不只向神祈求，该随着灵里的感觉，就是向神赞美，感谢，也该随着灵里的感觉。我们不该只凭着道理，知识，或外面事物的感触，而赞美，感谢神。如果这样，我们的赞美，感谢，虽然是向着神的，却不能使我们摸着神，因为是字句的，是仪式的，是外面的，是头脑的，是不在灵里，而且也是没有灵的。唯有随着灵里的感觉，而有的赞美，感谢，才能叫我们摸着神，得着神悦纳的印证，就是神在我们灵里给我们同在的感觉，因为这样的祷告是在灵里的，也是满有灵的。　　一个人带领一个聚会，或是在聚会中拣诗，祷告，说话，作见证，都该是在灵里，都该是从灵的感觉里作出来。许多时候，人在聚会中所有的动作，不过是照着规矩，常识，或某种需要。那些动作都是人凭着头脑或情感而有的，不是人在灵里，凭着灵的感觉而作的，所以都是仪式的，套文的，知识的，头脑的，或情感的，不能叫人感觉神的同在，得着神的供应。人在聚会中，必须敞开自己的灵向着神，在灵里接触神，和神相交，从神得到灵感，而后有动作，才能叫人感觉神的同在，得着神的供应。人在聚会中一切的动作，都该是这样在灵里而有的。比方人在聚会中拣诗，不能只照着对诗歌的认识，或对某种聚会需要某种诗歌的常识，而拣出适时适事或适题的诗歌，还必须在灵里摸着聚会的灵，对于某点从神有了灵感，而选出能表达，能释放，能摸着那灵感的诗歌。再比方人在聚会中说话或作见证，也是不能只照着外面的情形和需要，而说出合乎那种情形的话语，或作出应付那种需要的见证，还必须在灵里，对那种情形和需要，摸着神的感觉，从神得着灵感，而照着灵里的感觉有所发表。这个光在头脑里，有聚会的常识是不够的，还必须在灵里和神有交通，有接触，摸着神的感觉，得着灵感才可以。唯有这样，才能叫人的灵感觉生命和实际；否则，只能叫人的灵感觉死亡和虚空。　　一个人讲道，也是如此，不能只凭着道理的知识，照着外面的情形和需要而讲一篇适合那种情形，应付那种需要的道。若是那样，就是知识的，字句的，头脑的，不是在灵里的。在灵里的讲道，必须人在灵里，对某种情形，或某种需要摸着神的感觉，从神受了灵感，而用适宜的道理和话语，将灵里的感觉释放出来。这样的讲道，才能叫讲的人自己摸着神的同在，得着神的供应，叫听的人受到生命的造就，得到属灵的帮助。　　就是我们去探望人，也必须在灵里，跟随灵的感觉，和人接触；不能只凭着头脑里所懂得，所记得的道理，照着人外面的情形和需要，和人接谈。只凭着自己头脑里面的道理，照着外面的情形，和人接谈，不能将人带到神面前，更不能将神分给人，供应人灵里的需要，解决人灵里的难处。只有在灵里摸着神，而从神同在的感觉里，和人接触，才能叫人碰着神，得着神，才能叫人在灵里得到属灵的光照或安慰，生命的供应或造就。只有在神同在的灵里和人接触，才能摸着神的灵，也摸着人的灵，才能使人的灵碰着神的灵，使人在灵里得着神的灵各种的供应和帮助。　　所以我们在事奉神的事上，无论作什么，都必须用灵，都必须在灵里，才能摸着神，才能碰着神。这在宇宙中是一个大的定律。这个定律，就是人接触神，必须用人的灵，必须在人的灵里。人要接触神，必须照着这个定律，必须履行这个定律。不照着这个定律接触神，就是违反神的定规，就不能摸着神，就不能碰着神。因为神是个灵，人要接触祂，必须用灵，必须在灵里。只有灵能接触灵，所以只有灵能接触神。
　Scripture Reading: John 3:6; 6:63; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 8:6
　In the two previous chapters we saw that all the service that God wants from man must be in spirit. To enable us to serve Him in spirit, He became the Spirit through incarnation, death, and resurrection. Then as the Spirit, He comes to contact us in our spirit, making our deadened spirit alive so that we can serve Him by contacting Him as the Spirit in our enlivened spirit. Only the service that comes out of the contact and fellowship of our spirit with the Spirit is the service that God wants, and only this kind of service is acceptable to Him. This is how God wants us to worship Him—in spirit.
　
TWO DIFFERENT SOURCES
　The verses above show us that in the matter of service to God there are two different sources: one is the flesh and the other is the Spirit. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This shows us two different sources issuing in two different results. One source is the flesh, and the other source is the Spirit. Of course, the kind of result produced is determined by the kind of source that produces it. That which is born of the flesh can only be flesh and can never be spirit. That which is born of the Spirit can never be flesh but can only be spirit.
　 John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Since the Spirit and the flesh are different sources, they have different natures. Consequently, their capabilities are also different. The substance of the Spirit (the Spirit of God) is the life of God; therefore, the Spirit gives life. The substance of the flesh is vanity and equals nothing; therefore, the flesh profits nothing.
　Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” The flesh not only profits nothing but also results in death, while the Spirit not only gives life but also imparts peace. The result of our serving God by the flesh is “nothing” and “death”; whereas the result of our serving God by the Spirit is “life” and “peace.”
　Notwithstanding, Philippians 3:3 shows that just as we have the possibility of serving God by the spirit, so we have the possibility of serving by the flesh. Moreover, the possibility of serving by the flesh is very great in those of us who have not thoroughly dealt with the flesh and whose spirit has not yet become mature. Formerly, we were deadened in our spirit, we had fallen into the flesh, and we were living by the flesh. Now, although our spirit has been made alive through God’s salvation, we are still living in the flesh. Our spirit has not become mature yet, and it is not strong enough. Furthermore, perhaps due to our ignorance concerning spiritual matters, we may not even know that we must serve God by the spirit and not by the flesh. Therefore, after we have been saved, in the same way that we conduct ourselves, we serve God mostly by the flesh and very little by, of, and in the spirit.
　Many people think that our flesh is capable only of committing sins but not capable of serving God, that is, that we are likely to commit sins but not likely to serve God by our flesh. In their consideration, there is only such a thing as man committing sin by the flesh, but not such a thing as man serving God by the flesh. However, the Bible tells us that just as man commits sins by the flesh, so man can also serve God by the flesh. Not only so, the facts also show that many indeed serve God by the flesh, just as they commit sins by the flesh. No doubt the apostle Paul served God by the flesh before he was saved (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:4-7). Although many Christians have been saved, they still serve God by the flesh, just as the apostle Paul did before he was saved.
　There are some others who think that using the flesh to commit sins is wrong, but using the flesh to serve God is right, and that committing sins by the flesh is forbidden, but serving God by the flesh is permissible. They do not realize, however, that when one serves God by the flesh, not only is his service unacceptable to God, but it is also virtually impossible for him to have access to God and to contact God, because the flesh simply cannot have access to God, nor can it touch God.
　The flesh includes man’s fallen body and soul. Originally, man was spiritual, being dominated by the spirit. After the spirit became dead due to man’s fall, the soul rose up, replacing the spirit to control man and subjected itself to the lusts of the human body. The human body became the flesh due to its lusts, the sin derived from Satan. Since the human soul is in subjection to the lusts of the body, it becomes fleshly. Therefore, in the Scriptures flesh denotes all the soulish and fleshly things outside of the spirit. (It also frequently denotes the soulish and fleshly man.) All things outside of the spirit are the flesh. To serve God by anything outside of the spirit is to serve God by the flesh. This kind of service is of no effect.
　
CONTACTING GOD ONLY BY BEING IN SPIRIT
　We have already seen that God is Spirit, and therefore He created man with a spirit so that man may serve Him in spirit. Moreover, in His salvation He comes to contact man as the Spirit. Therefore, when we serve Him, we must contact the Spirit in our spirit. Unless a person’s spirit is touched by the Spirit of God, he cannot know God, serve God, or contact God. The service that God wants from man is a service that is in the spirit of man. And the contact that God wants to have with man is a contact that is in the Spirit of God and in the spirit of man. Therefore, if someone wants to serve God, he must touch the Spirit of God in his spirit, he must be contacted by the Spirit of God in his spirit, and the two spirits—his spirit and God’s Spirit—must have mutual fellowship and be mutually joined. Only then will he be able to contact God and serve God. Only such a one is able to know God and understand the things of God. No one can understand the things of God unless he touches the Spirit of God in his spirit. This may be compared to someone trying to touch colors without using his eyes or catch a sound without using his ears, which is impossible. Unless a person’s spirit is touched by the Holy Spirit, he has no way to understand the things of God, and thus, he cannot serve God.
　
NOT USING THE BODY TO CONTACT GOD
　Therefore, we must see clearly which part of our being we should use to serve God. We can contact God only by the spirit and not by the body. Our spirit can feel God, but our body cannot. None of the parts and organs of our physical body is able to feel or sense God. Many new ones expect to see God with their eyes, to touch God with their hands, or to sense God with a certain part of their body; this is impossible because God cannot be contacted by us in our body.
　Before they begin praying to God, some have the concept that God will come upon their body while they are praying and that their body will be feverish and trembling. Before they pray, they are prepared for their body to be feverish and trembling, and after they have prayed, if they are neither feverish nor trembling, they think that God is not real. It is wrong for them to have the concept that God will come upon their body and to prepare themselves to touch God with their body. Man cannot touch God with his body because this is not what God wants. If someone always expects to feel God with his body, the result will be that the demons, not God, will come upon his body. The demons, the evil spirits of Satan, cling to the human body. However, the Holy Spirit of God is not like that. The Holy Spirit comes into the spirit of man, but the unclean spirits cling to man’s physical body. This is a great difference. If a man tries to use the body to contact God, he may end up contacting the evil spirits. This is neither proper nor permissible.
　
NOT USING THE SOUL TO CONTACT GOD
　Man cannot use his body to contact God; likewise, he cannot use his soul to contact God. Like the human body, the human soul cannot be connected with God. None of the parts of the soul, whether the mind, the emotion, or the will, can reach God, know God, or contact God. Yet today man always tries to use the mind to consider God, understand God, and comprehend God. When he hears about God, he considers that perhaps God is like this or like that. Man’s knowledge of God is mostly the imaginations of his intellect, the mind in man’s soul. As a result, man’s knowledge of God consists mostly of illusions and vain things. This is because the human intellect (mind) cannot contact or touch God, nor can the human thought know and comprehend God. Man’s intellect, the mind in man’s soul, is not the faculty for contacting and receiving God.
　Some have believed in the Lord by believing the doctrines of the Bible with their mind instead of receiving the Lord with their spirit. I have met many people like this. If you ask them whether they have believed in the Lord, they answer firmly that they have. If you ask them further whether they are saved, they will recite to you Ephesians 2:8: “By grace you have been saved through faith.” If you ask them whether they have eternal life, they will recite John 3:16: “Everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” However, if you question them as to whether they are truly saved and have eternal life, they do not have the assurance, and they dare not say so. This is because they do not have the experience of salvation. Although they have the scriptural doctrines in their mind, they still do not have the Lord in their spirit. They have only received the scriptural doctrines in their mind; they have not yet experienced the Lord’s salvation in their spirit.
　When listening to a message, many people use only their mind and not their spirit. As a result, while their mind touches the message, their spirit fails to touch God. Their spirit is neither moved nor dealt with by the Spirit of God, in spite of the fact that their mind is affected and taught by the message. It is even possible for one’s mind to very clearly know and thoroughly understand the message, and yet his spirit does not touch God even a little. His mind is filled with the message, but his spirit is still void of God. God’s word may enter into man’s mind through man’s understanding, but God Himself can enter into man’s spirit only through the Spirit.
　Many brothers and sisters also use only their mind and not their spirit in reading the Bible. Hence, they cannot receive inspiration from the Bible nor can they touch God in their spirit through the reading of the Scriptures. Their mind can clearly study many doctrines, and their thoughts can figure out many truths. Nevertheless, their spirit has not been touched by God in His word, and therefore they have not received the supply of God’s life. They have not been moved, strengthened, enlightened, or cleansed in their spirit by God as the Spirit through His word.
　Many brothers and sisters also use only their mind and not their spirit when they pray. In their regular morning and evening prayers, they recite the same things from their mind as if they were reciting from a book. They recite something first concerning themselves and then concerning their family, the church, the nation, and the world. Their recitation starts from themselves and covers the whole world. Every day when they pray, they recite once in this manner, and if they cannot finish it in the morning, they make it up in the evening. For a few days in the beginning, this kind of recitation has a good taste to them, but after a longer period of time it begins to feel burdensome. Yet at the same time it has become a habit, so they have no peace if they do not recite. This kind of praying with the mind according to a set form cannot enable a person to contact God in the spirit, nor can it enable him to touch the presence of God and receive the supply of God. It only causes his heart to feel burdened and his spirit to be dry and empty, without being watered or satisfied.
　Very often when the brothers call a hymn or offer a prayer in the meeting, they do it with their mind and not with their spirit. The hymns they select come from the considerations in their mind based on certain needs and not from being moved in their spirit. Moreover, the prayers they offer are prayers composed with their mind according to the existing situation and are not prayers released from their spirit. Therefore, the hymns they call and the prayers they offer cannot touch God, nor can they touch the spirit of others to make them sense God in their spirit and to uplift their spirit.
　Many even preach the word with their mind instead of their spirit. Prior to their preaching, they first consider and select a topic, and then they use their mind to arrange the sections, prepare some stories, and add some illustrations. Then at the time of preaching, they speak the preconceived message in a very good order from their mind according to their memory. This kind of preaching is altogether done by using the human mind and depending on human thoughts. It is no wonder that it cannot bring the audience into contact with God, nor can it cause them to be moved by God. Furthermore, even the speaker himself is unable to touch God or be moved by God.
　Even in visitation and in contacting people in spiritual matters, many brothers and sisters also merely use their mind and not their spirit. When they talk to people about the gospel or about spiritual matters, they do it according to the truth that they have comprehended in their understanding and the doctrine that they have remembered in their mind, instead of doing it according to the inspiration and revelation that they have received in their spirit. Therefore, their word can neither release forth God nor move the spirit within the listener. Likewise, their visitation cannot impart God and God’s supply to others to solve their spiritual problems.
　Concerning all these spiritual matters, matters that pertain to the service of God, if a person touches any of these things merely with his mind and not with his spirit, he will not be able to touch or gain God, nor will he be able to touch God’s life or God’s supply.
　Just as the mind in man’s soul cannot contact God, so the emotion and will in man’s soul also cannot contact God. A person’s emotion might be moved and his will might be changed, yet it is possible that he still has not contacted God. Very often, when someone listens to messages, reads the Scriptures, prays, attends meetings, or receives exhortation and instruction, his emotions may be greatly moved and because of this his will may also have a great change so that he strongly decides to turn to God and to live for God. Yet he may not have touched or contacted God at all. This is due to the fact that although his emotion and his will have been moved by the spiritual things, his spirit has not been moved by God. Spiritual matters may move his emotion and his will, but God wants to move and touch his spirit. His emotion and his will can contact the spiritual things, but they cannot contact God.
　
ONLY USING THE SPIRIT
　We must be clear and remember that God is Spirit and that only the spirit can touch and contact the Spirit. Therefore, if we want to contact and touch God in any matter, we must use our spirit. Apart from our spirit, we cannot touch God in any spiritual matter. A certain matter may be very spiritual, but if we do not use our spirit to contact God in that matter, we simply cannot touch God. A spiritual matter in itself still cannot enable us to touch God. We still must use our spirit to contact God in that spiritual matter; only then can we touch God.
　When a person believes in the Lord, it is not enough that he receives the truth of the gospel merely with his mind. He must also receive the Lord with his spirit. Man’s mind can only contact the truth; it cannot contact the Lord. If a person merely touches the truth and does not contact the Lord, he cannot be saved. He can receive the Lord’s salvation only by contacting the Lord. However, in order to contact the Lord, he must use his spirit. He has to go beyond and deeper than his mind and get into the spirit deep within him in order to be enlightened and moved by the Holy Spirit, to be conscious of his sins, to confess that he is a sinner, and to receive the crucified and resurrected Christ, the ever-living Savior, not a dead doctrine. Only then can he touch the Spirit of the Lord, that is, contact the Lord Himself and receive the Lord’s salvation.
　This is very different from someone who receives the doctrine of the gospel merely in his mind. One person who understands and comprehends with his mind takes doctrine as his goal, whereas another person who is moved and who receives salvation in his spirit takes Christ as his object. In the former case, someone may understand and receive many doctrines in his mind without touching Christ. In the latter case, the other person can contact Christ in his spirit without knowing many doctrines. In the former case, he may receive a doctrinal teaching and obtain some doctrinal knowledge, but his spirit may not be saved by Christ with His life. In the latter case, this one is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and is regenerated in his spirit, even though he may not understand many of the gospel truths or obtain a great deal of gospel knowledge.
　A person may know many doctrines but may not receive the Lord’s salvation. He may have the knowledge of sin in his mind but not have the consciousness of sin in his spirit. In his mind he knows he is sinful, but in his spirit he does not feel so. He may have understood and comprehended Christ in his mind, but in his spirit he has not yet contacted or touched Christ. The reason for this is that he uses his mind to study the doctrines about Christ instead of using his spirit to contact Christ Himself. If he is willing to contact Christ with his spirit, and if he is willing to be moved by the Holy Spirit in his spirit to contact Christ and receive Christ, he will be able to touch Christ and gain Christ in his spirit. Thus, he will be able to receive Christ’s salvation of life and experience a change from within his spirit to his outward being.
　When a person listens to a message, he must also go beyond and deeper than the mind, emotion, and will of his soul and get into his spirit to be inspired by God and to contact Christ Himself. If he merely uses his mind, emotion, and will to listen to the message, he can only understand its meaning in his mind, receive its inspiration in his emotion, and make a decision because of it in his will. He can only contact the message itself by the mind, emotion, and will; he cannot touch the Christ in the message. The message itself, which is merely letter and knowledge, cannot afford man the salvation of life or the spiritual supply. Only Christ in the message is life and Spirit, and only He can give life and spiritual reality to man. Man may contact the message itself with his mind, emotion, and will, but to contact the Christ in the message he has to seek Christ, look to Christ, draw nigh to Christ, and worship Christ with his spirit. In this way he can contact Him and have fellowship with Him.
　When a person reads the Bible, he must use his concentrated and focused mind to study and meditate, but even the more he must use a quiet and eager spirit to seek God and His revelation through the word of God—the Holy Bible—and thus receive His enlightenment and supply. The mind can only understand the letters of the Bible and comprehend its doctrines; the mind cannot contact the God revealed in it or receive the life spoken of therein. Only the spirit can contact God and receive life through understanding the Bible and comprehending the truths by the mind. Therefore, when we read the Scriptures, we must draw near to God, contact God, and have fellowship with God in our spirit through His word. Only then will we be able to touch and gain Him and to receive spiritual enlightenment and life supply.
　When a person prays, even the more he needs to use the spirit and to be in the spirit. Although the Bible says that we should pray also with the understanding (the mind), it does not mean that we pray only with the understanding. Rather, it means that we should use the understanding to comprehend the burden and feeling in the spirit and then pray with words from the understanding to express the burden and feeling in the spirit. If we pray only with the understanding, with the mind, with the intellect, we can neither receive inspiration nor sense God’s presence. We must pray with the spirit and in the spirit, and we must have the burden and the sense in the spirit. Then we must use the understanding to pray and express the burden and the sense in the spirit. Only then can we touch God and His presence and receive the watering and supply of the Spirit.
　Someone may ask, What is it to pray with the mind, and what is it to pray with the spirit? To pray with the mind is to pray according to what the mind remembers and thinks, without any feeling in the spirit. Many times we first decide on what to pray and then we exercise our memory to pray with our mind according to what we have already decided. Sometimes we may have decided what to pray, but when we pray, we always use our mind to think, and even contemplate, about what to pray, and then we pray according to what we have thought and contemplated. We often have a list of things or a set form of prayer that we pray by reciting. Also, we often merely pray according to a record or report of the items for prayer by repeating the items once. All such prayers are prayers by the mind and not by the spirit. These kinds of prayers are merely from our mind and come out through our mouth without any inspiration. Such prayers not only are unable to move God and others, but they cannot even move ourselves, because they are not the living inspiration from the spirit but the dead knowledge from the mind.
　Praying with the spirit is different. Although praying with the spirit also requires using the mind, the mind is not the source of prayer but merely a faculty through which prayer passes. When a person prays by using the spirit, his prayer does not originate from the mind. Rather, it originates from the spirit and passes through the mind. Instead of praying according to what he remembers and considers in the mind, he prays according to the sense and burden in the spirit. However, he uses the mind to understand the sense and burden in the spirit and expresses such understanding in prayer. Since sometimes there is first the knowledge and memory in the mind and then prayer, it seems that the prayer is according to what the mind knows and remembers. Actually, however, the knowledge and memory in the mind have already become the feeling and burden in the spirit. One must first have the feeling and burden in the spirit, and then he uses his mind, his understanding, to express in prayer the feeling and burden of the spirit. This is to pray with the spirit. This kind of prayer requires a person to go beyond, go deeper than, his mind, emotion, and will so that he may contact the Spirit of God in his spirit to receive the sense and burden of the spirit. This kind of prayer is according to divine inspiration and not according to a set form. It is fresh and not stale. It enables the praying one to touch God and sense His presence, and at the same time it also causes the praying one himself as well as those who hear him to be moved, watered, and supplied by the Spirit.
　Very often this kind of praying in the spirit was not in one’s original consideration. For example, someone originally intended to pray for his job, his health, or his family, including his children. But when he comes to the presence of God, the Spirit of God touches his spirit and causes him to feel that he is full of shortcomings before God. At this moment the feeling and burden in his spirit are his shortcomings. Therefore, he no longer cares to pray for his job, his health, or his family. Instead, he just follows the feeling in his spirit to confess to God all his shortcomings before Him in order to relieve the burden in his spirit. This kind of prayer enables him to touch God, to enter deeper into God, to have fellowship with God, to be more filled by God, and to receive the sweet nourishing and rich supply of God. If he would be willing to disregard the matters that he has remembered and has prepared to pray, and instead would just pay attention to the feeling in his spirit and keep on praying according to that feeling, then within him he will receive the unlimited spiritual blessing of God. He will feel joyful, peaceful, at ease, satisfied, fresh, shining, living, and strong. After praying, not only he himself feels that he is full of the presence of God, but even those who contact him will feel that there is an unexplainable condition and power upon him.
　Therefore, brothers and sisters, when we pray, we must first have the sense and burden from God by contacting Him with our spirit and touching Him in our spirit, and then we must use our understanding, our mind, to express the sense and burden in our spirit with words of prayer. When we pray, we must first reject the memory and thoughts in our mind and then draw near to God in our spirit to touch His feeling and receive His burden. This does not mean that we should not bring the things in our memory before God in prayer. What it means is that all the matters for which we intend to pray must first become the feeling and burden we have from God in our spirit, and then they can become the prayers that we ought to have before God. Therefore, when we bring a certain matter before God in prayer, instead of praying at once for that matter from our mind, we should first contact God in the spirit to touch His feeling. If that matter becomes the feeling in our spirit before God, then we may pray for it. Otherwise, we should not pray for it even though we have already decided to pray for it originally. If, without any feeling in our spirit, we still pray for it, then we are praying according to our mind and with our mind. Thus, we surely will not be able to touch God and His presence, because we are in our mind uttering a prayer of the mind. Only when we pray for a certain matter that has become the feeling and burden in our spirit can we touch the presence of God and be watered by Him.
　Recently, when I was in Manila, a brother asked me, “What is a prayer of the mind? And what is a prayer of the spirit?” Although I felt that it was not easy to explain, I was able to answer him with a simple sentence. A prayer of the mind comes out of thinking, but a prayer of the spirit comes out of feeling. Any prayer that comes out of our thought is a prayer of the mind because it comes out of the mind. Any prayer that is uttered out of the feeling deep within us is a prayer of the spirit because it comes out of the spirit. We should pray for many matters, but we should not pray merely according to what we remember and consider in our mind. Every matter for prayer must first become the feeling and burden in our spirit before God. We must pray only according to the feeling in our spirit and for the burden in our spirit because we can only pray by contacting God in our spirit. We may bring many things before God, but we must see whether God makes them the feelings and burdens in our spirit before we decide whether we should pray for them. We can pray only for the matters with which we have been inspired; we can pray only by touching God in our inspiration; and we can pray only in our inspiration the prayers that touch God.
　In our prayers we should follow the feeling in our spirit not only when we petition God but even when we praise and thank God. We should not praise and thank God merely according to the doctrines, knowledge, or sentiments concerning some outward things. Otherwise, although our praises and thanksgivings are toward God, they are of the letter, formal, outward, of the mind, not in the spirit, and without the Spirit. Only the praises and thanksgivings that are according to the feeling in our spirit can enable us to touch God and to have the confirmation of God’s acceptance, the feeling of the presence of God that He gives us in our spirit. This is because this kind of prayer is in the spirit and is full of the Spirit.
　When one leads a meeting, whether he chooses a hymn, prays, speaks, or testifies, he should be in the spirit and act according to the feeling in the spirit. In many instances the activities in the meeting are carried out merely according to rules, common sense, or certain needs. These activities are all done according to one’s mind or emotion, instead of being done in one’s spirit according to the sense in the spirit. Therefore, they are ritualistic, formal, intellectual, rational, and emotional. They cannot cause people to sense the presence of God or receive the supply of God. In the meeting, before one does anything, he must open his spirit to God to contact God and have fellowship with God in his spirit so that he may receive inspiration from God. Then what he does will enable others to sense God’s presence and receive God’s supply. All the activities in the meeting must be initiated in the spirit in this way. For example, when a person chooses a hymn in the meeting, he must not choose one just at the right time, for the right situation, and with the right subject merely according to his knowledge of the hymns or according to his understanding of which kind of hymn is needed for which kind of meeting. Rather, he must also use his spirit to sense the spirit of the meeting and to receive inspiration from God concerning a certain point, and then select a hymn that can express, release, and touch that inspiration. As another example, when one speaks or testifies in the meeting, he must also not do it merely according to the outward situation and need by speaking a word that fits the situation or giving a testimony that meets the need. Rather, he still must use his spirit to touch God’s feeling concerning that situation and need and to receive inspiration from God, and then express something according to the sense in his spirit. It is not enough merely to have the knowledge about meetings in the mind. There is still the need to touch the feeling of God and receive His inspiration by fellowshipping and contacting Him in the spirit. Only in this way can others sense life and reality in their spirit. Otherwise, they can only sense death and vanity.
　It is the same when a person preaches the word. He must not preach a word that fits the situation and meets the need merely based upon his doctrinal knowledge and according to the outward situation and need. If he does this, the word he preaches is merely of the knowledge, of the letter, of the mind, and not in the spirit. To preach the word in the spirit, a person must be in his spirit and touch the feeling of God to receive the inspiration from God concerning that particular situation and that particular need. Then he can release the feeling in his spirit with the appropriate doctrine and word. Only by such preaching can the speaker himself touch God’s presence and receive God’s supply and the listeners also receive the edification in life and obtain the spiritual help.
　Even when we go to visit others, we must contact them in our spirit and according to the feeling in our spirit. We must not speak to them merely according to the doctrines that we have understood and remembered in our mind or according to their outward condition and needs. Otherwise, we will not be able to bring them to God, nor will we be able to impart God to them in order to supply the need in their spirit or deal with the problem in their spirit. When we touch God in our spirit and contact others out of the sense of God’s presence, we enable others to touch God and gain God, and we also enable them to receive the spiritual enlightenment and comfort, as well as the supply of life and edification, in their spirit. Only by contacting others in the spirit with the presence of God can we touch the Spirit of God and also touch the spirit of others. Moreover, only by this can others touch the Spirit of God with their spirit and receive the supply and help from the Spirit of God in their spirit.
　Therefore, in our service to God, regardless of what we do, we must always use our spirit and be in our spirit. Only then can we touch God. This is a great law in the universe. This law is that man must use his human spirit and be in his human spirit to contact God. To contact God, man must do it according to this law and by fulfilling this law. Anyone who contacts God not according to this law violates God’s ordination and therefore cannot touch God. Because God is Spirit, anyone who wants to contact Him must use his spirit and be in his spirit. Only the spirit can touch the Spirit; therefore, only the spirit can touch God.
 
　　读经：

　　约翰福音三章六节：“从肉身生的，就是肉身；从灵生的，就是灵。”

　　六章六十三节：“叫人活着的乃是灵，肉体是无益的；我对你们所说的话，就是灵，就是生命。”

　　腓立比书三章三节：“因为真受割礼的，乃是我们这以神的灵敬拜，在基督耶稣里夸口，不靠着肉体的。”

　　罗马书八章六节：“体贴肉体的就是死；体贴圣灵的乃是生命平安。”

　　前两次我们已经看见，神要人向祂所有的事奉，必须是在灵里。为着要使我们在灵里事奉祂，祂就道成肉身，死而复活，进到祂的灵里，又在祂的灵里，来和我们接触，就是来和我们的灵接触，使我们已死的灵得以活过来，好叫我们在这活过来的灵里，和祂的灵接触，借以事奉祂。只有我们的灵和祂的灵接触相交而有的事奉，才是祂所要的事奉，才能蒙祂悦纳。神今天就是要我们这样在灵里来拜祂。
 
　Scripture Reading: John 3:6; 6:63; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 8:6

　In the two previous chapters we saw that all the service that God wants from man must be in spirit. To enable us to serve Him in spirit, He became the Spirit through incarnation, death, and resurrection. Then as the Spirit, He comes to contact us in our spirit, making our deadened spirit alive so that we can serve Him by contacting Him as the Spirit in our enlivened spirit. Only the service that comes out of the contact and fellowship of our spirit with the Spirit is the service that God wants, and only this kind of service is acceptable to Him. This is how God wants us to worship Him—in spirit.
　　但是今天我们所读的圣经，却给我们看见，在事奉祂的事上，有两个不同的源头：一个是肉体，一个是灵。约翰福音三章六节说，“从肉体生的，就是肉体（原文；）从灵生的，就是灵。”这给我们看见，有两种不同的源头，生出两样不同的结果。一种源头是肉体，另一种源头是灵。当然从什么源头生出的，就是什么结果。从肉体生出的，只能是肉体，绝不能是灵；从灵生出的，也绝不能是肉体，只能是灵。

　　约翰福音六章六十三节说，“叫人得着生命的（原文）乃是灵，肉体是无益的。”灵和肉体既是不同的源头，就有不同的性质。他们的性质既然不同，他们的性能也就两样。灵（神的灵）的本质是神的生命，所以灵能叫人得着生命。肉体的本质是虚空的，是等于零的，所以肉体使人无益。

　　罗马八章六节说，“体贴肉体的就是死，体贴灵的乃是生命平安。”肉体不只使人无益，并且叫人死。灵不只叫人得着生命，并且使人有平安。人凭着肉体事奉神的结果，就是“无益”，就是“死”；人凭着灵事奉神的结果，就是“生命，”就是“平安。”

　　虽然如此，腓立比书三章三节，给我们看见，人怎样有凭着灵事奉神的可能，人也照样有凭着肉体事奉神的可能。并且在我们这肉体还未脱尽，灵还未长大的人身上，这可能性是太大了。我们原是灵死了，而堕落到肉体里，凭着肉体活着的人。虽然因着神的救恩，我们的灵已经活过来，但是我们还在肉体里活着，并且我们的灵还没有成熟，还不够刚强，甚或因着我们对于属灵事情的无知，我们还不知道，事奉神必须凭着灵，不该凭着肉体。所以我们在得救以后，向神的事奉，像我们作人一样，大多是凭着肉体，很少是凭着灵，出于灵的，是在灵里的。

　　许多人以为我们的肉体，只会去犯罪，不会来事奉神，我们只有凭着肉体犯罪的可能，没有凭着肉体事奉神的可能。在他们想，只有人凭着肉体去犯罪，绝没有人凭着肉体来事奉神。但是，不但圣经告诉我们，人怎样能凭着肉体犯罪，人也照样能凭着肉体事奉神，而且事实也给我们看见，许多人怎样凭着肉体犯罪，也照样凭着肉体事奉神。无疑的，保罗在未得救以前，就是凭着肉体事奉神（徒二二3，腓三4~7）。许多基督徒虽然得救了，却也像保罗未得救的时候一样，仍是凭着肉体事奉神。人的肉体能用在犯罪的事上，也能用在事奉神的事上。

　　也有人想，人的肉体用在犯罪的事上，虽是错的，但用在事奉神的事上，却是对的；人虽不可凭肉体去犯罪，却可凭肉体来事奉神。但那知凭肉体事奉神，不只不能蒙神悦纳，并且根本不能事奉得通，根本不能接触着神，因为肉体是不通神的，是不能接触神的。

　　肉体包括人堕落的身体和魂。人本是属灵的，由灵作主。但人的灵因着人的堕落而死了，人的魂就兴起来代替灵支配人，而服在人身体的私欲之下。人的身体因有了私欲（就是从撒但而来的罪，）就变成肉体。人的魂既服在人身体的私欲之下，也就属于肉体了。所以肉体在圣经里，乃是指着一切在灵之外，属魂和属血肉的东西（许多时候也是指着属魂和属血肉的人）。一切在灵之外的，都是肉体。人凭着这些在灵之外的东西事奉神，就是凭着肉体事奉神。这是不通，不灵的。
 
　The verses above show us that in the matter of service to God there are two different sources: one is the flesh and the other is the Spirit. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This shows us two different sources issuing in two different results. One source is the flesh, and the other source is the Spirit. Of course, the kind of result produced is determined by the kind of source that produces it. That which is born of the flesh can only be flesh and can never be spirit. That which is born of the Spirit can never be flesh but can only be spirit.

　 John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Since the Spirit and the flesh are different sources, they have different natures. Consequently, their capabilities are also different. The substance of the Spirit (the Spirit of God) is the life of God; therefore, the Spirit gives life. The substance of the flesh is vanity and equals nothing; therefore, the flesh profits nothing.

　Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” The flesh not only profits nothing but also results in death, while the Spirit not only gives life but also imparts peace. The result of our serving God by the flesh is “nothing” and “death”; whereas the result of our serving God by the Spirit is “life” and “peace.”

　Notwithstanding, Philippians 3:3 shows that just as we have the possibility of serving God by the spirit, so we have the possibility of serving by the flesh. Moreover, the possibility of serving by the flesh is very great in those of us who have not thoroughly dealt with the flesh and whose spirit has not yet become mature. Formerly, we were deadened in our spirit, we had fallen into the flesh, and we were living by the flesh. Now, although our spirit has been made alive through God’s salvation, we are still living in the flesh. Our spirit has not become mature yet, and it is not strong enough. Furthermore, perhaps due to our ignorance concerning spiritual matters, we may not even know that we must serve God by the spirit and not by the flesh. Therefore, after we have been saved, in the same way that we conduct ourselves, we serve God mostly by the flesh and very little by, of, and in the spirit.

　Many people think that our flesh is capable only of committing sins but not capable of serving God, that is, that we are likely to commit sins but not likely to serve God by our flesh. In their consideration, there is only such a thing as man committing sin by the flesh, but not such a thing as man serving God by the flesh. However, the Bible tells us that just as man commits sins by the flesh, so man can also serve God by the flesh. Not only so, the facts also show that many indeed serve God by the flesh, just as they commit sins by the flesh. No doubt the apostle Paul served God by the flesh before he was saved (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:4-7). Although many Christians have been saved, they still serve God by the flesh, just as the apostle Paul did before he was saved.

　There are some others who think that using the flesh to commit sins is wrong, but using the flesh to serve God is right, and that committing sins by the flesh is forbidden, but serving God by the flesh is permissible. They do not realize, however, that when one serves God by the flesh, not only is his service unacceptable to God, but it is also virtually impossible for him to have access to God and to contact God, because the flesh simply cannot have access to God, nor can it touch God.

　The flesh includes man’s fallen body and soul. Originally, man was spiritual, being dominated by the spirit. After the spirit became dead due to man’s fall, the soul rose up, replacing the spirit to control man and subjected itself to the lusts of the human body. The human body became the flesh due to its lusts, the sin derived from Satan. Since the human soul is in subjection to the lusts of the body, it becomes fleshly. Therefore, in the Scriptures flesh denotes all the soulish and fleshly things outside of the spirit. (It also frequently denotes the soulish and fleshly man.) All things outside of the spirit are the flesh. To serve God by anything outside of the spirit is to serve God by the flesh. This kind of service is of no effect.
　　我们已经看见，神是个灵，所以祂给人创造一个灵，要人用灵事奉祂。并且在祂的救恩里，祂是在祂的灵里，来和人的灵接触。所以我们要事奉祂，就必须在我们的灵里和祂的灵接触。没有一个人，他的灵没有给神的灵碰着，而他能认识神，事奉神，和神有接触。神向人所要的事奉，乃是在人的灵里的。神和人所要有的接触，也是在祂的灵和人的里的。所以一个人要事奉神，必须是在他的灵里碰着神的灵，必须是他里面的灵给神的灵接触一下，必须是他的灵，和神的灵，灵灵相交，灵灵相接，他才能接触神，才能事奉神。因为只有这样的人才能认识神，才能懂得神的事。若不是在灵里碰着神的灵，没有一个人能懂得神的事。那就像一个人不用眼看，而来摸颜色一样；也像一个人不用耳听，而来抓声音一样，乃是不可能的。人的灵若没有给圣灵碰着，人就没有法子明白神的事。所以就不能事奉神。
 
　We have already seen that God is Spirit, and therefore He created man with a spirit so that man may serve Him in spirit. Moreover, in His salvation He comes to contact man as the Spirit. Therefore, when we serve Him, we must contact the Spirit in our spirit. Unless a person’s spirit is touched by the Spirit of God, he cannot know God, serve God, or contact God. The service that God wants from man is a service that is in the spirit of man. And the contact that God wants to have with man is a contact that is in the Spirit of God and in the spirit of man. Therefore, if someone wants to serve God, he must touch the Spirit of God in his spirit, he must be contacted by the Spirit of God in his spirit, and the two spirits—his spirit and God’s Spirit—must have mutual fellowship and be mutually joined. Only then will he be able to contact God and serve God. Only such a one is able to know God and understand the things of God. No one can understand the things of God unless he touches the Spirit of God in his spirit. This may be compared to someone trying to touch colors without using his eyes or catch a sound without using his ears, which is impossible. Unless a person’s spirit is touched by the Holy Spirit, he has no way to understand the things of God, and thus, he cannot serve God.
　　所以我们要看清楚，我们事奉神，是该用我们人的那一部分。我们只能用灵，不能用身体接触神。我们的灵是能感觉到神的，但我们的身体是不能的。我们身体任何的一部分，任何的一个觉官，都不能感到神，都不能觉得神。许多初听道的人，盼望他们的眼能看见神，他们的手能摸着神，他们的身体的一部分能碰着神，能感到神，这是不能的。因为神不在人的身体上给人接触祂。

　　还有的人，要祷告神之先，就有一个观念，以为他祷告神，神就要临到他的身体上，他的身体就会感觉发烧，就要发抖。所以他要祷告之先，就预备好了，要身体发烧，发抖。祷告之后，不发烧，不发抖，他就以为神不灵！不真！他这样以为神会临到他的身体上，他预备用他的身体接触神，乃是错误的。人不能用身体来接触神，因为神不是要人用身体来接触祂。一个人如果一直盼望在身体上感觉神，就会有一个结果，不是神临到他的身体上，乃是鬼临到他的身体上。鬼就是撒但的邪灵，乃是附在人的身体上。神的圣灵不是这样。圣灵是来到人的灵里，邪灵是附到人的身体上。这有很大的分别。人如果用身体接触神，结果，怕他要接触了邪灵。这是不该的，也是不可的。
 
　Therefore, we must see clearly which part of our being we should use to serve God. We can contact God only by the spirit and not by the body. Our spirit can feel God, but our body cannot. None of the parts and organs of our physical body is able to feel or sense God. Many new ones expect to see God with their eyes, to touch God with their hands, or to sense God with a certain part of their body; this is impossible because God cannot be contacted by us in our body.

　Before they begin praying to God, some have the concept that God will come upon their body while they are praying and that their body will be feverish and trembling. Before they pray, they are prepared for their body to be feverish and trembling, and after they have prayed, if they are neither feverish nor trembling, they think that God is not real. It is wrong for them to have the concept that God will come upon their body and to prepare themselves to touch God with their body. Man cannot touch God with his body because this is not what God wants. If someone always expects to feel God with his body, the result will be that the demons, not God, will come upon his body. The demons, the evil spirits of Satan, cling to the human body. However, the Holy Spirit of God is not like that. The Holy Spirit comes into the spirit of man, but the unclean spirits cling to man’s physical body. This is a great difference. If a man tries to use the body to contact God, he may end up contacting the evil spirits. This is neither proper nor permissible.
　　人不能用身体接触神，也不能用魂接触神。人的身体是不通神的，人的魂也是不通神的。不管是人魂里的心思，意志，或情感，都是不通神，不能明白神，不能接触神的。但是今天的人，总是要用人魂里的心思，来思想神，来明白神，来把神想通了。人听见了神，就在那里想，想神大概就是这样一个光景，就是那样一种情形。人对神的认识，多是头脑（就是人魂里的心思）里面的想像。结果，人对神的认识，多是幻想的，多是一套虚空的东西。因为人的头脑（心思）不能接触神，不能碰着神，人的思想也不能明白神，也不能领会神。人的头脑─人魂里的心思─不是接触神，接受神的机关。

　　有的人信主，是用头脑相信圣经的道理，没有用灵接受主。我碰到这样的人不少。你若问他们，信不信主？他们很坚定的答应说，信。你再问他们，得救了没有？他们就要把以弗所书二章八节背给你听：“你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信。”你问他们，有没有永生？他们就会对你背约翰福音三章十六节：“叫一切信祂的，不至灭亡，反得永生。”但是你若实在的把他们追问一下，他们到底有没有得救，到底有没有永生，他们就没有把握了，就不敢说了。因为他们没有得救的经历。他们的头脑里虽然有了圣经的道理，但他们的灵里还没有主。他们只在头脑里接受了圣经的道理，还没有在灵里经历主的救恩。

　　许多人听道，只是用头脑领会，不是用灵接受。结果，只是他们的头脑碰着了道，他们的灵却没有碰着神。尽管他们的头脑受了道的影响和教导，但他们的灵却没有受神的感动和对付。甚至可能一个人的头脑对于一篇道明白得十分清楚，领会得非常透彻，而他的灵却丝毫未碰着神。他的头脑里满了道，但他的灵里还没有神。神的道可以借着人的领会，进到人的头脑里，但神的自己是借着祂的灵，进到人的灵里。

　　许多弟兄姊妹读经，也是只用头脑，不用灵。所以他们不能在圣经里得着灵感，不能借着读经在灵里碰着神。他们的头脑能研究清楚许多的道理，他们的思想能想通了许多的真理，但他们的灵没有在神的话里，被神摸着，得着神生命的供应，没有给神在祂的灵里，借着祂的话，来感动，来加强，来光照，来洁净。

　　许多弟兄姊妹祷告，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们早晨晚上按规矩祷告，都是从他们的头脑里背出那么一套，像背书一样。先从自己背起，背完了自己，再背家庭，再背教会，再背国家，再背世界。从自己背到全世界。天天祷告，都是那样背了一遍，早晨来不及，晚间再补上。起头几天背，还感觉有味道，背长了，就感觉是一个重担。但是背长了，也是一个习惯，不背，心里又不平安。这种用头脑按套的祷告，不能叫人在灵里碰着神，摸着神的同在，得着神的供应，只能叫人心里感觉是重担，叫人灵里感觉枯燥，虚空，没有滋润，满足。

　　许多时候，弟兄们在聚会里拣诗祷告，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们所拣的诗歌，是他们按着某种需要，用头脑衡量出来的，不是在灵里受感出来的。他们所作的祷告，是他们照着那种情形，用思想编造出来的，不是从灵里释放出来的。所以无论是他们所拣的诗歌，或是他们所作的祷告，都不能摸着神，都不能碰着人里面的灵，叫人的灵感觉到神，将人的灵带起来。

　　就是许多人讲道，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们在未讲之前，先用思想选出题目，再用头脑想好段落，配上故事，加上比喻，到讲的时候，就用头脑的记忆，将他们所已经想好了的道，从他们的头脑里，分段按条的讲说出来。这样的讲道，十足的是用人的头脑，是靠人的思想，难怪不只不能叫听的人触着神，不能叫听的受感动，就是连讲的人自己也不能摸着神，也不能受感动。

　　连弟兄姊妹探望人，在属灵的事上和人接触，也是只用头脑，不用灵。他们和人谈福音，讲属灵的事，乃是凭着他们的悟性所领会的真理，他们的头脑所记得的道理，不是凭着灵里所受的感动，不是靠着灵里所得的启示。所以他们的话语，不能将神释放出去，不能打动人里面的灵；他们的探望，也不能解决人属灵的难处，叫人得着神和神的供应。

　　这一切属灵的事，这一切事奉神的事，无论哪一件，若是人摸它，只用头脑，不用灵，都不能叫人碰着神，得着神；都不能叫人摸着神的生命，受到神的供应。

　　人魂里的心思，怎样不能接触神，人魂里的情感和意志，也照样不能接触神。人的情感可以被打动，人的意志也可以有转变，但人仍可以没有触着神。许多时候，一个人听道，读经，祷告，聚会，受劝勉，被带领，他的情感可以受了很大的感动，他的意志也可以因着他的情感所受的感动，而有了厉害的转变，坚强的定规，要如何向着神，要如何为着神，但他仍可以丝毫没有碰着神，丝毫没有和神接触。因为他的情感和意志虽然被属灵的事物打动了，但他的灵却没有被神感动。属灵的事物可以打动他的情感和意志，但神是要感动他的灵，摸着他的灵。他的情感和意志能接触属灵的事物，却不能接触神。
 
　Man cannot use his body to contact God; likewise, he cannot use his soul to contact God. Like the human body, the human soul cannot be connected with God. None of the parts of the soul, whether the mind, the emotion, or the will, can reach God, know God, or contact God. Yet today man always tries to use the mind to consider God, understand God, and comprehend God. When he hears about God, he considers that perhaps God is like this or like that. Man’s knowledge of God is mostly the imaginations of his intellect, the mind in man’s soul. As a result, man’s knowledge of God consists mostly of illusions and vain things. This is because the human intellect (mind) cannot contact or touch God, nor can the human thought know and comprehend God. Man’s intellect, the mind in man’s soul, is not the faculty for contacting and receiving God.

　Some have believed in the Lord by believing the doctrines of the Bible with their mind instead of receiving the Lord with their spirit. I have met many people like this. If you ask them whether they have believed in the Lord, they answer firmly that they have. If you ask them further whether they are saved, they will recite to you Ephesians 2:8: “By grace you have been saved through faith.” If you ask them whether they have eternal life, they will recite John 3:16: “Everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” However, if you question them as to whether they are truly saved and have eternal life, they do not have the assurance, and they dare not say so. This is because they do not have the experience of salvation. Although they have the scriptural doctrines in their mind, they still do not have the Lord in their spirit. They have only received the scriptural doctrines in their mind; they have not yet experienced the Lord’s salvation in their spirit.

　When listening to a message, many people use only their mind and not their spirit. As a result, while their mind touches the message, their spirit fails to touch God. Their spirit is neither moved nor dealt with by the Spirit of God, in spite of the fact that their mind is affected and taught by the message. It is even possible for one’s mind to very clearly know and thoroughly understand the message, and yet his spirit does not touch God even a little. His mind is filled with the message, but his spirit is still void of God. God’s word may enter into man’s mind through man’s understanding, but God Himself can enter into man’s spirit only through the Spirit.

　Many brothers and sisters also use only their mind and not their spirit in reading the Bible. Hence, they cannot receive inspiration from the Bible nor can they touch God in their spirit through the reading of the Scriptures. Their mind can clearly study many doctrines, and their thoughts can figure out many truths. Nevertheless, their spirit has not been touched by God in His word, and therefore they have not received the supply of God’s life. They have not been moved, strengthened, enlightened, or cleansed in their spirit by God as the Spirit through His word.

　Many brothers and sisters also use only their mind and not their spirit when they pray. In their regular morning and evening prayers, they recite the same things from their mind as if they were reciting from a book. They recite something first concerning themselves and then concerning their family, the church, the nation, and the world. Their recitation starts from themselves and covers the whole world. Every day when they pray, they recite once in this manner, and if they cannot finish it in the morning, they make it up in the evening. For a few days in the beginning, this kind of recitation has a good taste to them, but after a longer period of time it begins to feel burdensome. Yet at the same time it has become a habit, so they have no peace if they do not recite. This kind of praying with the mind according to a set form cannot enable a person to contact God in the spirit, nor can it enable him to touch the presence of God and receive the supply of God. It only causes his heart to feel burdened and his spirit to be dry and empty, without being watered or satisfied.

　Very often when the brothers call a hymn or offer a prayer in the meeting, they do it with their mind and not with their spirit. The hymns they select come from the considerations in their mind based on certain needs and not from being moved in their spirit. Moreover, the prayers they offer are prayers composed with their mind according to the existing situation and are not prayers released from their spirit. Therefore, the hymns they call and the prayers they offer cannot touch God, nor can they touch the spirit of others to make them sense God in their spirit and to uplift their spirit.

　Many even preach the word with their mind instead of their spirit. Prior to their preaching, they first consider and select a topic, and then they use their mind to arrange the sections, prepare some stories, and add some illustrations. Then at the time of preaching, they speak the preconceived message in a very good order from their mind according to their memory. This kind of preaching is altogether done by using the human mind and depending on human thoughts. It is no wonder that it cannot bring the audience into contact with God, nor can it cause them to be moved by God. Furthermore, even the speaker himself is unable to touch God or be moved by God.

　Even in visitation and in contacting people in spiritual matters, many brothers and sisters also merely use their mind and not their spirit. When they talk to people about the gospel or about spiritual matters, they do it according to the truth that they have comprehended in their understanding and the doctrine that they have remembered in their mind, instead of doing it according to the inspiration and revelation that they have received in their spirit. Therefore, their word can neither release forth God nor move the spirit within the listener. Likewise, their visitation cannot impart God and God’s supply to others to solve their spiritual problems.

　Concerning all these spiritual matters, matters that pertain to the service of God, if a person touches any of these things merely with his mind and not with his spirit, he will not be able to touch or gain God, nor will he be able to touch God’s life or God’s supply.

　Just as the mind in man’s soul cannot contact God, so the emotion and will in man’s soul also cannot contact God. A person’s emotion might be moved and his will might be changed, yet it is possible that he still has not contacted God. Very often, when someone listens to messages, reads the Scriptures, prays, attends meetings, or receives exhortation and instruction, his emotions may be greatly moved and because of this his will may also have a great change so that he strongly decides to turn to God and to live for God. Yet he may not have touched or contacted God at all. This is due to the fact that although his emotion and his will have been moved by the spiritual things, his spirit has not been moved by God. Spiritual matters may move his emotion and his will, but God wants to move and touch his spirit. His emotion and his will can contact the spiritual things, but they cannot contact God.
　　我们必须清楚，而且记得，神是个灵；只有灵能接触灵，能碰着灵。所以，我们要接触神，就必须用灵。我们在任何的事上，要接触神，要碰着神，都必须用灵。在灵以外，任何属灵的事，都不能叫我们碰着神。一件事可以非常属灵，但我们在那件事上若不用灵接触神，那件事虽然非常属灵，还不能叫我们碰着神。光是属灵的事，还不能叫人碰着神。有了属灵的事，还必须人在那件属灵的事上用灵接触神，才能叫人碰着神。

　　一个人信主，光是用头脑领受福音的道理，是不够的，还必须用灵接受主。人的头脑只能接触道理，不能接触主。人若只接触了道理，而没有接触主，人就不能得救。人必须接触了主，才能蒙到主的救恩。但是人要接触主，就必须用灵。一个人必须越过─深过─他的头脑，在他深处的灵里，让圣灵光照，接受圣灵的感动，感觉自己的罪恶，承认自己是一个罪人，接受死而复活的基督，就是永活的救主（不是死的道理），他才能在他的灵里碰着主的灵，─也就是接触着主自己，─而得着主的救恩。

　　这和人仅仅在头脑里领受福音的道理，是大有分别的。那是人在头脑里明白，领会，以道理为目标；这是人在灵里受感，接受，以基督为对象。那个可以在头脑里明白，领受许多的道理，而没有碰着基督；这个可以在灵里接触了基督，而不懂得许多的道理。那个虽然可以叫人的头脑受了道理的教导，有了道理的知识，但不能叫人的灵得着基督的拯救，有了基督的生命；这个乃是叫人的灵受了圣灵的光照，得着圣灵的重生，虽然不一定叫人的头脑懂得许多福音的真理，有了许多福音的知识。

　　人可能明白许多的道理，还没有得着主的救恩。人可能在头脑里有有罪的知识，而在灵里却没有有罪的感觉─头脑知道自己有罪，灵却不感觉自己有罪。人可能在头脑里明白基督，领会基督，但在灵里还没有接触基督，碰着基督。所以会这样，乃是因为人只用头脑研究基督的道理，而不用灵接触基督的自己。当人肯用灵来接触基督，肯在他的灵里受圣灵的感动，而来接触基督，接受基督，他就要在他的灵里碰着基督，得着基督，而蒙到基督生命的救恩，使他从灵里到外面都会有了改变。

　　一个人听道，也必须越过─深过─魂的心思，情感，和意志，而在灵里受到神的灵感，接触基督自己。人若只用心思，情感，和意志来听道，就只能在心思里明白道的意思，在情感里受道的感动，在意志里因着道而有所决定。这些只能叫人接触道的本身，不能叫人碰着道里面的基督。道的本身不过是字句，不过是知识，不能叫人得着生命的拯救，不能使人受到属灵的供应。道里面的基督才是生命，才是灵，才能叫人得着生命的本身，使人得到属灵的实际。人可以用心思，情感，和意志来接触道的本身，但人要碰着道里面的基督，就必须用灵，就必须在灵里寻求，仰望，亲近，敬拜基督，而与祂接触，和祂相交。

　　一个人读经，虽然该用专一，集中的思想查读，默想，但更该用安静，渴慕的灵，借着神的话语─圣经─寻求神和祂的启示，而接受祂的光照和供应。心思只能明白圣经的字句，领会其中的道理，不能接触其中所启示的神，不能接受其中所说的生命。这是唯有灵借着心思明白的圣经，领会的道理，所能作的。所以人读经，必须在灵里，借着神的话语，亲近祂，接触祂，与祂相交，和祂来往，才能碰着祂，得着祂，蒙到属灵的光照，受到生命的供应。

　　一个人祷告，更是需要用灵，更是需要在灵里。虽然圣经说，“也要用悟性（就是心思）祷告，”但那不是说，只用悟性祷告，乃是说，要用悟性领会灵里的负担和感觉，而用悟性的话语把那负担和感觉祷告出来。人如果只用悟性，只用心思，只用头脑祷告，人就受不到灵感，感不到神的同在。人必须用灵，必须在灵里祷告，必须在灵里有了负担和感觉，然后用悟性将灵里的负担和感觉祷告出来，才能摸着神和祂的同在，才能得到灵的滋润和供应。

　　或者有人要问，怎样是用头脑祷告？怎样是用灵祷告？用头脑祷告，就是只凭头脑所记，所想的去祷告，一点没有灵里的感觉。许多时候，人是先定规好了，要怎样祷告，然后用记忆力将所定规的，从头脑里祷告出来。许多时候，人虽然没有先定规要怎样祷告，但去祷告的时候，总是用头脑思想─甚至思索─怎样祷告，而照着所思想─思索─的，作出祷告来。许多时候，人是将一套的事情，或是照着套文，像背书一样的祷告出来。也有许多时候，人是仅仅照着祷告事项的记载或报告，将那些事项用祷告来述说一遍。诸如此类的祷告，都是只用头脑，而不用灵的。这样的祷告，不过是出于人的头脑，再经过人的口说出来而已，丝毫没有灵感，不只不能感动神，不能感动人，就是连自己也不能感动，因为不是出于灵里活的灵感，乃是出于头脑里死的知识。

　　用灵祷告就不同了。用灵祷告，虽然也需要用头脑，但头脑并非是祷告所来自的源头，不过是祷告所经过的机关。用灵祷告的祷告，不是出于头脑的，乃是出于灵，而经过头脑的；乃是人不凭着头脑所记，所想的，只凭着灵所感觉，所负担的，而用头脑领会灵里所感觉，所负担的，把它祷告出来。虽然有时也是先有头脑的知道和记忆，而后祷告，并且也好像是照着头脑的知道和记忆而有祷告，但头脑的知道和记忆是已经变作灵里的感觉和负担。人必须先在灵里有了感觉和负担，而后再用头脑，再用悟性，将灵里的感觉和负担祷告出来，才是用灵祷告。这样的祷告，需要人越过─深过─心思，情感，和意志，而在灵里和神的灵接触，得着灵的感觉和负担。这样的祷告，是只跟随灵感，而不照着套文的，是新鲜而不陈旧的，是叫祷告的人摸着神，而感觉神的同在的，同时也是叫祷告的人自己和听见的人，都受灵的感动，都得灵的滋润和供应。

　　这样在灵里的祷告，许多时候是人原来所没有想到的。比方有的人原来是要去为他的事工，身体，或是为他的家庭，儿女祷告。但是当他进到神面前的时候，神的灵就碰着他的灵，叫他感觉他在神面前满了亏欠。这时他在灵里所感觉，所负担的，就是他的亏欠，他就顾不得为他的事工，身体，或是为他的家庭，儿女祷告，只好随着他灵里的感觉，将自己在神面前的亏欠，一一的向神承认出来，以卸去他灵的负担。这样的祷告，能叫他摸着神，能叫他更深的进入神里面，和神有交通，更深的充满神，得着神甜美的滋润和丰富的供应。他若肯不顾他头脑里所记好，要预备祷告的事，只顾他灵里的感觉，而随着那感觉一直祷告，他就必要在他的里面蒙到神无限属灵的福气，感觉非常喜乐，平安，舒服，满足，非常新鲜，明亮，活泼，有力。祷告完了，不只他自己觉得满了神的同在，就是别人遇到他，也会感觉在他身上有一个莫名其妙的情形和能力。

　　所以，弟兄姊妹，我们祷告，必须先用灵接触神，先在灵里碰着神，有了出于神的感觉和负担，而后再用悟性，再用头脑，把灵里所受的感觉和负担，变作话语祷告出来。我们祷告，必须先拒绝头脑的记忆和思想，而用灵亲近神，摸到神的感觉，接受神的负担。这不是说，我们不可以把事情记在头脑里，带到神面前去祷告，乃是说，一切要祷告的事，必须先在我们的灵里，变作我们从神来的感觉和负担，然后才可以在神面前成为我们所该有的祷告。所以，我们把一件事带到神面前去祷告的时候，不能一开头就从我们的头脑里把那件事祷告出来，必须先在灵里接触神，摸神的感觉，如果那件事在神面前会变作我们灵里的感觉，我们才可以为它祷告；否则，就是原来定规要为它祷告，也不可为它祷告。如果灵里没有感觉，仍为它祷告，就是凭头脑祷告，就是用头脑祷告，必不能摸着神和祂的同在，因为是在头脑里，作出于头脑的祷告。只有在我们灵里变作感觉和负担的事，我们为它祷告，才能叫我们在祷告里摸着神的同在，得到神的滋润。

　　我这次在马尼拉，有弟兄问说，什么叫作头脑的祷告？什么叫作灵的祷告？我虽然觉得不容易说，我觉得可用一句简单地话，回答他，就是：头脑的祷告是想出来的，灵的祷告是感觉出来的。凡是我们用思想想出来的祷告，都是头脑的，因为都是出于头脑的。凡是我们从里面深处的感觉发出的祷告，都是灵的，因为都是出于灵的。我们应当为许多的事祷告，但我们不能只凭头脑所记，所想的去祷告。一切要祷告的事，都必须先在神面前变作我们灵里的感觉和负担。我们只能随着我们灵里的感觉，为着我们灵里的负担祷告，因为我们只能在我们灵里接触神而祷告。我们可以把许多事带到神面前，但还必须看神是否使它们变成我们灵里的感觉和负担，才可以定规为不为它们祷告。我们只能为着有灵感的事祷告，只能在灵感里摸着神而祷告，也只能在灵感里祷告那摸着神的祷告。

　　我们在祷告里，不只向神祈求，该随着灵里的感觉，就是向神赞美，感谢，也该随着灵里的感觉。我们不该只凭着道理，知识，或外面事物的感触，而赞美，感谢神。如果这样，我们的赞美，感谢，虽然是向着神的，却不能使我们摸着神，因为是字句的，是仪式的，是外面的，是头脑的，是不在灵里，而且也是没有灵的。唯有随着灵里的感觉，而有的赞美，感谢，才能叫我们摸着神，得着神悦纳的印证，就是神在我们灵里给我们同在的感觉，因为这样的祷告是在灵里的，也是满有灵的。

　　一个人带领一个聚会，或是在聚会中拣诗，祷告，说话，作见证，都该是在灵里，都该是从灵的感觉里作出来。许多时候，人在聚会中所有的动作，不过是照着规矩，常识，或某种需要。那些动作都是人凭着头脑或情感而有的，不是人在灵里，凭着灵的感觉而作的，所以都是仪式的，套文的，知识的，头脑的，或情感的，不能叫人感觉神的同在，得着神的供应。人在聚会中，必须敞开自己的灵向着神，在灵里接触神，和神相交，从神得到灵感，而后有动作，才能叫人感觉神的同在，得着神的供应。人在聚会中一切的动作，都该是这样在灵里而有的。比方人在聚会中拣诗，不能只照着对诗歌的认识，或对某种聚会需要某种诗歌的常识，而拣出适时适事或适题的诗歌，还必须在灵里摸着聚会的灵，对于某点从神有了灵感，而选出能表达，能释放，能摸着那灵感的诗歌。再比方人在聚会中说话或作见证，也是不能只照着外面的情形和需要，而说出合乎那种情形的话语，或作出应付那种需要的见证，还必须在灵里，对那种情形和需要，摸着神的感觉，从神得着灵感，而照着灵里的感觉有所发表。这个光在头脑里，有聚会的常识是不够的，还必须在灵里和神有交通，有接触，摸着神的感觉，得着灵感才可以。唯有这样，才能叫人的灵感觉生命和实际；否则，只能叫人的灵感觉死亡和虚空。

　　一个人讲道，也是如此，不能只凭着道理的知识，照着外面的情形和需要而讲一篇适合那种情形，应付那种需要的道。若是那样，就是知识的，字句的，头脑的，不是在灵里的。在灵里的讲道，必须人在灵里，对某种情形，或某种需要摸着神的感觉，从神受了灵感，而用适宜的道理和话语，将灵里的感觉释放出来。这样的讲道，才能叫讲的人自己摸着神的同在，得着神的供应，叫听的人受到生命的造就，得到属灵的帮助。

　　就是我们去探望人，也必须在灵里，跟随灵的感觉，和人接触；不能只凭着头脑里所懂得，所记得的道理，照着人外面的情形和需要，和人接谈。只凭着自己头脑里面的道理，照着外面的情形，和人接谈，不能将人带到神面前，更不能将神分给人，供应人灵里的需要，解决人灵里的难处。只有在灵里摸着神，而从神同在的感觉里，和人接触，才能叫人碰着神，得着神，才能叫人在灵里得到属灵的光照或安慰，生命的供应或造就。只有在神同在的灵里和人接触，才能摸着神的灵，也摸着人的灵，才能使人的灵碰着神的灵，使人在灵里得着神的灵各种的供应和帮助。

　　所以我们在事奉神的事上，无论作什么，都必须用灵，都必须在灵里，才能摸着神，才能碰着神。这在宇宙中是一个大的定律。这个定律，就是人接触神，必须用人的灵，必须在人的灵里。人要接触神，必须照着这个定律，必须履行这个定律。不照着这个定律接触神，就是违反神的定规，就不能摸着神，就不能碰着神。因为神是个灵，人要接触祂，必须用灵，必须在灵里。只有灵能接触灵，所以只有灵能接触神。
 
　We must be clear and remember that God is Spirit and that only the spirit can touch and contact the Spirit. Therefore, if we want to contact and touch God in any matter, we must use our spirit. Apart from our spirit, we cannot touch God in any spiritual matter. A certain matter may be very spiritual, but if we do not use our spirit to contact God in that matter, we simply cannot touch God. A spiritual matter in itself still cannot enable us to touch God. We still must use our spirit to contact God in that spiritual matter; only then can we touch God.

　When a person believes in the Lord, it is not enough that he receives the truth of the gospel merely with his mind. He must also receive the Lord with his spirit. Man’s mind can only contact the truth; it cannot contact the Lord. If a person merely touches the truth and does not contact the Lord, he cannot be saved. He can receive the Lord’s salvation only by contacting the Lord. However, in order to contact the Lord, he must use his spirit. He has to go beyond and deeper than his mind and get into the spirit deep within him in order to be enlightened and moved by the Holy Spirit, to be conscious of his sins, to confess that he is a sinner, and to receive the crucified and resurrected Christ, the ever-living Savior, not a dead doctrine. Only then can he touch the Spirit of the Lord, that is, contact the Lord Himself and receive the Lord’s salvation.

　This is very different from someone who receives the doctrine of the gospel merely in his mind. One person who understands and comprehends with his mind takes doctrine as his goal, whereas another person who is moved and who receives salvation in his spirit takes Christ as his object. In the former case, someone may understand and receive many doctrines in his mind without touching Christ. In the latter case, the other person can contact Christ in his spirit without knowing many doctrines. In the former case, he may receive a doctrinal teaching and obtain some doctrinal knowledge, but his spirit may not be saved by Christ with His life. In the latter case, this one is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and is regenerated in his spirit, even though he may not understand many of the gospel truths or obtain a great deal of gospel knowledge.

　A person may know many doctrines but may not receive the Lord’s salvation. He may have the knowledge of sin in his mind but not have the consciousness of sin in his spirit. In his mind he knows he is sinful, but in his spirit he does not feel so. He may have understood and comprehended Christ in his mind, but in his spirit he has not yet contacted or touched Christ. The reason for this is that he uses his mind to study the doctrines about Christ instead of using his spirit to contact Christ Himself. If he is willing to contact Christ with his spirit, and if he is willing to be moved by the Holy Spirit in his spirit to contact Christ and receive Christ, he will be able to touch Christ and gain Christ in his spirit. Thus, he will be able to receive Christ’s salvation of life and experience a change from within his spirit to his outward being.

　When a person listens to a message, he must also go beyond and deeper than the mind, emotion, and will of his soul and get into his spirit to be inspired by God and to contact Christ Himself. If he merely uses his mind, emotion, and will to listen to the message, he can only understand its meaning in his mind, receive its inspiration in his emotion, and make a decision because of it in his will. He can only contact the message itself by the mind, emotion, and will; he cannot touch the Christ in the message. The message itself, which is merely letter and knowledge, cannot afford man the salvation of life or the spiritual supply. Only Christ in the message is life and Spirit, and only He can give life and spiritual reality to man. Man may contact the message itself with his mind, emotion, and will, but to contact the Christ in the message he has to seek Christ, look to Christ, draw nigh to Christ, and worship Christ with his spirit. In this way he can contact Him and have fellowship with Him.

　When a person reads the Bible, he must use his concentrated and focused mind to study and meditate, but even the more he must use a quiet and eager spirit to seek God and His revelation through the word of God—the Holy Bible—and thus receive His enlightenment and supply. The mind can only understand the letters of the Bible and comprehend its doctrines; the mind cannot contact the God revealed in it or receive the life spoken of therein. Only the spirit can contact God and receive life through understanding the Bible and comprehending the truths by the mind. Therefore, when we read the Scriptures, we must draw near to God, contact God, and have fellowship with God in our spirit through His word. Only then will we be able to touch and gain Him and to receive spiritual enlightenment and life supply.

　When a person prays, even the more he needs to use the spirit and to be in the spirit. Although the Bible says that we should pray also with the understanding (the mind), it does not mean that we pray only with the understanding. Rather, it means that we should use the understanding to comprehend the burden and feeling in the spirit and then pray with words from the understanding to express the burden and feeling in the spirit. If we pray only with the understanding, with the mind, with the intellect, we can neither receive inspiration nor sense God’s presence. We must pray with the spirit and in the spirit, and we must have the burden and the sense in the spirit. Then we must use the understanding to pray and express the burden and the sense in the spirit. Only then can we touch God and His presence and receive the watering and supply of the Spirit.

　Someone may ask, What is it to pray with the mind, and what is it to pray with the spirit? To pray with the mind is to pray according to what the mind remembers and thinks, without any feeling in the spirit. Many times we first decide on what to pray and then we exercise our memory to pray with our mind according to what we have already decided. Sometimes we may have decided what to pray, but when we pray, we always use our mind to think, and even contemplate, about what to pray, and then we pray according to what we have thought and contemplated. We often have a list of things or a set form of prayer that we pray by reciting. Also, we often merely pray according to a record or report of the items for prayer by repeating the items once. All such prayers are prayers by the mind and not by the spirit. These kinds of prayers are merely from our mind and come out through our mouth without any inspiration. Such prayers not only are unable to move God and others, but they cannot even move ourselves, because they are not the living inspiration from the spirit but the dead knowledge from the mind.

　Praying with the spirit is different. Although praying with the spirit also requires using the mind, the mind is not the source of prayer but merely a faculty through which prayer passes. When a person prays by using the spirit, his prayer does not originate from the mind. Rather, it originates from the spirit and passes through the mind. Instead of praying according to what he remembers and considers in the mind, he prays according to the sense and burden in the spirit. However, he uses the mind to understand the sense and burden in the spirit and expresses such understanding in prayer. Since sometimes there is first the knowledge and memory in the mind and then prayer, it seems that the prayer is according to what the mind knows and remembers. Actually, however, the knowledge and memory in the mind have already become the feeling and burden in the spirit. One must first have the feeling and burden in the spirit, and then he uses his mind, his understanding, to express in prayer the feeling and burden of the spirit. This is to pray with the spirit. This kind of prayer requires a person to go beyond, go deeper than, his mind, emotion, and will so that he may contact the Spirit of God in his spirit to receive the sense and burden of the spirit. This kind of prayer is according to divine inspiration and not according to a set form. It is fresh and not stale. It enables the praying one to touch God and sense His presence, and at the same time it also causes the praying one himself as well as those who hear him to be moved, watered, and supplied by the Spirit.

　Very often this kind of praying in the spirit was not in one’s original consideration. For example, someone originally intended to pray for his job, his health, or his family, including his children. But when he comes to the presence of God, the Spirit of God touches his spirit and causes him to feel that he is full of shortcomings before God. At this moment the feeling and burden in his spirit are his shortcomings. Therefore, he no longer cares to pray for his job, his health, or his family. Instead, he just follows the feeling in his spirit to confess to God all his shortcomings before Him in order to relieve the burden in his spirit. This kind of prayer enables him to touch God, to enter deeper into God, to have fellowship with God, to be more filled by God, and to receive the sweet nourishing and rich supply of God. If he would be willing to disregard the matters that he has remembered and has prepared to pray, and instead would just pay attention to the feeling in his spirit and keep on praying according to that feeling, then within him he will receive the unlimited spiritual blessing of God. He will feel joyful, peaceful, at ease, satisfied, fresh, shining, living, and strong. After praying, not only he himself feels that he is full of the presence of God, but even those who contact him will feel that there is an unexplainable condition and power upon him.

　Therefore, brothers and sisters, when we pray, we must first have the sense and burden from God by contacting Him with our spirit and touching Him in our spirit, and then we must use our understanding, our mind, to express the sense and burden in our spirit with words of prayer. When we pray, we must first reject the memory and thoughts in our mind and then draw near to God in our spirit to touch His feeling and receive His burden. This does not mean that we should not bring the things in our memory before God in prayer. What it means is that all the matters for which we intend to pray must first become the feeling and burden we have from God in our spirit, and then they can become the prayers that we ought to have before God. Therefore, when we bring a certain matter before God in prayer, instead of praying at once for that matter from our mind, we should first contact God in the spirit to touch His feeling. If that matter becomes the feeling in our spirit before God, then we may pray for it. Otherwise, we should not pray for it even though we have already decided to pray for it originally. If, without any feeling in our spirit, we still pray for it, then we are praying according to our mind and with our mind. Thus, we surely will not be able to touch God and His presence, because we are in our mind uttering a prayer of the mind. Only when we pray for a certain matter that has become the feeling and burden in our spirit can we touch the presence of God and be watered by Him.

　Recently, when I was in Manila, a brother asked me, “What is a prayer of the mind? And what is a prayer of the spirit?” Although I felt that it was not easy to explain, I was able to answer him with a simple sentence. A prayer of the mind comes out of thinking, but a prayer of the spirit comes out of feeling. Any prayer that comes out of our thought is a prayer of the mind because it comes out of the mind. Any prayer that is uttered out of the feeling deep within us is a prayer of the spirit because it comes out of the spirit. We should pray for many matters, but we should not pray merely according to what we remember and consider in our mind. Every matter for prayer must first become the feeling and burden in our spirit before God. We must pray only according to the feeling in our spirit and for the burden in our spirit because we can only pray by contacting God in our spirit. We may bring many things before God, but we must see whether God makes them the feelings and burdens in our spirit before we decide whether we should pray for them. We can pray only for the matters with which we have been inspired; we can pray only by touching God in our inspiration; and we can pray only in our inspiration the prayers that touch God.

　In our prayers we should follow the feeling in our spirit not only when we petition God but even when we praise and thank God. We should not praise and thank God merely according to the doctrines, knowledge, or sentiments concerning some outward things. Otherwise, although our praises and thanksgivings are toward God, they are of the letter, formal, outward, of the mind, not in the spirit, and without the Spirit. Only the praises and thanksgivings that are according to the feeling in our spirit can enable us to touch God and to have the confirmation of God’s acceptance, the feeling of the presence of God that He gives us in our spirit. This is because this kind of prayer is in the spirit and is full of the Spirit.

　When one leads a meeting, whether he chooses a hymn, prays, speaks, or testifies, he should be in the spirit and act according to the feeling in the spirit. In many instances the activities in the meeting are carried out merely according to rules, common sense, or certain needs. These activities are all done according to one’s mind or emotion, instead of being done in one’s spirit according to the sense in the spirit. Therefore, they are ritualistic, formal, intellectual, rational, and emotional. They cannot cause people to sense the presence of God or receive the supply of God. In the meeting, before one does anything, he must open his spirit to God to contact God and have fellowship with God in his spirit so that he may receive inspiration from God. Then what he does will enable others to sense God’s presence and receive God’s supply. All the activities in the meeting must be initiated in the spirit in this way. For example, when a person chooses a hymn in the meeting, he must not choose one just at the right time, for the right situation, and with the right subject merely according to his knowledge of the hymns or according to his understanding of which kind of hymn is needed for which kind of meeting. Rather, he must also use his spirit to sense the spirit of the meeting and to receive inspiration from God concerning a certain point, and then select a hymn that can express, release, and touch that inspiration. As another example, when one speaks or testifies in the meeting, he must also not do it merely according to the outward situation and need by speaking a word that fits the situation or giving a testimony that meets the need. Rather, he still must use his spirit to touch God’s feeling concerning that situation and need and to receive inspiration from God, and then express something according to the sense in his spirit. It is not enough merely to have the knowledge about meetings in the mind. There is still the need to touch the feeling of God and receive His inspiration by fellowshipping and contacting Him in the spirit. Only in this way can others sense life and reality in their spirit. Otherwise, they can only sense death and vanity.

　It is the same when a person preaches the word. He must not preach a word that fits the situation and meets the need merely based upon his doctrinal knowledge and according to the outward situation and need. If he does this, the word he preaches is merely of the knowledge, of the letter, of the mind, and not in the spirit. To preach the word in the spirit, a person must be in his spirit and touch the feeling of God to receive the inspiration from God concerning that particular situation and that particular need. Then he can release the feeling in his spirit with the appropriate doctrine and word. Only by such preaching can the speaker himself touch God’s presence and receive God’s supply and the listeners also receive the edification in life and obtain the spiritual help.

　Even when we go to visit others, we must contact them in our spirit and according to the feeling in our spirit. We must not speak to them merely according to the doctrines that we have understood and remembered in our mind or according to their outward condition and needs. Otherwise, we will not be able to bring them to God, nor will we be able to impart God to them in order to supply the need in their spirit or deal with the problem in their spirit. When we touch God in our spirit and contact others out of the sense of God’s presence, we enable others to touch God and gain God, and we also enable them to receive the spiritual enlightenment and comfort, as well as the supply of life and edification, in their spirit. Only by contacting others in the spirit with the presence of God can we touch the Spirit of God and also touch the spirit of others. Moreover, only by this can others touch the Spirit of God with their spirit and receive the supply and help from the Spirit of God in their spirit.

　Therefore, in our service to God, regardless of what we do, we must always use our spirit and be in our spirit. Only then can we touch God. This is a great law in the universe. This law is that man must use his human spirit and be in his human spirit to contact God. To contact God, man must do it according to this law and by fulfilling this law. Anyone who contacts God not according to this law violates God’s ordination and therefore cannot touch God. Because God is Spirit, anyone who wants to contact Him must use his spirit and be in his spirit. Only the spirit can touch the Spirit; therefore, only the spirit can touch God.

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