We need to Cooperate with the Lord through Prayer to Carry out His Move on Earth

The highest cooperation we can render the Lord for His move today is through prayer; we need to cooperate with the Lord through prayer to carry out His move, acting together with the acting God for the accomplishment of His economy (as seen in Acts).

First of all, for us to participate in the Lord’s move we must have a personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual relationship with Him; we need to live a daily life in the divine romance and spend much time with our Beloved Lord.

In our personal time with Him, as we open to Him in an affectionate and spiritual way, He infuses us with His desire, and we will care for what He cares, desire what He desires, and think what He thinks.

We need to daily develop our personal, private, affectionate, and spiritual relationship with Him, and the result will be that we will work with Him in love, move one with Him, and render Him our highest cooperation for His move.

The Lord doesn’t need zealous people or people who merely agree with Him outwardly; He wants to gain a group of people who spend much time with Him, are infused with His desires and intentions, and have a personal, intimate, and spiritual relationship with Him. Such people will then spontaneously live out Christ and express Christ, and they will be one with the Lord in His move on earth today.

There are three main ways we can participate in the Lord’s move: we can go in His going, we can give in His giving, and we can pray in His praying. We need to be those who follow the Lamb wherever He may go by living a life of consecration to the Lord, being willing to move when He wants us to move.

Our move in the Lord’s move should be by taking heed to our spirit and by honoring Christ as the Head of the Body, and the fellowship of the Body, being in coordination with the fellow members of the Body.

Toward the Lord we need to have an altar, putting everything we have and are on the altar; toward the world we need to have not a castle or a house but a tent, being ready to move in oneness with the Lord for Him to further His move on earth.

If the Lord doesn’t lead us to move, however, we can cooperate with His move by being cheerful givers, thus becoming fellow workers in the truth. Those who can’t go, they can give, and by giving in the Lord’s giving, they become fellow workers in the truth with those who go!

We need to Cooperate with the Lord through Prayer to Carry out His Move on Earth

Our main cooperation with the Lord, the highest cooperation we can give God for His move, is prayer. We see this in the book of Acts, which speaks of the spreading and move of the resurrected Christ as the Spirit through His disciples for the bringing in of the kingdom of God on earth.

Every time the Lord had a move in Acts, there was prayer; the book of Acts is on God’s move, and it is also on prayer. We need to cooperate with the Lord through prayer to carry out His move, acting together with the acting God for the accomplishment of His economy, as seen in the book of Acts.

In Acts we see at least eight instances of prayer that were man’s cooperation with His move.

We need the prayer that brought in the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 1:14; 2:1-4, 16-17). One hundred and twenty saints – together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers – prayed together with one accord for ten days, and this brought in the outpouring of the Spirit, which is the outpouring of God’s being on man.

We need to have such prayer in one accord that opens the heavens and brings the Spirit on man. How good it would be if we would have days of prayer in the church life!

We shouldn’t say that we can’t pray for a long time; we don’t know the capacity of our spirit, which is much greater than what we think.

If our spirit is willing, when we exercise our spirit, we will have no problem to pray for long times. May we learn to stretch out our spirit, the capacity of our spirit to pray in one accord for the Lord’s move.

We need the prayer that shook the earth and empowered the disciples with the Holy Spirit for the speaking of the word with boldness (Acts 4:24-31). The disciples prayed with one accord according to the word of God, praying back to Him Psa. 2:1 and applying it to their actual situation at that time.

We need to take the word of God, pray it in a living way, and apply it to our present situation for God to further His move. We shouldn’t look at our environment but believe in our prayer in oneness with the Lord according to His word to change the environment and further His move on earth.

We need to give ourselves continually to and continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). We need the prayer that matches the ministry of the word. Today the Lord has a very rich speaking in His recovery, and the ministry He releases needs to be the contents of our prayer.

We may find it easy to pray for outward things, activities, people, or world situation, but what if we would pray for God’s move! We need to pray back to the Lord His desire to build up the Body, prepare His bride, and bring in the kingdom of God.

We shouldn’t just mentally agree with the Lord’s word but pray back to Him His word and match the ministry of the word with our steadfast prayer.

Lord Jesus, we want to have the prayer that brings in the outpouring of the Spirit for the Lord’s move. Increase our times of prayer with You, and grant us to have many times of prayer corporately in the church life for the Lord’s move. Lord, may we have the prayer that shakes the earth and empowers us with the Holy Spirit for speaking the word with boldness. Amen! We give ourselves to You, Lord, to continue steadfastly in prayer and the ministry of the word. May we have such an active response to Your word, praying Your word back to You in faith!

We need the prayer that brought Peter into a trance and brought a heavenly vision to him (Acts 10:9-16). We need to have set times of prayer and pray ourselves out of ourselves and into the mingled spirit to have a conversation with the Lord, be in a trance, and be made one with the Lord for the furtherance of His move.

We may have hindrances in our being to the Lord’s move, but when we pray ourselves into a trance to see a heavenly vision and allow the Lord to have a new way to move, just as Peter did, and the Lord’s move was brought to the Gentiles. May the Lord have a free way to move through our prayer!

We need the prayer that opened the prison gate for Peter (Acts 12:4-14). We need not only individual prayer but prayer in groups in the church, fervent prayer in small groups in the local churches.

The Welsh revival in 1904-1905, as recorded by Jesse Penn-Lewis, brought more than 100.000 people to the Lord, and all of them were saved as a result of prayer in small groups.

We don’t want to have a great movement of man; we want to get together in our small groups and pray the prayer that opens prison doors, releases people, brings people to salvation, and empowers us to speak the word with boldness for the bringing in of the kingdom of God.

We need the prayer that brought the five prophets and teachers into the Lord’s commission (Acts 13:1-4). These five brothers were ministering to the Lord and praying, and the Lord had a way to come in as the Holy Spirit and speak to them, appointing two of them for His new move.

We need to be joined together with the saints, pray in one accord, minister to the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will have a way to speak; then, as the Spirit speaks, we know how to pray: we pray back the Spirit’s speaking for Him to have a way to move.

Our prayer needs to be the echo of the Spirit’s speaking. In our personal and intimate contact and fellowship with the Lord and with the saints in fellowship, the Spirit has a way to speak, and He may send some out for His move.

We need the prayer that brought in a great earthquake and shook the foundation of the prison (Acts 16:23-26). Hallelujah, prayer changes things, shakes the foundations of the prison, and even shakes the earth!

Before we go to visit people or preach the gospel, we need to pray in one accord for any prison door to be opened and the people’s situation to be shaken so that they would be open to the gospel.

Our prayers can change the situation of the world. Our prayers can change the atmosphere and political situation in our country and in the world for the Lord’s move. We need to cooperate with the Lord through prayer.

We need the prayer that brought Paul into a trance and into the Lord’s speaking to him (Acts 22:17-21). Paul prayed himself into a trance, and there he received the Lord’s commission for His move among the Gentiles.

For us to participate in the Lord’s move, we need the kind of prayer that Peter and Paul had: a prayer that brings us out of ourselves and into a trance, an ecstasy, where He will show us what our part is.

The Lord may commission us to go in His going, give in His giving, and pray in His praying, or do all three. The way to find out is to pray until we are out of ourselves and receive His commission.

Lord Jesus, grant us to have the prayer that brings us out of ourselves and into a trance so that we may see a heavenly vision and receive the divine commission as Peter and Paul did. We want to cooperate with the Lord through prayer for His move on earth. May we have the prayer that opens any prison gates, shakes the foundations of the earth, and releases people from the enemy’s prison. Lord Jesus, may we be joined with our fellow believers in prayer and ministering to You so that the Spirit would speak and move freely among us and through us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Mark R. for this week, and portions from, The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, ch. 9 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 6 (week 6), The High and Awesome Wheels.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Pray to labor with the Lord, / Be identified with Him / In His purpose and His aim / Till His blessing floodeth in… / Pray to labor with the Lord / Till the wheel begins to move; / Pray together with the Lord / Till the Church His pow’r shall prove. (Hymns #786)
  # Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray and watch persistently; / For God’s kingdom and His glory, / Pray and watch in harmony. / Pray with one accord in spirit / Seeking God in unity; / In the Spirit of the Body / Ever pray in harmony. (Hymns #779)
  # Make us those who’re one with You in prayer, / Echoing the things for which You care. / Lord, do make us one so that Your heart’s desire we share; / In this age, Lord gain Your men of prayer. (Song on working together with God in prayer)