As believers in Christ who love Him and pursue Him, we want to pray real prayers to touch His heart and be one with Him; real prayer is the mutual contact between God and man, the flow between God and man, us inhaling God and gaining God, and us cooperating with God to allow the Holy Spirit from within us to express God’s desire through us in prayer.
Lord Jesus, teach us how to pray. We open to You. May we be open to You to learn how to pray real prayers, prayers that touch Your heart and move Your hand. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You. Empty us. Make us those who learn to pray in the organic union with God. We don’t know how to pray as is fitting, but thank You for being in us as the Spirit to pray in us and express God’s desire through us! Amen, Lord, we love You! We open to You in prayer! Amen!
This week in our morning revival, we start a new series inspired by the March 2026 International Training for Elders and Responsible ones, with the general topic of, The Ministry of the Word and God’s Dispensing for God’s economy.
Amen, we need to know what the ministry of the Word is and remain under God’s dispensing for the fulfilment of His economy!
We may be familiar with these terms; we may really enjoy the ministry of the Word, and we may daily participate in the wonderful, continual, fine divine dispensing, but we need to learn to open even more.
We need to make new discoveries in God’s Word and let Him train us in this matter so that we may be one with Him in our ministry of the Word.
May we be before the Lord concerning what it means to minister the Word, how to minister the Word, and how to remain under God’s dispensing so that God’s economy may be carried out.
This first week in particular we come to the topic taken from a verse in Acts 6:4 saying, “Steadfastly in Prayer and in the Ministry of the Word.”
The apostles said that they will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the Word.
On the one hand, there are many things related to the church life which need to be taken care of, and there are many practical matters related to setting up the tables, feeding the saints, caring for others, shepherding, transportation, coordination, etc.
On the other hand, there’s the need for some to continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the Word.
We need to do both; we need to both be involved in the practical coordination regarding the practice of the church life, and also be steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the Word.
Prayer is the Real Denial of the Self: Real Prayer is the Mutual Contact between God and Man
When many people hear that we need to pray, they think they know what it means to pray; they consider prayer as man coming before God to make supplication.
For example, we may have some needs, we may have some problems, or we may simply be anxious, so we come to the Lord in prayer.
We bring our needs before Him, we make supplication to Him, we make Him know all our anxious thoughts, we ask for healing, and we tell Him all our problems.
We may have certain impossible situations we go through, there may be some troubles we’re in, or we are sick; we come to Him and tell Him, ask Him, implore Him, and pray to Him.
This is one kind of prayer, and we need such prayer. But the proper meaning of prayer as seen in the Bible is more than this; prayer is something much deeper than this.
According to Mark 8:34 and 9:29, we see that to pray means that we realise that we’re nothing and we can do nothing; this implies that prayer is the real denial of the self.
To pray is to deny the self. We not only bring our needs to Him; we deny the self and we depend on Him. We come to Him, and we give ourselves to Him.
Even more, real prayer according to the Bible is the mutual contact between God and man. We contact God and God contacts us. This is what God wants from us and with us; He wants us to contact Him and He wants to contact us.
He shows us His love, He constrains us with His love, He cares for us, and He reaches out to us.
On our side, we respond to Him not merely by repenting but even more, by contacting Him. We just contact the Lord, we touch Him, and we let Him touch us.
A prayer that is up to standard has the condition of mutual flowing between God and man so that man may touch God and God may touch man.
Prayer is not an activity we do from time to time; prayer is the mutual contact between God and us in which we contact Him, and He contacts us.
This is the highest and most accurate meaning of prayer. This is what the Lord Jesus practised and lived out when He was on the earth.
He didn’t just go to the Father about His problems, His opponents, and the persecutions and hindrances He encountered. Rather, again and again, the Gospels tell us that the Lord answered and said this and that to the Father.
He continually contacted the Father; He remained in the touch with the Father, and He was always conversing with the Father. Even when He was rejected, He brought this to the Father in prayer and intimate conversation, and the Father responded to Him (Matt. 11:25-26).
As we contact the Lord and He contacts us, as we remain in this mutual contact of God and man, we realise we are short of God, we deny ourselves, and we take Christ as our everything.
We also see something of God and His will, so we seek God and God’s will (Matt. 26:39; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38).
This is what we pray for: we don’t pray merely for our own needs and problems, but we seek God, we seek His will, and in this mutual contact of God and man, we pray for God’s will.
We seek the Lord in prayer, we contact Him to touch His heart, and we pray for what is in His heart. He touches us, we touch Him, and we empty ourselves to just be filled with the prayers that He wants us to pray.
He prays in us, and we pray one with Him, in the mutual contact of God and man, to utter the prayers He needs today.
May we learn to pray in this way, even as we pray personally and with the saints corporately, not bringing our agenda or list of things but seeking His will and praying according to His will.
Lord Jesus, teach us how to pray. We open to You. We come to You as we are and we just want to contact You. Amen, Lord, we want to contact You and let You contact us. Touch us, Lord, as we touch You. Keep us in the mutual contact of God and man. Oh Lord, we realise that we’re nothing and we can do nothing, so we come to You! We deny the self and we put ourselves aside as we contact You. We take You as our life and person. Flow in us and flow through us as prayer. Make us men of prayer. Make us those who seek God and His will in prayer. Speak to us, Lord, and unveil us to see what is in Your heart. May we see Your will and pray for Your will to be done. Save us from coming to You with our own list of things to pray; may we learn to open to You, be unloaded and emptied before You, and just be one with You in prayer. We join ourselves to You, Lord, to be one with You and pray according to Your will. May Your will be done on the earth. May Your will be done in our life. May Your will be done in the church life today! Amen!
Contact God in our Spirit to Absorb God and Inhale God so that the Spirit Expresses God’s desire through Us in Prayer
Prayer is our breathing. Real prayer is man breathing in God as we breathe in air. It is effortless for us as human beings to breathe in air, for it is by breathing that we live and go on. Similarly in the spiritual realm, we need to breathe in God by means of prayer.
As we breathe in God by prayer, we spontaneously gain God, obtain God, and receive God.
On the one hand, God becomes our enjoyment as we breathe Him in and inhale God by prayer, and on the other hand, our whole being surrenders to God, turns to God, and is gained by God.
God gains our being by means of our prayer, for by prayer we contact God in our spirit to absorb God and inhale God (Jude 20; John 4:24).
The real significance of prayer is to contact God in our spirit and to asborb God Himself (John 14:13; 15:7). Wow. We really need to have a change in our concept in regard to what prayer is.
Yes, prayer includes our petition to God, our supplications, and our problems being made known to Him.
But prayer is much more; prayer is the contact of the human spirit with the divine Spirit, during which we inhale God.
We human beings open to God, exercise our spirit to contact God the Spirit, and by prayer we inhale God. We breathe God in.
By prayer we inhale God and we are filled with God. This is something we are experiencing and also learning day by day.
Many times we start with the outward things; we pray for people, affairs, problems, and things that are outside of God and are related to us.
These can be considered as accessories to prayer. But when we remain in the mutual contact of God and man and contact God in our spirit, we will absorb God and inhale God.
Real prayer is for us to inhale God Himself, to obtain God, and to be obtained by God.
A prayer of essence is one in which we actually contact God, we breathe in God, we enjoy God, we obtain God, we are filled with God, and we allow God to gain our being.
In a sense, what God is after is not just to accomplish something outwardly; He is primarily after our organic union with Him, for Him to be infused into us and for us to be one with Him.
If we learn the secret of prayer, we will cooperate with God in prayer and we will work together with God.
This doesn’t mean that we will do many things outwardly for God but rather, that we will allow God to express Himself and His desire from within us and through us, ultimately accomplishing God’s purpose.
We really don’t know how to pray as is fitting, nor do we know what to pray for; but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s purpose (Rom. 8:26-27).
Thank the Lord that the Holy Spirit is one with our spirit, always interceding for us and in us; He intercedes for us and in us before God with groanings which cannot be uttered.
He joins in our prayer, He prays in us, and He uplifts our prayer, as long as we touch the Lord.
Real prayer is not merely us praying to God but the Holy Spirit within us expressing God’s desire through us.
It is Christ in us praying to Christ in the heavens so that God may carry out His will; in this process, we are one with Him, for we are praying, and as we are praying, He is praying in our prayer.
Real prayers involve two parties: not merely man alone praying to God but the Spirit mingling Himself with man, putting on man, and joining man in prayer.
It is man who prays, but it is the Spirit who prays in our prayer. Outwardly, it is man who utters the prayers, but inwardly, it is the Spirit praying.
Two parties – us and the Lord as the Spirit – utter the same prayer, expressing God’s desire in our prayer. In this way the Spirit intercedes according to God.
It is the Holy Spirit who prays in us, and we pray one with the Lord, for we inhale God, we absorb God, and we are one with God. God prays in us through His Spirit.
In this way, our prayer expresses God’s intention and expresses God Himself.
This kind of prayer, the real prayer which is the Holy Spirit expressing God’s desire and prayer through man, always matches the Scriptures.
We inhale God and we exhale before God, for we are one with God to speak in prayer what He infuses into our being.
We contact God, God contacts us, and we gain God, and He gains us. This results in a cooperation with God, for God to express Himself through our prayer, and His desire can be uttered and also accomplished.
May we learn to pray in this way to offer real prayers to God for His will to be done and His desire to be accomplished.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to contact You and breathe You in. May our prayer be our inhaling God! Amen, Lord, may we have a real prayer, a prayer by which we inhale God Himself, we obtain God, and we are obtained by God! We fully open to You! Fill us with Yourself. We just breathe You in. We exercise our spirit to contact You as the Spirit. We surrender our whole being to You. We turn to You. May we be filled with God! Oh Lord, we want to learn to pray real prayers, prayers through which we contact God, breathe God in, enjoy God, obtain God, are filled with God, and allow God to gain our whole being! We admit, Lord, that we don’t know what to pray for as is fitting. We acknowledge that we don’t know how to pray. Come in as the Holy Spirit interceding for us to join us in our prayer. May the Holy Spirit within us express God’s desire through us! Amen, Lord, may we pray according to God by allowing the Spirit to pray in us! We are one with You, dear Lord, to pray for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done! Amen!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Ministry of the Word and God’s Dispensing for God’s Economy (2026 March ITERO), week 1, “Steadfastly in Prayer and in the Ministry of the Word” – day 1.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Fully opened from within, / With thy face unveiled, beholding, / Single, pure, and genuine. (Hymns #784 stanzas 1 and 2)
– Praying always in the spirit, / Never by our human thought! / Fellowship with God the Spirit / Only thus to us is brought. / Praying always in the spirit, / Thus expressing God’s desire; / Staying with the Lord in spirit, / We’ll be wholly set afire. (Hymns #780 stanzas 2-3)
– Pray to touch the throne of God, / Deeply sense thy need of grace; / In the spirit stay with God, / Fellowshipping face to face. / Pray to touch the throne of God, / Learning all the wealth of grace; / Ever take and ever taste, / Giving God the thanks and praise. (Hymns #783 stanzas 2-3)
