Praying in Prayer to Cooperate with God’s Truest Work in us: His Gentle, Quiet Voice

Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he earnestly prayed that it would not rain, that is, he was praying in prayer that was given to him; God then unveiled him to realize He’s a God who hides Himself, who speaks in the small, quiet voice in our being, which is His greatest work. Hallelujah!

This week we are looking at the “crystals” in the life and work of Elijah; he was a prominent prophet in the book of 1 Kings, one who had the vision of the age and carried out the ministry of that age. His ministry was to be an anti-testimony to the children of Israel at that time.

While they were all going the way of worshipping idols, Elijah stood for God and spoke as an anti-testimony to that generation.

He told them that the idols the people of Israel worship were false Gods and only Jehovah was the true God.

It was truly one of the darkest hours in the history of Israel, and it was so sad to see that, from the king to the last of the people of Israel, they all were worshipping idols.

We may say that today not many people worship idols outwardly, but actually, idols are in our heart.

We have things and people in our hearts that we love more than the Lord, things that replace Him as being the first and the best in us.

Yes, we do love the Lord, we do read His word, and we do go to the meetings of the church, but there are some things in our being that we gladly spend time with.

We need to realize that even good things can be an idol to us, causing us to worship not God but the enemy.

Satan disguises himself and hides behind the idols, and when we worship these idols by spending time with them and enjoying them more than we enjoy the Lord, God is actually robbed of His worship and Satan gets the worship. Oh, Lord!

Satan is like a lord of the flies; he guides the flies (the sinners, those enslaved in sin) to the pile of dung to feed on dung.

May the Lord deliver us from worshipping anything or anyone besides Him.

May we come to Him and ask Him to shine on us and in us so that He may expose our daily living and the secrets of our heart.

When we allow the Lord to shine in us and we give Him the worship He desires, Satan gets the shame, and any idols are eliminated.

Satan hides behind numerous idols and religions to gain man’s worship, thus robbing God of worship. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

He is seeking those who worship Him, the true worshippers, those who exercise their spirit and bring Christ as their reality, their truthfulness, for the worship of God.

Praying Earnestly (Praying in Prayer) and Standing for God’s Interest on the Earth as Elijah did

God told Elijah to prophesy that, if the children of Israel do not abandon their idols and return to Him, He will cause no rain to fall on earth for a long time.

The king and the people did not listen, so Elijah, who was a man of like feeling with us, earnestly prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three and a half years (James 5:17).

Then later he prayed again, after this time, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth sprouted forth with its fruit (v. 18).

What does it mean to earnestly pray? Literally, it means “prayed in prayer”, that is, a prayer from the Lord was given to Elijah, and he prayed in that prayer.

Elijah didn’t pray according to his feeling, his thought, his intention, or his mood; he didn’t pray according to what he thought he should pray.

Even more, Elijah didn’t pray in any kind of motivation arising from circumstances or situations so as to fulfil his purpose.

He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord gave him a prayer; he prayed in prayer, praying in the prayer given to him by the Lord.

The result was that God’s will was accomplished.

This is the kind of prayer the Lord needs today; we need to be those praying in prayer, that is, opening to the Lord to receive His burden, His prayer, and then praying this burden and prayer back to Him.

When we pray and seek and ask according to His will, He will listen to us, for our prayer is an echo of His prayer, and we are praying in prayer (Psa. 27:4).

This is a result of our abiding in the Lord, absorbing what He is into us, and allowing Him to flow in us and impress us with His intentions and desires.

If we abide in the Lord, we can ask whatever we will, and it will be done for us, for we are praying in prayer, praying the prayers that He is praying and we are echoing on earth (John 15:7). Amen, may we be such ones!

On Mount Carmel, Elijah had a “showdown” with the priests of Baal; there was he on one side and the four hundred fifty priests of Baal on the other side.

He told the whole people of Israel, How long will you go hopping between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him (1 Kings 18:21).

Both Elijah and this group of priests had an altar, and whichever god would cast fire from earth to burn the offering, that was the real god.

The priests of Baal prayed and screamed and did all kinds of crazy things, but Baal did not answer, for he is not a real god.

When it was Elijah’s turn, he asked for water to be poured on the sacrifice and around the offering, until the whole altar and the trench around it were filled with water.

Then, he prayed to Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench (vv. 36-38). Wow!

When all the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah – He is God! Jehovah – He is God!

Afterwards, the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal were executed (vv. 39-40). Wow!

This is the result of someone who prayed a prayer; he prayed in prayer, he was one with the Lord to release the prayer that He prayed, so he stood for the Lord on earth, declaring God’s interests even in the face of adversity.

In our situation, the Lord may not outwardly come and manifest Himself in such a spectacular way, but we have the inner registration that, no matter how much others reject Him and deny Him, He is real to us and He is our very life and life supply.

And we are learning to be those praying in prayer, praying the prayers that the Lord puts in us and gives us, for whenever we pray in the abiding, He will do it, for that’s His will that we pray out.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn to earnestly pray, praying in prayer, by being one with You and echoing Your prayer through our prayer. Amen, Lord, we open to You; cleanse us and wash us, and flow Yourself into us. Impress us with Your intentions. Cause the desire of Your heart become the desire of our heart. You are our real and true God, and we worship You. Amen, Lord, we don’t want to pray merely according to our feelings, throughs, intentions, or moods. May Your will be done and Your kingdom come. We stand for You on earth, Lord, and we declare Your interests for all to see. Amen, Lord, keep us abiding in You so that, no matter what we pray for, we will be praying in prayer, uttering Your prayer in our prayer, for Your will to be done! Hallelujah, we know that, if we abide in Him and pray, He will answer us, for we have prayed according to His will!

God’s Most Precious and Truest Work is in the Deepest Part of our Being, Speaking to us in a Gentle, Quiet Voice

After Elijah did that great and spectacular miracle by being one with the Lord on mount Carmel, he heard that queen Jezebel, the wife of Ahab the king, wanted to kill him.

So he was afraid and ran to hide himself. He truly was a man of like feeling with us. He went and hid himself, and he wanted to see where is God and what is His desire.

Then God came to him and asked him, What are you doing here in the cave?

Elijah answered, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek to take my life (1 Kings 19:9-10).

Elijah wanted God to manifest Himself, but God tested him, for He is a God who hides Himself. So God charged Elijah to go out and stand upon the mountain before Jehovah (1 Kings 19:1).

There was a great windstorm, but God was not in that windstorm; there was an earthquake, but God was not in that earthquake; there was a fire, but God was not in the fire (vv. 11-12).

Elijah might have expected God to show something marvellous and amaze him, the after the earthquake, wind, and fire, a gentle and quiet voice came.

God spoke to Elijah not in the fire, the earthquake, or in the storm, but in a gentle, quiet voice; this shows that God was ushering Elijah into the New Testament age.

Today God doesn’t speak to us in big thunderstorms, great fires, or major earthquakes; He speaks in the innermost part of our being in a gentle, quiet voice.

We may want God to show us something supernatural and spectacular, but He doesn’t like intimidating displays.

In Elijah’s case, it seems that he was the only one left standing for God, but the God who hides Himself and who works in secret had reserved for Himself seven thousand men (1 Kings 19:14).

Our God is a God who hides Himself; His work is always hidden, and it is not in great outward things that we can know Him but in the deepest part of our being.

We shouldn’t hope for a great touch with God, a great vision of God, or a great trance or seeing of spiritual things. These may not be necessarily of God.

The truest work of God is His hidden work in us; He operates in the most genuine way as a little voice, a little feeling, or a little thought, which seems to be both God’s moving as well as our own impression or feeling.

We all can testify to this. Many times the Lord’s voice within us is so faint that it seems it is not there.

All of a sudden, as we do this and that, we have a small feeling or thought, This is your flesh; you shouldn’t do this, for this has not passed through the cross, and it is not of the Lord.

This is the mighties and greatest work of God in us.

We may want Him to heal us or provide for us outwardly, but He wants to speak to us in a gentle, quiet voice, in the depths of our being.

Sometimes we may backslide and we may not even come to the meetings but rather, we do things that are displeasing to Him.

Even at that point, He still operates in us, and His gentle, quiet voice is in the depths of our being.

He may encourage us to go to the meeting, for it’s been a long time since we didn’t see the saints. He may simply tell us to pick up the Bible and read a little, and we are recovered to our love for Him.

The Lord is constantly operating in us both the willing and the working (Phil. 2:13); even when we don’t feel it, He still operates in us.

His speaking to us in the deepest part of our being is the irrefutable proof of our salvation. Even when we are committing sins, He seems to be saying, This is enough; don’t do this anymore, just stop and repent!

We may have not been in the meetings of the church for one or two months, and there’s a small, quiet, gentle voice in us saying, Just go to the meetings; how much longer will you wait?

We may doubt this small voice and may think this comes from ourselves, but it is the Lord who speaks to us in a gentle, quiet voice.

This is His truest speaking, and this is His most precious work. He is a God who hides Himself and who operates in secret, even in the secret, the deepest part of our being.

And He wants to make us His faithful overcomers, His hidden ones (Psa. 83:3), for He is a God who hides Himself (Isa. 45:15).

May we know Him as such a One, and may we cooperate with His deepest, truest work in our being!

Dear Lord Jesus, we love You! You are the most precious One, and You are right inside of us. We open to your inner operation. Grant us to hear Your voice. Oh Lord, may we see that You are a God who hides Himself. Make us Your hidden overcomers, those who overcome by heeding the small, gentle, quiet voice. Keep speaking to us. Keep us open to Your inner speaking. May we experience You day by day and receive Your truest speaking, your most precious work. Amen, Lord, we say Amen to Your inner speaking in the depths of our being. Keep speaking to us. Keep saving us. We do not want to focus on great and spectacular deeds that You can make for us; we want Your most precious and truest work in the depths of our being. Amen, Lord Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1956, vol. 2, “A God who Hides Himself,” pp. 3-11, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 2, entitled, Four Crucial Journeys to Enter into the Ministry of the Age by Closely Following the Minister of the Age with the Vision of the Age.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Fully opened from within, / With thy face unveiled, beholding, / Single, pure, and genuine. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Seeking Him in confidence; / Learn to touch Him as the Spirit, / Looking up in reverence. (Hymns #784, stanzas 2 and 3)
  – Fresh as the dew of the morning, / Bringing a sweet rest unheard, / Christ, in the gentle anointing, / Whispers His comforting word: / Stand till the trial is over, / Stand till the tempest is gone, / Stand for the glory of Jesus, / Stand till the kingdom is won. (Hymns #708, stanza 1)
  – Search me, O God, my actions try, / And let my life appear / As seen by Thine all-searching eye— / To mine my ways make clear. / Search all my sense, and know my heart / Who only canst make known, / And let the deep, the hidden part / To me be fully shown. (Hymns #407, stanzas 1 and 2)