Speaking for God, Being under His Authority, and Praying for God’s People one with God

May the Lord make us the Samuels of today, those who consecrate themselves to God for His purpose as His Nazarites of today, speak the word of God, function as priests, rule and reign for God, and are men of prayer who are praying for God’s people. Amen!

The Lord is looking for those who are separated unto Him, those consecrated to Him for their whole life.

To be a Nazarite means that the whole course of our Christian life should be a life of separation.

One of the many things we need to be separated from is death in all its forms.

Death is more serious than sin; sin is dirty, but death is more abominable in God’s eyes, more dirty and defiling.

When we touch death, when we are in death, we are defiled, and our Nazarite vow is cancelled, rendered ineffective.

We need to go again through the steps of rededicating ourselves, making the vow of a Nazarite, to reestablish ourselves again in this separation according to its laws, so that we may be a Nazarite again.

When a Nazarite came near to a dead person, he was defiled; touching death in any of its forms defiles us and causes us to lose our consecration.

We need to keep our Nazarite vow and stay away from any kind of death.

To be a Nazarite, we need to overcome natural affection; this means that our real brothers and sisters are not those in the flesh but in the Lord, and the Lord’s interest becomes our interest.

May we overcome the natural affection so that we may be thoroughly holy to Jehovah.

To be a Nazarite to the Lord, a separated individual for His purpose, we need to be absolutely subject to the headship of the Lord as well as to all deputy authorities appointed by God.

This is seen in the fact that a Nazarite was not to shave his head or cut his hair; this means that he needs to be subject to God’s headship and to all kinds of headships He has ordained.

We need to know what is authority and be one who is under that authority.

The ultimate authority in this universe is simply the Lord Himself, His headship; for us to be separated unto God, we need to be fully under the Lord’s headship.

We need to have the Lord as the preeminent One in our life; He is the Head, He is our Husband, He is our King, and He is our Lord. Amen!

When He speaks to us, we need to learn to say Amen to His speaking.

And we need to submit to the deputy authorities that God has appointed over us, whether in the society or in the spiritual realm in the church life.

We subject ourselves to the Lord when we subject ourselves to the deputy authorities that He has set over us.

Today the whole world is in rebellion against God and in particular against any authority He has set over them; this is true also in the church, for many want to be free, not to be told what to do or to give an account to anyone.

May the Lord make us real Nazarites, those who keep the Nazarite vow and who are separated unto God, sanctified unto Him, for His use on earth today.

The Pattern of Samuel Ministering as a Prophet, a Judge, and a Man of Prayer

In the days of Samuel, the word of Jehovah was rare and visions were not widespread (1 Sam. 3:1).

He was consecrated to God by his mother and later he himself continued to be a Nazarite; his first prophesying was at a time when the waning Eli’s eyesight was so dim that he couldn’t see (v. 2).

At the time Samuel began to prophesy, that is, to speak for God and to speak the word of God one with God, the lamp of God had not yet gone out in the temple (v. 3).

God stopped speaking to his people, but there was still some light. Praise the Lord, He raised Samuel, a Nazarite who volunteered himself to the Lord for His purpose, and through this one, the Lord had a way to speak what was in His heart.

Samuel didn’t speak his own things; rather, he received the word of God, and that is what he spoke to others also. Samuel also ministered as a judge.

It was the priesthood that was supposed to function as a judge to both speak the word of God from God and utter God’s judgments on His behalf; however, at his time, the priesthood was waning and did not function properly.

As a priest, Samuel served God and contacted God; as a prophet, Samuel spoke for God, speaking to God’s people the words God told him to speak.

As a judge, Samuel carried out God’s governmental administration. He was on earth as the acting God, representing God and acting for Him among His people.

Because he was a man after God’s heart who volunteered himself to God for His purpose, Samuel had the priesthood, the prophethood, and the judgeship.

Even more, he was used by God to anoint the king so that the kingdom would come in.

God raised Samuel and established him as a judge to replace the judging of the people by the old priesthood.

The priesthood included the matters of speaking for God and administrating for God; but because the old Aaronic priesthood was waning, God raised up Samuel to be a new priest, a new prophet, and a new judge. He was a pattern to us both personally and corporately.

When the Philistines came to attack them and Samuel spoke God’s word, the people of Israel repented and turned to God, and God gave them a great victory.

Samuel then anointed David to be God’s chosen king; Christ was born as one of the descendants of David, so this was a key matter.

David was brought in by Samuel, and Christ came in through David; we today owe it to Samuel that we have salvation, for, without someone like Samuel, David would not have been brought in.

Besides being a priest, a prophet, and a judge, Samuel was also a man of prayer; he prayed for God’s people and interceded for them daily before God.

Even more, Samuel considered it a sin not to pray for the people of God; he realized that God loved His people, He cared for them, and even in their degradation God was with His people, so he prayed for them (1 Sam. 7:3-14; 8:6; 15:11).

He prayed for them to be kept in the way of God and to be one with God; he prayed that they would not be ensnared by the idols of the nations around them and to enjoy God as Ebenezer (the stone of help).

1 Sam. 7:12 says that Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen; and he called its name Ebenezer and said, Thus far Jehovah has helped us. He realized that God’s people were degraded, but he prayed for them that His desire, His will, may be fulfilled in His elect.

Samuel didn’t just pray for God’s people; he considered it a sin against Jehovah not to pray for them (1 Sam. 12:23).

Samuel was so precious and valuable in God’s eyes that in Jer. 15:1 He admitted that Samuel, like Moses, was a man standing before Him for His people.

Moses was a priest, a prophet, and a judge (Deut. 18:15, 18), and he always prayed for God’s people. In these matters, Samuel was the same.

Only these two in the Old Testament were qualified to participate fully in the priesthood, the prophethood, and the judgeship, and they prayed for God’s people.

Lord Jesus, keep us coming to You to receive Your fresh speaking. We come to contact You as priests; we want to spend time with You to be infused with You and receive Your speaking. Oh Lord Jesus, how much we love Your speaking! Speak to us so that we may have a living word to minister to others. Infuse us with Yourself so that we may prophesy by speaking the word of God to others. Amen, Lord, we enthrone You in our being and we give You the first place; have the preeminence in us. We come under Your throne and we take You as our supreme authority. Lord, infuse us with Your heart’s desire so that we may pray for Your people according to God. May the people of God be as precious to us as they are to You. Save us from not praying for Your people! Make us those who intercede for the people of God so that they would allow You to fulfill Your purpose through them and among them!

Speaking for God, Being under His Authority, and Praying for God’s People one with God

If we read the book of 1 Samuel with the divine view, we will see a wonderful pattern in Samuel, and we will be not only inspired but brought to our knees to pray that we would be such ones today.

Today everywhere in the church the priesthood is waning; no one really functions as a priest, and the Lord has no way to speak to His people and through His people.

Furthermore, not many are under God’s authority, taking God as their Head and King; as a result, the Lord’s authority cannot be exercised in the church, and the enemy has a free way among the believers.

Who today speaks for God by having God’s fresh word to His people?

Who today has an ear to hear what the Spirit speaks to the churches, and then speaks according to the Lord’s speaking he has heard and internalized?

Who today is under authority, taking God as their authority and submitting themselves under God’s authority and under the deputy authorities He has arranged over them?

Samuel was such a one; he properly represented God and was the acting God on earth, and through him, God could bring in David, in whose lineage the Lord Jesus was born.

Today we as believers in Christ can enjoy Christ as our all-inclusive good land, and we can labor on Him and develop Him in our experience and enjoyment.

As members of the Body of Christ and constituents of the church, the Body of Christ, we enjoy Christ and partake of Him, and we learn to speak Christ to others for the building up of the Body.

We see something concerning the economy of God, that He wants to work Himself into man to regenerate, transform, and glorify man so that man would express God in a corporate way.

And we realize that God’s eternal economy will consummate in the New Jerusalem.

However, we need to realize that, in order for God to accomplish His economy, He needs someone like Samuel – He needs many like Samuel today.

He needs us to be those who prophesy, that is, speak for God by having God’s fresh speaking day by day. He needs us to be under His authority, taking Him as our Lord, King, Head, and Husband.

Just as He needed Samuel in his age, so today He needs many like Samuel who are according to God’s heart as His Nazarites in this age.

May we be those who minister as a Nazarite, consecrated to God absolutely for God’s fulfillment of His economy.

May we be those who minister as God-honoring, God-pleasing priests who contact God and bring God to man and man to God.

May we be faithful to act on behalf of God, being men after God’s heart who bring in the kingdom with Christ, the King of glory.

May we be those who minister as prophets established by God to speak the word of God by having His instant, living, and present speaking day by day.

And may we be men of prayer who pray for God’s people that they may be kept in the way of God and be one with God.

May we pray for the saints in the church, pray for all believers in Christ, that they would not be ensnared by the idols of those around them but rather, would enjoy God as our help and everything so that God’s desire in His will regarding them might be fulfilled.

Up to this day God has helped us for one main purpose: so that His desire might be fulfilled. He is helping us and all His believers for the fulfillment of His economy.

Amen, today God is blessing us in every way for the fulfillment of His economy to build up the Body of Christ.

May we not commit the sin of not praying for the people of God; may we pray for the saints and the churches every day.

Lord Jesus, make us those who minister as Nazarites, those consecrated to God absolutely for God’s fulfilment of His economy. Make us those who minister as God-honoring and God-pleasing priests to bring God to man and man to God. We want to be the prophets established by God to speak the word of God, have visions from God and speak the living, instant word of God. Amen, Lord, make us those who pray for God’s elect that they would be kept in the way of God and would be one with God. We want to be men of prayer who pray for God’s people that they would not be ensnared by the idols but would enjoy God as their help for the fulfilment of His economy. Fulfil Your economy in us and through us. We are here for You, dear Lord, so that You may fulfill what is in Your heart on earth today.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel, pp. 32-34 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 3, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warnings Seen in the History of Samuel.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – May all the things that come to us daily / Unto the gospel turn, / That all may see we’re bound for the gospel / And of the Lord may learn. / May we be bold and fearless in spirit, / Speaking the Word of God, / Do it in love and do it in power, / While living in the Lord. (Hymns #1295)
  – Holy priests are living stones / For God’s building work today; / If these stones would builded be / All the priests must learn to pray. (Hymns #849)
  – Deal with me and make me balanced, / As in preaching, so in prayer; / Leading others oft in praying, / As Thy Word I too declare. / Only serving by our praying / Will our spirits mingled be; / Stressing prayer as much as preaching- / Thus the church is built for Thee. (Hymns #848)