LESSONS ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Lesson Nineteen

The Prophesying (2)—The Practice of Prophesying

Scripture Reading:

Lam. 3:22-23 It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, For His compassions do not fail; They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

1 Cor. 14:26 What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

Acts 5:20 Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

1 Tim. 4:13-14 Until I come, attend to the public reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching. Do not neglect the gift which is in you, which was given to you by means of prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

1 Tim. 4:15-16 Practice these things; be in them, that your progress may be manifest to all. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things; for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has exulted in God my Savior.

I. From our revelation gained from the Word of God and our experience the Triune God during the week, compose a prophecy of no more than three minutes to speak—1 Cor. 14:26:

A. By enjoying the Lord through contacting Him in a portion of the Word every morning—Lam. 3:22-23:

1. Choose a portion of the Word consisting of ten or fewer verses, covering one chapter of a book each week.

2. Among these few verses there may be two or three verses which we especially enjoy and we can concentrate on these—Jer. 15:16.

B. By writing down a short note of our spiritual inspiration, enlightenment, and enjoyment of the Lord each morning as a reminder of what we received from the Lord—Psa. 119:147-148; cf. Lev. 11:3.

C. By putting all the notes, the “harvest” of our inspirations of the past six mornings together for a total inspiration on the last day of the week and composing a prophecy of no more than three minutes to speak in the church meetings on the Lord’s Day.

D. By having some “tutors” as coaches or instructors, tutoring us on how to compose a prophecy with the proper length, form, and content—1 Cor. 14:29.

II. If we practice PSR (pray-reading, studying, and reciting) each day, from Monday through Saturday, we will surely prophesy in the Lord’s Day meeting of the church:

A. Acts 8 shows that we need the Word interpreted to us.

B. My new way is PSRP. This is the way for us to cook and to eat the riches, which have been released in these recent years.

C. We should prophesy with what we can recite; what we can recite is what we have studied; and what we have studied is what we have pray-read.

D. By taking this way, we will be equipped to nourish people with the unsearchable riches of Christ.

III. Practice speaking the prophecy we have prepared in our home—1 Cor. 14:26:

A. In this way we will have a proper prophecy prepared in writing.

B. On the Lord’s Day, we will go to the church meeting having something to speak.

C. This will fulfill 1 Corinthians 14:26, which says that when we come together, “each one has.”

D. 1 Corinthians 14:26 says, Each one “has”—1 Cor. 14:26.

IV. Speaking with the constituting elements of prophesying—speaking what we see with the living words of this life under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and with His enlightenment —Acts 5:20:

A. Prophesying being a miraculous normality.

1. Normal because it requires us to learn the Word and to be trained to speak.

2 Miraculous because it is speaking with the divine element, the divine light,and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

B. To prophesy is to have the oracle of God (God’s speaking, God’s utterance that conveys divine revelation)—1 Pet. 4:11; cf. 1 Cor. 14:24-25.

C. When we have the human learning of the Word, the divine inspiration of the Spirit, and the clear view, we will be able to prophesy—1 Cor. 14:31.

D. Prophecy is always composed of the living words of this life, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the clear view through the enlightening of the divine light—1 Cor. 2:11-16.

V. Building up a habit of speaking the word of the Lord—Luke 1:45-46:

A. The only way to speak the Holy Word is to live according to the Spirit.

B. In all the daily affairs of our daily life, we need to learn to speak the word.

C. If we do not practice speaking the word in our daily life, it will be very hard for us to speak much in the meetings.

VI. The learning needed for practicing to prophesy—1 Cor. 14:1; 1Tim. 4:13-16:

A. Learning the twenty-two main items of the truth.

B. Learning the twenty-two main items of the experiences of life.

VII. Exercising to prophesy—Luke 1:47; Psa. 16:9:

A. Exercising your spirit—Luke 1:47; Psa. 16:9.

B. Exercising your mouth (your tongue) and your voice (your sound)—Psa. 108:1; Acts 2:26; 1 Cor. 14:7-11.

C. Exercising your speed.

D. Exercising your gesture.

E. Exercising your accent.

 

Excerpts from the ministry:

FROM OUR REVELATION GAINED FROM THE WORD OF GOD AND OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE TRIUNE GOD DURING THE WEEK, COMPOSE A PROPHECY OF NO MORE THAN THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK

In order to learn to prophesy, we need to enjoy the Lord in a portion of the Word every morning. The way to do this is by pray-reading. Do not try to pray-read a whole chapter. This may be compared to eating a breakfast which is too large. We should choose a portion of the Word consisting of ten or fewer verses. Among these few verses there may be two verses which we especially enjoy, and we can concentrate on these. By doing this every morning we will receive inspiration, and we can take notes on the spiritual inspiration we receive. They do not need to be long notes; short notes with certain points as reminders are adequate. Then we should put all the notes, the inspirations of the past six mornings, together on the last day of the week to compose a prophecy for a three-minute speaking by exercising our spirit. Our speaking should not be too long or too short. Limiting our speaking to three minutes will help everyone to preserve the time in the meetings. (The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, pp. 86-87)

If we do mean business to learn to prophesy, I would propose to you that every week you set aside two hours and come together with eight or ten to teach one another and to learn from one another. For this reason, every one of you should have a morning revival every day. There is a publication that is very suitable for this, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, which contains Scripture text, portions from footnotes, and portions from Life-study Messages for our pray-reading and enjoyment of the Lord every morning. When you have a morning revival every day in this way, you will surely have some inspiration which you may jot down. When the weekend comes, you may put together the portions that you have written down, read them over, and do a little polishing so that it will be approximately three minutes long. This becomes a very good draft for your prophesying. Doing this is something very basic, and it will be of great benefit to you. (The Up-to-Date Presentation of the God-ordained Way and the Signs Concerning the Coming of Christ, pp. 47-48)

I told the saints to write down a short reminder of what the Lord inspires them with each morning. After Saturday morning the saints will have six notes of the inspiration that they received during the week. I shared with them that on Saturday evening they can pray-read these six inspirations. When the saints add these six inspirations together, they will have a total inspiration. They can then compose a prophecy with this total inspiration. Some of the brothers function as tutors or coaches to help the saints compose their prophecy. These brothers may advise them to adjust their prophecy so that it is close to three minutes long. If their prophecy is too short, they will be asked to lengthen it. If it is too long, they will be asked to shorten it. The brothers also help the saints with the form and content of their prophecy. (The Present Advance of the Lord’s Recovery, pp. 61-62)

IF WE PRACTICE PSR (PRAY-READING, STUDYING, AND RECITING) EACH DAY, FROM MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, WE WILL SURELY PROPHESY IN THE LORD’S DAY MEETING OF THE CHURCH

Acts 8 Shows That We Need the Word Interpreted to Us

The Bible was first written, then translated, and finally interpreted and explained. According to our old way, many of us have been listening to messages interpreting the Bible for years, but when we go to contact people, we still do not know what to say. This is why I have shared that we need to follow the pattern of the saints in Taiwan to practice PSRP — pray-reading, studying, reciting, and prophesying. All of this requires time. Pray-reading cannot be done lightly. Then we need to study the truths word by word, term by term, and phrase by phrase. For instance, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then verse 14 says that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality. Many read these verses without understanding them. This is why we need the word to be interpreted to us.

Acts 8 gives us a very good example of this. The Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip contacted was reading from Isaiah, and Philip asked him, “Do you really know the things that you are reading?” The eunuch responded, “How could I unless someone guides me?” (vv. 30-31). Philip interpreted the word to this eunuch, and he believed in the Lord and was baptized (vv. 35-38). Some people have said that all we need is the “pure Word,” but how can we understand it? Acts 8 shows that we need the Word interpreted to us. (The Vital Groups, p. 141)

My New Way Is PSRP. This Is the Way for Us to Cook and to Eat the Riches Which Have Been Released in These Recent Years

Our study equips us to interpret the Word to others. By my study of the Word throughout the years, I saw that grace is God gained and enjoyed by us and reality is God realized by us. We have to gain Him, receive Him, and enjoy Him as grace. Then we have to realize Him as the reality. Although points like this have been made clear in our Life-study of the Bible, we may not pay attention to them to study them. In order to be constituted with the truth, we need to pray-read and then study. Pray-reading verses such as John 1:1 and 14 lays a good foundation. Then we can study the crucial points of these verses with the help of the life-studies. With this help we can find out what grace and reality are. We have to study the truths word by word, term by term, and phrase by phrase. Spontaneously, we will be able to recite what we have pray-read and studied. In addition to our personal study, we also need to study with others. This kind of study cannot be carried out in big meetings. It can be carried out mutually in vital group meetings of six to not more than ten saints. (p.142)

This new way of pray-reading, studying, reciting, and prophesying—PSRP—has been passed on to many places. What I am speaking here is a kind of instruction to all the churches. My new way is PSRP. This is the way for us to cook and to eat the riches which have been released in these recent years. (pp. 142-143)

We Should Prophesy with What We Can Recite; What We Can Recite Is What We Have Studied; and What We Have Studied Is What We Have Pray-read

We should prophesy with what we can recite; what we can recite is what we have studied; and what we have studied is what we have pray-read. If we do not pray-read, study, or recite, we cannot prophesy. I have encouraged people to prophesy in the Lord’s Day meeting, but they still claim that they do not know what to say. Now we have a new way. If we pray-read, study, and recite the points of the outlines released in our crystallization-study of the Word, we will surely prophesy. Who cannot prophesy? Those who do not pray-read the outline, who do not study the outline, and who do not recite the outline. If we practice PSR (pray-reading, studying, and reciting) each day, from Monday through Saturday, we will surely prophesy in the Lord’s Day meeting of the church. (p. 143)

By Taking This Way, We Will Be Equipped
to Nourish People with the Unsearchable Riches of Christ

If anyone comes to the Lord’s Day morning meeting without being prepared to prophesy, this indicates he was lazy for the whole week. Throughout the week, he did not pray-read, study, or recite. If he had practiced this, he would be able to prophesy on the Lord’s Day. After reading the fellowship in this message, we may feel that the standard in the church is too high. In a sense, this is true because we are in the Lord’s recovery. We do not want to remain in degraded Christianity. Those in Catholicism are required only to attend mass. They do not have to function. Those in Protestantism mostly listen to sermons. They are not required to speak for the Lord in their meetings. The Lord’s recovery is different.

All of the members of Christ’s Body should be functioning members who speak for the Lord. This is why we need to practice PSRP. We have to pray-read, study, and recite the points we have studied. Then spontaneously our pray-reading, studying, and reciting will become our prophesying. Many of us like to hear certain brothers who are good speakers. This shows that it is not easy to change our mentality, because it is still affected by Christianity. (p. 144)

We have to study these points, recite them, and then we will be able to speak them. By taking this way, we will be equipped to nourish people with the unsearchable riches of Christ. (p. 145)

PRACTICE SPEAKING THE PROPHECY WE HAVE
PREPARED IN OUR HOME

The new light that we are enjoying is that 1 Corinthians 14 is altogether an encouragement, encouraging us to prophesy, to speak the Lord and to speak for the Lord. We should exercise to speak Christ all the time. In our homes we should not speak anything but Christ. The husbands and wives should speak Christ to each other. Instead of exchanging words with each other, the husbands and wives should learn to speak Christ to each other, we should forget everything and cleave to Christ. Then in the church meetings, we should speak only Christ. Christ is everything. When we speak something from Hades, we are in Hades. When we speak something concerning Christ, we are in the heavens. Let us speak Christ again and again, a thousand times a day. It will not tire us to speak Christ. Hallelujah for Christ, and hallelujah even more for speaking Christ! I can never exhaust the speaking of Christ. Thank the Lord for Paul’s encouragement in 1 Corinthians 14 for us to speak Christ. (Further Light Concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ, p. 19)

Moreover, there are secrets to proper prophesying. We can practice at home first. The husband may speak to the wife, and the wife may speak to the husband. After speaking to one another, they can criticize each other. This is a very good way of practicing, and it will improve our prophesying. It is like practicing piano; the more we practice, the more skillful we become. The less we practice, the harder it will be for us to advance. Hence, there is the need for constant practice even in the matter of prophesying. In the end, our posture, tone, air, and spirit of speaking will all become a genuine prophesying, instead of being merely a testifying or an ordinary speaking. If everyone would learn to speak for God and to speak forth God in this way, the Lord will surely be able to fulfill and recover the words in 1 Corinthians 14. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, p. 77)

Each One “Has”

[In 1 Cor.14: 26,] has occurring five times in this verse, is a widely used Greek word, a word with many meanings, of which the following three are the main ones: (1) to hold, to possess, to keep (a certain thing); (2) to have (a certain thing) for enjoyment; (3) to have the means or power to do a certain thing. The first two meanings should be applied to the first three of the five items listed in this verse, and the third to the last two—a tongue and an interpretation of a tongue. This indicates that when we come to the church meeting, we should have something of the Lord to share with others, whether a psalm to praise the Lord, a teaching (of the teacher) to minister the riches of Christ to edify and nourish others, a revelation (of the prophet, v. 30) to give visions of God’s eternal purpose concerning Christ as God’s mystery and the church as Christ’s mystery, a tongue for a sign to the unbelievers (v. 22) that they may know and accept Christ, or an interpretation to make a tongue concerning Christ and His Body understandable. Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting with such things from the Lord and of the Lord, either through our experience of Him or through our enjoyment of His word and fellowship with Him in prayer. After coming into the meeting, we need not wait, and should not wait, for inspiration; we should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have prepared to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit—their enlightenment, nourishment, and building up.

This is like the Feast of Tabernacles in ancient times. The children of Israel brought the produce of the good land, which they had reaped from their labor on the land, to the feast and offered it to the Lord for His enjoyment and for their mutual participation in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. We must labor on Christ, our good land, that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting and offer. Thus the meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and will be a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church. According to the stress and emphasis of this Epistle, all five items listed in this verse should focus on Christ as God’s center for our portion and the church as God’s goal for our aim. The psalm should be the praise to God for giving Christ as wisdom and power to us for our daily life and church life. The teaching from a teacher and the revelation from a prophet should teach and minister Christ and the church, which is the Body of Christ, to people. A tongue and its interpretation also should have Christ and the church as their center and content. Any stress on things other than Christ and the church will bring confusion to the church and distract it from the central lane of God’s New Testament economy, making it like the church in Corinth. (Recovery Version Bible, 1 Corinthians 14:26, footnote 1)

SPEAKING WITH THE CONSTITUTING ELEMENTS OF PROPHESYING—
SPEAKING WHAT WE SEE WITH THE LIVING WORDS OF THIS LIFE UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH HIS ENLIGHTENMENT

According to our study of the New Testament, there are three constituting elements of prophesying: God’s living word of life (Acts 5:20), the instant moving of the Spirit, and the view through the enlightening of the divine light. First, we need to be acquainted with the living word, so we need to read the Bible every day. Every morning we should spend ten minutes to pray-read two verses, dwell upon them, and enjoy the Lord in them. If we drive to work, we can pray-read these verses again on the way. If we pray-read two verses a day for six days a week, we can be saturated with six hundred twenty-four verses in a year. We will become saturated, soaked, and fully acquainted with these verses. This will give us the knowledge of the Word, and the proper expressions and utterance in our speaking.

The second element we need is the instant inspiration of the Spirit. Because we are persons dwelling in the word, we will be in the fellowship of the Lord, and our spirit will be exercised and ready to receive the instant inspiration of the Holy Spirit at any time. We need the word of God, and we need the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Third, we need the view through the enlightening of the divine light. Our sky needs to be clear. Under the divine enlightenment we can see the real situation of ourselves, the church, and the saints. Because we have such a view, we can speak when the inspiration comes. We speak what we see with the divine word under the inspiration of the Spirit and with His enlightenment. This is prophesying. (The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, pp. 44-45)

We all must learn to continually say something for Christ in our daily life. Why are you so defeated? It is because you are so silent. The subtlety of the enemy is to keep your mouth shut. Speak something for Christ to the people in your office. The more you speak, the more victorious you will be. (How to Meet, p. 113)

BUILDING UP A HABIT OF SPEAKING THE WORD OF THE LORD

In order to practice the scriptural way to meet and to serve for the building up of the Body of Christ, we have to build up a habit of speaking the word of the Lord. For the most part, we do not have the practice or the habit of speaking the word of the Lord properly. We do not practice applying the word of the Lord to our daily life that much, nor have we built up the habit of exercising to speak the word of the Lord regularly in daily affairs. For us to be saints who meet properly according to the holy Word, we need to build up a habit of speaking the word of the Lord in our daily life and in our daily affairs.

The Only Way to Speak the Holy Word Is to Live According to the Spirit

The only way to speak the Holy Word is to live according to the Spirit. If we want to speak the word, we must exercise to live by the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, to do things according to the Spirit. We always have someone with whom we can speak. The husband and wife have each other, the parents have their children, and the students have their classmates. We all have the way and the time to speak the Lord’s word to others.

On the other hand, people have a lot of time to speak profane, vain words to others. Many would say that they do not have the time to pray, but they have a lot of time to talk on the telephone. When we do pray, we may pray only for a short time. But when we get on the telephone, we may talk for a long time. The reason for this is that our natural man has a lust for speaking natural things. There is a lust in our flesh for speaking profane, vain words to others. We must hate this lust, and we must do our best by the Spirit to put this lust on the cross. We have to turn from our lust to our spirit to live, to walk, and to have our being by the Spirit. We must hate our lust and crucify our lust by exercising our spirit. When we turn away from the lust that desires to talk in a vain way and turn to our spirit, our spirit will direct us to prayer. When we practice this, we are overcomers. This exercise will help us to practice speaking the word in our daily life.

In All the Daily Affairs of Our Daily Life, We Need to Learn to Speak the Word

In all the daily affairs of our daily life, we need to learn to speak the word. While we are doing things in our daily life, we need to learn to speak with others. Sometimes we may not have anyone with us. When there are no people to speak to, we can speak to the things around us. We can speak to the chairs, the flowers, the trees, and the animals. We should not stop speaking. Whether someone is with us or not, we should speak the Lord’s word. When the sisters are cooking and no one is with them, they can talk to the oven about the processed Triune God.

Always learn to talk in your daily life, but do not talk in a profane and vain way for your lustful enjoyment. You must change your habit to that of speaking the word of the Lord. If you want someone to accompany you when you go somewhere, get the right person to whom you can speak God’s word. If you get the wrong person, you will not be able to build up the habit of speaking the divine things. You will be swallowed up by this wrong person. He will help you to speak things that are not so holy, and you will fall into profane and worldly talk.

If we do not speak properly during the day, when we come to the meetings in the evening, we will be the wrong persons. If we have been talking in a worldly way all day long and we come to the meeting in the evening, it is hard to make a “U-turn.” If our tongue is used to speaking worldly things for six days, on the Lord’s Day our tongue will not cooperate with us to speak the holy word. If we are used to speaking worldly things during the week, how can we speak holy things in the meeting? Our speaking of the word in the meeting depends upon our habit. If I speak the holy word from Monday through Saturday, my tongue is used to that. Then when I come to the meeting on the Lord’s Day, everything within my being, my mind, will, and emotion, is used to the speaking of the holy word. This is what I mean by applying the word of the Lord to our daily life.

If We Do Not Practice Speaking the Word in Our Daily Life,
It Will Be Very Hard for Us to Speak Much in the Meetings

If we do not practice speaking the word in our daily life, it will be very hard for us to speak much in the meetings, and we will need some to be our clergy to speak for us. Suppose that fifty saints are meeting together and forty- eight of them are silent. This will create a big gap in which the other two will be tempted to speak for them. These two will think that if they do not speak, the meeting will be very poor. Spontaneously they could become the pastors of this group of saints. To build up a meeting according to the biblical revelation is not an easy thing. It is like climbing up a high mountain. To roll down a hill is easy. If we give in to our habit of not speaking, our meeting will roll down to the bottom of the hill. To have a high meeting, we must pick up a habit of speaking the holy word. (The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, pp. 177-179)

LEARNING NEEDED FOR PRACTICING TO PROPHESY

Learning the Twenty-two Main Points of the Truth

The first item we all must learn is the truth concerning the person of God.…God…is Elohim, God in plural, and the faithful, mighty One. God is the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We need to know the Godhead of the Divine Trinity, the essential Trinity, and the economical Trinity.

The following is a list of twenty-two major points of the truth, which we need to learn.
1. Concerning the person of God.
2. Concerning God’s creation, with man as the center, man created in three parts—body, soul, and spirit, man to take God as life, and man to be increased with a counterpart.
3. Concerning man’s fall.
4. Concerning God’s redemption.
5. Concerning Christ.
6. Concerning Christ’s redemption.
7. Concerning the Holy Spirit’s sanctification.
8. Concerning God’s forgiveness of sins.
9. Concerning God’s justification in Christ.
10. Concerning the believers’ reconciliation with God
11. Concerning the Spirit’s regeneration of the believers.
12. Concerning God’s full salvation.
13. Concerning the Spirit’s sanctification, renewing, and transformation of the believers.
14. Concerning the conformation and glorification of the believers.
15. Concerning the church as the Body of Christ, as the new man, as the house of God, and as the kingdom of God.
16. Concerning the economy of God and the divine dispensing.
17. Concerning the rapture of the believers, the great tribulation, and the second coming of Christ.
18. Concerning the reward and punishment of the believers at the judgment seat of Christ and in the coming kingdom.
19. Concerning the kingdom, millennium, and the age of restoration.
20. Concerning the New Jerusalem and the new heaven and the new earth.
21. Concerning the principles of the Holy Scriptures.
22. Concerning the way to cut straight the word of the truth.

(The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, pp. 72-78)

Learning the Twenty-two Main Items of the Experiences of Life

In order to practice prophesying, we not only need to learn the truths, but also need to have the experiences of life. Our prophesying should be enriched with much truth and many experiences of life. We would like to point out twenty-two items of the experiences of life which we need to learn.
1. Of the Spirit’s sanctification that leads the sinners to repent.
2. Of repentance and confession of sins.
3. Of God’s forgiveness and cleansing of sins.
4. Of God’s justification through the redemption of Christ.
5. Of reconciliation with God through justification.
6. Of the Spirit’s regeneration.
7. Of God’s full salvation in Christ.
8. Of the assurance of salvation and the clearance of the past.
9. Of positional sanctification and dispositional sanctification by the Spirit.
10. Of the Spirit’s renewing, transforming, and conforming.
11. Of the dealings with sin, with the world, with the flesh, with the self, with the natural life, and with the natural strength.
12. Of the killing of the subjective death of Christ and the life-imparting of the resurrection of Christ.
13. Of the abiding in Christ, the fellowship with the Lord, and the leading of the Spirit.
14. Of the infilling of the essential Spirit and the outpouring of the economical Spirit.
15. Of the living and walking by and according to the spirit.
16. Of praying and interceding.
17. Of the reading, the studying, the understanding, and the receiving of the enlightenment from the Bible.
18. Of the obedience and submission to God and the breaking of the outer man.
19. Of the knowing and experiencing of the Body of Christ.
20. Of the church life in a locality.
21. Of the practice of the God-ordained Way in its four steps.
22. Of the watchfulness and readiness for the pre-tribulation rapture and the expectation and preparation for the secret appearing of the Lord as the morning star.

(The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, pp. 79-83)

EXERCISING TO PROPHESY

Exercising Your Spirit

In the exercise of your spirit (Luke 1:47; Psa. 16:9), you must exercise your mouth and your voice at the same time. When someone exercises his spirit in speaking, he may shout. But do not consider that mere shouting is the release of the spirit. You must learn to exercise your innermost being when you speak. To lose your temper is a good illustration of releasing your spirit. When you speak in anger, without any consideration, without any fear, and without any care, you spontaneously release your spirit. (The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, p. 87)

Exercising Your Mouth (Your Tongue) and Your Voice (Your Sound)

When you prophesy, you must exercise your mouth, your tongue (Psa. 108:1; Acts 2:26), and your voice, your sound (1 Cor. 14:7-11). When you speak in the meeting, you should not forget that you are speaking to the entire congregation. You are not speaking just to yourself or to the person next to you. For this reason, you must exercise your mouth and your voice. After I give a message, I often stress that in the time for testimonies the saints should speak loudly. I have stressed this matter again and again, but I have seen very little improvement among the saints over the years. Many of the brothers and sisters still remain unchanged.

We should not forget that when we come to a meeting, we are coming to speak. Our singing and praying are also a kind of speaking. Even to say “amen” is a kind of speaking. Whenever we enter through the threshold of the meeting hall, we should learn to exercise our spirit. We should realize that to exercise our spirit and to exercise our mouth are part of our job whenever we come to the meetings. Whenever we meet together, we must exercise our spirit. Not only when we cross the threshold of the meeting hall, but also beginning from our homes and on the way to the meeting, we should exercise our spirit to speak to the Lord, to sing, to pray, and to praise. (The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, p. 87)

Exercising Your Speed

In the previous two messages we have seen that we need to exercise our spirit, our mouth (our tongue), and our voice (our sound) in the practice of prophesying. In prophesying we also need to exercise our speed. In our speaking, we must adjust ourselves. We should not speak too fast or too slow; rather, we need to speak with a good rhythm and a proper speed. (The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, pp. 106-107)

Exercising Your Gesture

In prophesying we also need to exercise our gesture. Although I have been speaking for more than sixty years, I feel that I still have not learned adequately to speak with a proper gesture. This is a difficult matter. To learn to have a proper gesture requires a lifetime of exercise. Having the proper gesture is a great benefit to our speaking. If we speak with little or no gesturing, our speaking will appear to be unnatural and lifeless, and it will not be attractive. If we speak with too much gesturing, our speaking will seem to be peculiar. We all need to learn to speak with a gesture that is very spontaneous. (The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, p. 107)

Exercising Your Accent

In the practice of prophesying, we also need to learn to exercise our accent. In our speaking we must have some crucial points with some crucial words. We need to learn to accent our speaking. Shouting loudly is not always a proper accent to our speaking. Sometimes we should speak a certain point slowly to make it a crucial point that can catch people’s attention. In our speaking we should care not only for our rhythm, our speed, but also for our accent. We should learn to speak with a proper rhythm and a proper accent so that our listeners can hear every word. In speaking we must take care of others’ ears. Exercising to have a proper speed, gesture, and accent is a great help to our speaking. (The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, p. 107)

References: The Practical and Organic Building Up to the Church, chs. 4, 8; The Up-to-date Presentation of the God-ordained Way and the Signs Concerning the Coming of Christ, ch. 5; The Present Advance of the Lords Recovery, ch. 4; The Vital Groups ch. 16; Further Light Concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ, ch. 2; The Organic Practice of the New Way, ch. 6; Recovery Version Bile, 1 Corinthians, ch. 14; How to Meet, ch. 11; The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, ch. 17; The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-ordained Way, chs. 6, 7, 9.