VII. OUR SPIRIT NEEDING TO BE
THE MEANS OF OUR WORSHIP
According to John 4:24, our spirit needs to be the means of our worship. We need to worship God the Spirit in our spirit and with our spirit. Many saints come to the meeting to meet, but they do not come to worship. We may go through the formality of meeting without rendering the Lord the real worship He desires. To worship is to exercise our spirit. Whenever we begin to exercise our spirit, the worship begins. We may think our worship begins when we call a hymn or when we pray. But our worship actually begins when our spirit rises up and is exercised.
In other words, in a meeting we may sing a lot of hymns, yet without worship. Even we may read many verses of the Bible, yet without worship. We may even pray without worship. Many so-called Christian services have singing, the reading of the Bible, a sermon, and a benediction, all without the exercise of the spirit. There was no worship because no one exercised his spirit.
Our meetings need to be full of the exercise of the spirit. When we come together to meet, before singing, before praying, before reading, before doing anything, all of us should exercise our spirit. There should be such a worshipping spirit in all our meetings. Many times the elders exercise their spirit to open the meeting. Then they stir up others’ spirit. This is not the best situation. All of the saints must rise up to exercise their spirit. We have to help the saints to realize that we need to use our spirit to worship. Our spirit needs to worship God directly apart from merely depending upon singing, reading, or praying in a formal way.
VIII. OUR SPIRIT NEEDING TO TAKE THE LEAD
IN ENJOYING THE LORD
Our spirit needs to take the lead in enjoying the Lord. This is fully shown in Luke 1:46-47. In these verses Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has exulted in God my Savior." These two verses, no doubt, are describing the enjoyment of the Lord, and in the enjoyment of the Lord, our spirit has to take the lead. First, Mary’s spirit exulted in God; then her soul magnified the Lord. Her praise to God issued from her spirit and was expressed through her soul. But today we mostly use our soul first. We must learn to directly use our spirit and let the soul be a follower of the spirit. Our spirit must take the lead aggressively in enjoying the Lord. Our spirit should subdue our soul to make the soul its follower.
IX. OUR SPIRIT NEEDING TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE
IN SPIRITUAL MINISTRY
First Corinthians 14:32 says, "The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets." In our spiritual ministry, our spirit has to take the initiative. If our spirit is waiting, that means our spirit is dormant. On all occasions, our spirit should take the initiative to minister something.
(Basic Lessons on Life, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee)
