PRAYER
Our talking is also related to another very important matter—the matter of prayer. In Matthew 7:7-8 the Lord said that if we ask, we will receive; that if we seek, we will find; that if we knock, it shall be opened to us. Asking, seeking, and knocking are linked with our judging. The Lord was indicating that a judging person cannot have a proper prayer life. The more we judge or talk or gossip, the less we will be able to pray. This is certain. On the contrary, the less we gossip and talk, the more we will pray. If on the one hand we would practice not talking, gossiping, or judging, and on the other hand exercise the proper discernment in sharing the truths of God and the experiences of Christ with others, then we will be able to pray. First we ask; then we seek and knock. Sometimes asking is sufficient. At other times we need to seek and to knock. We may say that we ask for the Lord’s grace, seek after the Lord’s Person, and knock for the Lord’s presence. It is easy to have the Lord’s grace, but it is difficult to have the Lord’s Person, and even more difficult to have the Lord’s presence.
A proper prayer life is linked to "judge not." If we do not talk in a loose way and if we do not speak about God’s truths and our experiences of Christ in a careless way, we will have a proper prayer life. We will have the ground to ask, seek, and knock.
This section concludes with Matthew 7:12 which says, "All things therefore whatever you wish that men would do to you, so also you do to them." This means if we expect others to treat us in a particular way, we should first treat them in that way. Do not treat others differently from the way that you yourself expect to be treated. This is the principle. Be fair. If you want other people to treat you in a certain way, you should treat them in the same way.
BY HIS LIFE
We cannot fulfill any of these requirements by the life we received from our natural birth. But by our new birth we have received the divine life which can fulfill all of them. I am certain that the Lord Jesus in you will never be talkative. Whenever I see a sister gossiping or a brother talking excessively, I always shake my head because I realize that the Lord Jesus would never talk like that. Such gossiping surely is not the Lord. He will never gossip and talk that much. Praise the Lord! He is our life!
THE GROUNDS OF THE CHILDREN
OF THE KINGDOM
Now we proceed to the last aspect of the kingdom life—the grounds of the children of the kingdom of the heavens for their walk and work (Matt. 7:13-29). Please note that grounds is in the plural number. There is not only one ground, but several. Our walk and behavior, our living and our work, must have a proper ground. Whatever we are and do must be solidly based upon a proper ground.
(The Kingdom, Chapter 34, by Witness Lee)
