How to Pray Effectively (II)

Relevant Words of God:

I hope that the brothers and sisters are able to truly pray each and every day. This is not adherence to doctrine, however, but an effect that must be achieved. … You should say: “O God! I wish to fulfill my duty. In order that You may be glorified in us, and may enjoy the testimony in us, this group of people, I can but devote my entire being to You. I beg You to work within us, so that I can truly love and satisfy You, and make You the objective that I pursue.” When you are possessed of this burden, God will surely make you perfect; you should not only pray for the sake of yourself, but also for the sake of doing the will of God, and for the sake of loving Him. Such is the truest kind of prayer.

from “Concerning the Practice of Prayer” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

And what about the content of prayers? You should pray, step-by-step, in accordance with your true state and that which is to be done by the Holy Spirit, and you should commune with God in keeping with God’s will and His requirements of man. When you begin practicing your prayers, first give your heart to God. Do not attempt to grasp God’s will; only try to speak the words within your heart to God. When you come before God, speak thus: “O God! Only today do I realize that I used to disobey You. I am truly corrupt and despicable. Before, I was wasting my time; starting from today I will live for You, I will live out a life of meaning, and satisfy Your will. I would that Your Spirit always works within me, and always illuminates and enlightens me, so that I can bear strong and resounding testimony before You, allowing Satan to see Your glory, Your testimony, and the proof of Your triumph within us.” When you pray in this way, your heart will be completely set free, having prayed in this way, your heart will be closer to God, and by often praying in this way, the Holy Spirit will inevitably work within you. If you always call out to God in this way and make your resolution before God, the day will come when your resolution can be accepted before God, when your heart and entire being will be received by God, and you will ultimately be made perfect by God.

from “Concerning the Practice of Prayer” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The more you live a spiritual life, the more your heart will be occupied by the words of God, always concerned with these matters and always bearing this burden. After that, you can reveal your innermost truth to God through your spiritual life, tell Him what you want to do, what you’ve been thinking about, your understanding of and your own views of God’s word. Don’t hold back anything, not even a little bit! Practice speaking the words within your heart to God, tell Him the truth, and don’t hesitate to speak what’s in your heart. The more you do this, the more you will feel God’s loveliness, and your heart will be pulled more and more toward God. When this happens, you will feel that God is dearer to you than anyone else. You will never leave God’s side, no matter what. If you practice this kind of spiritual devotional on a daily basis and do not put it out of your mind, but treat it as your calling in life, then God’s word will occupy your heart. This is what it means to be touched by the Holy Spirit. It will be as if your heart has always been possessed by God, as if there has always been love in your heart. No one can take that away from you. When this happens, God will truly live inside you and have a place within your heart.

from “A Normal Spiritual Life Leads People Onto the Right Track” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Relevant Fellowship:

What is it to have true communion with God? It is to commune with God about spiritual matters in life. Communion about spiritual matters in life, correctly speaking, is communion about entering into the truth of God’s words; it is communion about entering into the reality of God’s words. All that is the truth expressed by God’s words, people can enter it, and practice it in their experiences; this is achieved by prayer. Any prayer that is centered around how to enter the truth, how to enter God’s words is true communion with God. … Upon what foundation is true communion with God based? It is that people must have knowledge of God’s work, they must understand some truth, they must know what the purpose of God’s work is, why God does the work of the last days, what God ultimately wants from man, what God’s work aims to achieve. After understanding these things, one’s prayers can enter the correct track, one’s pursuit can also advance in the direction of salvation. Have your prayers now started to enter the correct track? Have you started to follow God’s requirements of man to pray, started to have true prayer in God’s words? You can seek to enter God’s words and all the truth expressed by God’s words, and seek real understanding of them; prayers that can attain these achievements are all the truest prayers, are all prayers in concert with God’s intention. Any prayer done without connection to the truth, to God’s words cannot be called a true prayer; such prayers are without meaning.

from “How to Enter Into True Communion With God” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (IV)

Every time that you truly commune with God you ought to have these substantial issues and results. Only then can you say that you have truly communed with God. If you do not achieve these results, then you did not truly commune with God. What are these results? Firstly, when communing with God, we can come to know the truth of our corruption and the essence of our nature, achieving the result of knowing ourselves. In the presence of God, we should often reflect on the things we have done to see whether or not they actually conformed to God’s will, to see what it is we’ve relied on to live. If we have lived by the word of God, then that is testimony for entry into life. If we’ve lived by the philosophy of Satan, that is an expression of the corrupt nature of Satan, which is considered a transgression. Secondly, when communing with God, we not only achieve true knowledge of ourselves but we also achieve true knowledge of God, which is the result of communing with God. After achieving true knowledge of God, we will begin to revere God in our hearts, obey God in our hearts, and love God in our hearts, which will eventually bring forth in us the resolve to serve God. This is the result achieved by knowing God, and it is also the result achieved by communing with God. If we do not achieve these results in our communion with God, that is sufficient to prove that we have not entered the right track in our prayers, and that we have not actually communed with God. Some people say: “Well, I’ve prayed for many years, so does that mean that I’m in communion with God?” Then you have to measure this according to these results. Do you have the result of knowing yourself in your prayers to God? Do you have the result of seeking God’s will and the truth? Do you have the result of obeying God? Do you have the result of revering God? Do you have the result of loving God? If you do not have a single one of these results, then your prayers are hollow, they are meaningless, and you simply are not in true communion with God.

from “The Aim and Significance of Communion With God in Prayer” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (V)