Credit Where Credit is Due

One of things Christians have benefitted from over the years is mixing praying with reading the Bible. Many notable examples of spiritual followers of Christ have had this practice.

Brother Witness Lee did a great service to modern day Christians by encouraging this practice on a large scale to the Christian public in general. In other words it is not just good for the spiritual giants of the past but useful to all Christians to learn to PRAY-READ the Bible.

Giving credit to where I learned this and now pass it on to others, I quote portions of the book Pray-reading the Word by said brother Witness Lee.

If you check the Internet though - thankfully, you'll see others who in one way or another have promoted the practice. And for that we give thanks.

Excerpts:

THE WORD OF GOD BEING
FOOD TO US
In 1 Peter 2:2-3 we have a most important passage. “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.” These verses are important to us because they tell us clearly how to taste the Lord: drink “the guileless [pure] milk of the Word.” If we would taste Christ, we must take into us the milk of the word. Then we will be nourished for spiritual growth. Praise the Lord, the Bible says tasted! It does not say that we know this aspect or that aspect about the Lord, but that we taste the Lord. When we drink the milk of the Word, we are actually tasting the Lord. Therefore, the way for us to taste the Lord is simply by drinking the milk of the Word. The Word is not only for us to study or learn, but even more for us to taste. The way the Lord nourishes His Body is by His Word. If we desire to enjoy the Lord and be nourished by the Lord, we must come to the Word to taste the Lord.

See https://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=1EFCAB

More excerpts from "Pray-reading the Word" by W. Lee.

It encourages seeking Christians and even anyone to PRAY with and over the words of that wonderful Bible. That way the Holy Spirit of God may speak expressly and personally to each reader. Good teaching is good to have. But Witness Lee and others encouraged each believer to directly pray with the Bible to have the Spirit of God expressly and intimately speak enlightening things in a personal way.

However, the concept which most of us have of the Bible is that it is a kind of teaching, a book full of doctrines. Thus, we come to the Word with the intention of understanding and knowing something. In all of our Christian life, how much of the Word have we taken in as food to our spirit? We must answer honestly that most of us have taken in very little. We must not come to the Bible only to learn and to understand. The Bible is not the tree of knowledge; it is the tree of life! If we take the Word of God as the tree of knowledge, we misuse the Bible, because 2 Corinthians 3:6 tells us that the letter kills. We must never take the Bible as a book of letters, but as a book of life.

All Christians know that the function of the Word of God is to reveal God to us. Although this is true, this is not its main function. The main function of the Bible is to impart God into us as life and as the nourishment of life. It is not only to give us knowledge about God and His love, but to impart God Himself into us. Whenever we read the Bible, we should not merely try to know or understand it, but take something of God’s essence into us just as we take our food. Then, like food, this substance will be assimilated into our very being.

For more reading see https://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=1EFCAB

If you take a book like Ephesians and each morning PRAY with some of the passages you read consecutively, I believe you will touch God and His heart of purpose.

Imagine opening up each day a few verses and praying with the words of that letter - giving thanks, repeating, musing, contemplating, and praying with the words of that high book.

This will really energize your inner spiritual muscle to come into the presence of God and Christ.

Christians sometimes do this without being told to do this. Instinctively sometimes Christians just sense that the Bible is also a prayer book.

But now we are encouraged not just to stumble upon the blessing of this practice haphazardly but to purposely PURSUE to pray with and over the words of the Bible for spiritual nourishment and enlightenment.

First Timothy 4:6 says that we are “nourished with the words of the faith.” No doubt we have read this verse many times, but have we noticed the word “nourished”? Praise the Lord! The concept of the apostle Paul was that God’s Word is food to nourish God’s children. We too must have the same realization regarding the Word of God. We should not consider it only as knowledge, but as food to nourish and supply us all the time.

For more reading see https://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=1EFCAB

Better still get started learning to PRAY-READ the Bible.
John's Gospel is good to start.
Mark is good too.
Romans or Ephesians or Philippians is good.

In the Old Testament you can start pray-reading PSALMS. Even Genesis first few chapters is excellent to pray over.

I encourage you to use portions of the Bible to turn into prayers, supplications, thanksgivings, petitions and praises.

Learn to PRAY over the Bible more than argue over the Bible!

At the core of pray reading is a desire to find higher wisdom hidden in the word of God. This might seem harmless enough but can lead some to see things in the bible that simply aren't there. (For example, Witness Lee and his weird numerological 'discoveries' ).

If God wanted his word to reach everybody, why would truth be hidden away in cryptic places only discoverable to a select few?

So athiest Ghost who can't stand for God to be real to anyone, so scared he is that his atheism will turn out to be a life long deception, chimes in with some complaints about Praying / Reading the Holy Bible.

My responses are not for his sake. And perpetual Whack-a-Mole will not clutter up this thread with responses to him.

Occasionally, I'll debunk a few Ghost-of-Duke lies.

Lie #1

At the core of pray reading is a desire to find higher wisdom hidden in the word of God.

At the core of pray-reading is the Apostle Peter's exhortation to ALL LOVERS OF JESUS to long for the pure milk of the word of God in order to GROW by tasting in.
(And I am copying it NOT by pasting but by HAND as I PRAY / WRITE it out now).

As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow. ( 1 Peter 2:2)

Now I know Ghost thinks I cannot reason without consulting Brother Lee. But Brother Peter says the word of God is like pure milk to a baby.

We all no matter how long we have been Christians, can GROW more. And the Word of God nourishes that growth. Especially it furnishes us with with faith in trials and situations which challenge our faith.

Some of you may have noticed that the Christian life is not a bed of roses from the moment you decide to trust Jesus. You will have a short honey moon. And then you'll notice that just because you received Jesus as Lord for eternal life DOESN'T mean you are exempt from any of the typical trials of human life.

The word of God can supply, nourish, uphold, uplift, and encourage you. In fact faith comes not out of ourselves but from the word of God.

AND we can TASTE in our innermost being how GOOD and SWEET the presence of God is in His living word.

Brother Peter continues -

"If you have tasted that the Lord is good." (v.3)

Is this the New Testament telling you to seek some higher esoteric like wisdom? NO. It is encouraging you go go higher, YES. But it is the ascending which should accompany normal GROWTH - "that you may GROW thereby".

Examples of people who "ate" the word of God in the Bible -

The prophet Jeremiah - “Your words were found and I ate them...” (Jer. 15:16a).

The prophet Ezekiel -

The second example of someone eating the Word of God is recorded in the book of Ezekiel, where the prophet Ezekiel ate the Word of God (3:1-3). Then in Revelation 10 we read that the apostle John also ate the Word of God.

You have John being told to EAT the scroll of God's word and revelation in Revelation 10.

Lee's word on Jeremiah is helpful -

“Your words were found and I ate them...” (Jer. 15:16a). To eat something is not merely to receive it, but to assimilate it. To assimilate is to receive something into you, digest it, and make it a part of yourself.

For further reading see https://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=1EFCAB

That's Pray-reading the Word by Witness Lee

Going over the Scriptures is prayer is a good way not to take for granted some of the gems of feeding wisdom in the Bible. This living book is like an exhaustless gold mine. Who can exhaust all the light and wisdom in the Bible? Nobody can say they have derived all the riches of the word of God.

Personalize in the Holy Spirit how God would lead you in the obstacles and difficulties of human life by allowing Him to breath on the words of the Bible as you pray them.

@sonship

Apparently you do not know the origins of pray reading. No surprise there I guess.

My bolding on this part of Pray-reading the Word at

https://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=1EFCAB

First Timothy 1:10 speaks of things that are “opposed to the healthy teaching.” The King James Version uses the word “sound” instead of “healthy.” God’s Word is not just sound doctrine for the mind, but healthy doctrine for life. This word “healthy” in Greek is equivalent to the English word “hygiene.” Hygiene is very much related to health. We must have more than a sound word; we must have a healthy word which nourishes and supplies us.

When you get two or three people together and you all pray-read the Bible for several verses, the Holy Spirit of God will breath His living breath on the words to all of you, if you come in one accord to seek God.

You don't need a big time teacher all the time. Two or three or more can come together to pray over the words of the bible.

You know what? We TRUST that the Spirit of God will shine on the things which He wants you all to see and be impressed with.

Someone wanting to lock everybody into only his or her concept would not encourage people to take up the Bible to PRA-READ it on their own. Catholicism had the Bible locked away from the "laity" or common people for about 1,000 YEARS !!. We call that "The Dark Ages".

Then the Bible got released from its prison. The printing press was invented and more people could read who were not of the clerical class.

Now everyone is encouraged by some Christians like Lee to not only read but to PRAY-READ every word of the Bible for sustenance, light, blessing. We are not afraid of what people will learn at all. On the contrary there is the living God and the living guiding Spirit of God who said He would guide the church into all the truth.

The atheist is scare of the Scriptures for reading, praying or anything else. Like Ghost he only wishes God figure would go away from his life and not be real.

Sorry, God is not going anywhere. And we can find intimate communion with God in taking in His words in the Bible as pure milk, as food for our spiritual component of out total humanity.

Every atheist is an incomplete person denying a legitimate part of their total manhood.

Let's get down to the divine "nitty-gritty" by way of example.

Suppose you are not sure about Jesus, His resurrection or salvation. Let's say you are not to sure WHAT you believe. Can you pray-read the Bible to get help.

I think yes. Here's an example.

You open up to, let's say, John 1:1,2. And you mix up your reading with your praying.

" In the beginning . . . " Dear God in the beginning. God I want to know about the beginning.

"In the beginning was the Word . . . " Oh God, who is this Word. Lord God what is this Word. O Lord in the beginning the Word. the Word , , , amen. the Word was in the beginning . . . Amen.

Dear God I pray to You if You are real, if You are there - Lord God "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God" Amen God. The Word was with God. The Word was with God. In the beginning.

"And the word was God . . . Amen. The Word was God. Oh dear God , thankyou for the beginning. O God, thankyou for "the Word". O Lord thankyou for "the Word was with God".

O Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus thankyou for "and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Amen to whatever you say Lord God. "He was in the beginning with God" Amen. the Word was in the beginning. Amen the Word was with God. Amen and thankyou Lord, the Word was God. Amen. thankyou and praise You Lord God the Word was in the beginning and was with and was God.

Come praying with the words of the Bible.
Come with an expectation to be changed by the very words of the Bible.
Come expecting to have an encounter with the Spirit of God.

Pray-reading is very good and very helpful.

“Your words were found and I ate them and Your word became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16).

Well at least it's been confirmed from the horses mouth all the Witness Lee jibes.

Now folks - What are some passages you would like to pray-read?

Can you think of some part of the Bible you would like to at least TRY to do this "pray-reading" through ?

Anyone wanting to seek God can answer.
If you are seeking to get rid of God or get God out of your life by all means necessary, you need not reply.

If you want to be less religious but truly find the reality of the Divine, I don't mind if you indicate what part of the Bible you think might help you to pray over - pray-read in this way.

Samples ??

@medullah

Medullah, I vaguely recollect that you were a theist. Am I mistaken? There have thankfully been some new posters here.

Am I right that you are some sort of non-trinitarian believer in God's existence ? A JW or Unitarian / Universalist perhaps?


What verses do you think you would like to try pray-reading ?

@sonship said
Every atheist is an incomplete person denying a legitimate part of their total manhood.

What about the atheists who are women? 😐