Day 77: Prayer to be equipped to fight against God’s enemy through pray-reading the Word

Pray that the saints would pray-read the Word in spirit in such a way that it becomes a weapon, a sword, within them, equipping them to defeat God’s enemy, slay the self, and build up the Body that the Lord may gain the victory (Eph. 6:17-18; cf. Heb. 4:12).

Eph. 6:17-18—And receive…the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.

Heb. 4:12—For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ephesians 6:17 speaks of “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.” This indicates that the sword is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word. Thus, the sword, the Spirit, and the word are one. If we receive the word by reading without prayer, the word cannot be the Spirit as the sword to us, but the more we pray-read the Word, the more the words in the Bible become not only nourishment to us but also a weapon within us. Pray-reading nourishes us for our growth in life, and it is also equips us to enable us to fight against God’s enemy. The more we pray-read, the more the Lord Jesus gains the victory.

The first one who is slain by our pray-reading is our self, the most subtle enemy of the Lord. As we pray-read the Word, the sword of the Spirit kills our self, including our disagreements with others and our differing opinions. The more we receive mere knowledge and teachings from the Bible, the more differing opinions and concepts we will have. However, the more we pray-read the Word, the more our opinions and concepts are slain by the sword of the Spirit…

In Ephesians the apostle Paul spoke much about the building up of the church. Then at the conclusion of this book he tells us to receive the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit. We appreciate Ephesians 6:17 and 18 very much, for in these verses we see that the Spirit is the word of God, that we receive the word by means of all prayer and petition by praying at every time in spirit. After much consideration and fellowship, I have the assurance to say that pray-reading is the best way not only to enjoy the Lord but also to defeat the enemy and to build up the Body. From now on, we must realize that the proper way to deal with the Lord’s Word is by pray-reading. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Pray-reading the Word,” pp. 431-432)