Section 5
the Spirit without the Word or the Word with out the Spirit, we shall not be able to receive the divine transmission. Both the Spirit and the Word, both the antenna and the ground wire, are necessary.
RECEIVING THE WORD
BY MEANS OF PRAYER
In Ephesians 6:17 and 18 Paul tells us to re ceive the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition. Here Paul covers the aspects both of the Word and the Spirit. Furthermore, he tells us to receive the word of God by means of all prayer, pray ing at every time in spirit. We may receive the word of God by means of all kinds of prayer: audible prayer and silent prayer, long prayer and short prayer, quick prayer and slow prayer, pri vate prayer and public prayer.
To take the Word of God by means of prayer is to pray-read the Word. Whenever we come to the Word of God, we should not merely exercise our eyes to read or our mind to understand, but also exercise our spirit. I can testify from experi ence that if we touch the Bible without prayer, using only our eyes and our mind, the Bible will be dead letters to us. Our reading of the Bible