Corporately Praying the Word (continued)
Consequently, because of the Greatness of Christ and because the Church His Body is the Fullness of Him, it is vital that we understand the importance of corporately praying the Word. First Timothy 4:13 commands us to "give attendance to reading (a knowing by reading, a knowing accurately by simply reading)"; and, in context, this can only be referring to the Word of God.
"GIVE ATTENDANCE TO READING"
(which means, attend unto, to hold unto, to bring to or near; to turn one's mind, thoughts and attention, to the Word of God; to attach one's self to the Word and cleave unto it by reading the Word of God, which imparts to us a knowing accurately of that which God is speaking).
In First Thessalonians 5:27, we are charged by "The Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren." We must read, if we can read for ourselves, but God has also provided that the brethren be read unto, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
We must also remember that not all can read and must be read unto by those whose who can. Colossians 4:16 says: "And when this epistle is rad among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans." Here we find that God is not only making provision for those who cannot read, but also He is letting us know that there is great power in the corporate, prayerful reading of God's Word, as well as in the individual reading of it.
There is great empowerment, revelation, and wisdom granted unto each of us as we come to know accurately the Word of God, and individual reading contributes to this. However, there is an even greater wisdom and revelation and enablement and power that comes forth when we corporately give attendance to reading God's Inspired Word. This is because multiple revelation and instruction is brought forth as we corporately read together, attend unto, hold unto, draw near unto, turn our minds and our thoughts and our spirits unto God's Word. Thus we corporately know, accurately know, in our spirits and our minds and our thoughts what He is revealing unto us.
Now may we also note that this corporate reading does not hinge upon locality, for we have all experienced things when we received certain Scriptures from the Lord, and then heard from some of our brothers and sisters who are located somewhere else, that at the same time they were receiving the same Words of God. And we also need to be aware that "When ye (we) read" the Word of God, as God leads us by and in the Spirit, that there is a "comprehending with all the saints." - A comprehending with all saints, not only with the brethren of our time, but also with all those who are "absent from the body, and present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). "When we read" God's Word as He leads, we are comprehending even with those who have gone on before: we are learning from their measure of the fullness, and they are learning from what we are receiving: - "There is one body, and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4).
Beloved, as we can see, there is tremendous value in corporately reading the Word of God; and whether we are in a local group, or whether we be one who has been privileged to make a stand alone (and even this can take place in the midst of a group that has not yet "seen"), let us know that in the Spirit we are comprehending with all saints the Divine Counsels of God.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 26)
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