BECOMING VITAL THROUGH PRAYER
Now we have to start our action for the increase. Recently, I visited a group of saints, and I made a discovery. I found out that they were not vital and that they do not pray much. They have not gotten into the prayer life. The only way that we can touch the Spirit is by prayer. In the Bible the Spirit is linked with our prayer. Praying and the Spirit are one. If we are without prayer, we will be without the Spirit. Of course, we can also say that without the Spirit, there can be no prayer. This is why we are told that we have to pray in spirit (Eph. 6:18). Since we are regenerated believers in Christ, our human spirit and the Holy Spirit are mingled together as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
If we do not pray even for one day, we have the feeling that we are short of the Spirit. When we pray, even with just a few sentences, we have the feeling that we are touching the Spirit. We all need to have a time with the Lord every morning in prayer. If you do not pray in the morning for one week, you will be dead spiritually. There is no other way to be vital except by prayer. We have to pray and get into a prayer life.
Most of us are living in a situation in which it is difficult to find a solid time of half an hour to pray. Whenever we set aside a definite time to pray, the enemy will always try to disturb us. When we begin to pray, someone may knock on our door or call us on the telephone. We may not have any telephone calls for a long period of time, but as soon as we begin to pray, the telephone will ring. Eventually, after three phone calls, our heart for prayer may be gone. We may have to wait for a period of time until we can be recovered back to prayer. It is not easy for us to pray for half an hour without being disturbed. We need to look to the Lord so that we can free ourselves from all distractions to have solid times of prayer with Him. Prayer makes us vital. We have to take the lead to be vital. If we are not vital, we cannot pray for others to be vital.To be vital means to be released in the spirit, and this cannot be performed. If we pray for half an hour, we will be released. If we are not released, we are not vital. To contact people, we have to be released persons. If we are not bound, we will be able to release others. A dejected, weeping person cannot make other people happy. If we are going to make people happy, we have to be happy persons. We can only help people to be what we are. In order to go out to effectively labor in the gospel, we must be vital. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups”, ch. 22, pp. 549-550)
The church in Zamboanga 