I

Prayer must be built upon the enjoyment of the words of God, it must be established on the foundation of fellowshipping with God in His words, and the heart must be able to seek God and become quiet before Him. Prayer of this kind has already entered the stage of true fellowship with God. The individual's life of prayer is based upon an understanding of the significance of prayer and of a basic knowledge of prayer. In daily life, pray frequently for your own shortcomings, pray to effect change in your life disposition, and pray on the basis of your knowledge of the words of God.

II

Each person should establish their own life of prayer, they should pray for the sake of knowing God's words, and they should pray to seek knowledge of the work of God. Lay bare your personal circumstances before God and be real without fussing over the way you pray, and the key issue is to attain true understanding, and to gain real experience of God's words. A person who pursues entry into the spiritual life must be able to pray in many different ways.

III

Silent prayer, ruminating upon God's words, coming to know the work of God—these are all examples of the work of spiritual fellowship for the sake of achieving entry into normal spiritual life, which ever improves one's states before God and pushes one to make ever greater progress in life. In short, whether it be eating and drinking the words of God, or praying silently, or proclaiming loudly, all that you do is in order to enable you to clearly see God's words and His work. More importantly, all that you do is done in order to reach the standards that God requires and to raise your life to new heights.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Concerning the Practice of Prayer