Concerning the Practice of Prayer

https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/concerning-the-practice-of-prayer-2/

How does one enter into true prayer?

Whilst praying, your heart must be at peace before God, and it must be sincere. You are truly communing and praying with God; you must not deceive God using nice-sounding words. Prayer is centered around that which God wishes to complete today. Ask God to bring you greater enlightenment and illumination, and bring your actual state and troubles before God to pray, and make resolution before God. Prayer is not the following of procedure, but the seeking of God using your true heart. Ask that God protect your heart, making it able to often be at peace before God, making you able to know yourself, and despise yourself, and forsake yourself in the environment that God has set for you, thus allowing you to have a normal relationship with God and making you someone who truly loves God.

Who softens his hardened heart?

https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/gospel-movie-stinging-memories-5/

Who softens his hardened heart? Who makes him put aside his years of pursuit to investigate the true way? Please stay tuned!

Storyline:

Fan Guoyi was an elder of a house church in China. In his over twenty years of service, he always emulated Paul, sacrificing for the Lord zealously and working hard. He firmly believed that he was doing the will of the heavenly Father by pursuing that way and he would surely be raptured to the kingdom of heaven at the return of the Lord. However, when Almighty God’s salvation of the last days came upon him, he clung to his notions, rejecting, resisting, and condemning it time and time again…. Later, after several debates with the preachers from the Church of Almighty God, Fan Guoyi finally woke up. He truly understood the meaning of doing the will of the heavenly Father and the way of pursuing to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven….

At every thought of the past, the memories were stinging in his heart….

Why does God do the work of the last days in China instead of in Israel?

The answer from God’s word:

“Why is the work of the last days done in China, the darkest and the most backward place? It is for revealing God’s holiness and righteousness. In a word, the darker a place is, the better God’s holiness can be revealed. Actually doing so is all for the sake of God’s work. Now you have known that the God in heaven has descended to earth and stood among you and has been set off by your filthiness and disobedience, and thus you have had knowledge of God. Isn’t this a great uplifting?”

from “How Does the Second Step of the Conquering Work Achieve the Results” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“The work of Jehovah was the creation of the world, it was the beginning; this stage of work is the end of work, and it is the conclusion. At the start, God’s work was carried out among the chosen ones of Israel, and it was the dawn of a new epoch in the most holy of all places. The last stage of work is carried out in the most impure of all countries, to judge the world and bring the age to an end. In the first stage, God’s work was done in the brightest of all places, and the last stage is carried out in the darkest of all places, and this darkness will be driven out, the light brought forth, and all the people conquered. When the people of this most impure and darkest of all places have been conquered, and the entire population has acknowledged that there is a God, who is the true God, and every person has been utterly convinced, then this fact will be used to carry out the work of conquest throughout the entire universe. This stage of work is symbolic: Once the work of this age has been finished, the work of 6,000 years of management will come to a complete end. Once those in the darkest of all places have been conquered, it goes without saying that it will also be so everywhere else. As such, only the work of conquest in China carries meaningful symbolism. China embodies all forces of darkness, and the people of China represent all those who are of the flesh, of Satan, and of flesh and blood. It is the Chinese people who have been most corrupted by the great red dragon, who have the strongest opposition to God, whose humanity is most base and impure, and so they are the archetype of all corrupt humanity. This is not to say that other countries have no problems at all; the conceptions of man are all the same, and although the people of these countries may be of good caliber, if they do not know God, then it must be that they oppose Him. Why did the Jews also oppose and defy God? Why did the Pharisees also oppose Him? Why did Judas betray Jesus? At the time, many of the disciples did not know Jesus. Why, after Jesus was crucified and rose again, did people still not believe in Him? Is man’s disobedience not all the same? It’s merely that the people of China are made an example of, and when they are conquered they will become a model and specimen, and will serve as reference for others. Why have I always said that you are an adjunct to My management plan? It is in the people of China that corruption, impurity, unrighteousness, opposition, and rebelliousness are manifested most completely and revealed in all their varied forms. On the one hand, they are of poor caliber, and on the other, their lives and mindset are backward, and their habits, social environment, family of birth—all are poor and the most backward. Their status, too, is low. The work in this place is symbolic, and after this test work has been carried out in its entirety, His subsequent work will go much better. If this step of work can be completed, then the subsequent work goes without saying. Once this step of work has been accomplished, and great success has been fully achieved, the work of conquest throughout the entire universe will have come to a complete end. In fact, once the work among you has been successful, this will be equivalent to the success throughout the entire universe. This is the significance of why I wish to make you a model and specimen.”

from “The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“He created the whole world; He has carried out His six-thousand-year management plan not only in Israel but also with every person in the universe. Regardless of whether they live in China, the United States, the United Kingdom or Russia, every person is a descendant of Adam; they have all been made by God. Not a single person can break away from the scope of God’s creation, and not a single person can escape the label of ‘descendant of Adam.’ They are all God’s creation, and they are all Adam’s descendants; they are also the descendants of the corrupted Adam and Eve. It is not only the Israelites who are God’s creation, but all people; nevertheless, some among creation have been cursed, and some have been blessed. There are many desirable things about the Israelites; God was initially at work with them because they were the least corrupt people. The Chinese pale in comparison to them, and cannot even hope to match them; thus, God initially worked among the people of Israel, and the second stage of His work was only carried out in Judea. As a result of this, people form many conceptions and many rules. Actually, if He were to act according to human conceptions, God would only be the God of the Israelites; in this manner He would be unable to expand His work into Gentile nations, because He would only be the God of the Israelites rather than the God of all creation. The prophecies said that Jehovah’s name would be great in the Gentile nations and that Jehovah’s name would be spread to the Gentile nations—why would they say this? If God were only the God of the Israelites, then He would only be at work in Israel. Furthermore, He would not expand this work, and He would not make this prophecy. Since He made this prophecy, He would need to expand His work into Gentile nations and into every nation and place. Since He stated this, He would thus do so. This is His plan, for He is the Lord who created the heavens and earth and all things, and the God of all creation. Regardless of whether He is at work with the Israelites or in all Judea, the work He does is the work of the entire universe and the work of all humanity. The work He does today in the nation of the great red dragon—in a Gentile nation—is still the work of all humanity. Israel can be the base for His work on earth; likewise, China can also become the base for His work among the Gentile nations. Has He not now fulfilled the prophecy that ‘the name of Jehovah will be great in the Gentile nations’? The first step of His work among the Gentile nations refers to this work He is doing in the nation of the great red dragon. For the God incarnate to be at work in this land and to be at work among these cursed people runs particularly contrary to human conceptions; these people are the most lowly and without any worth. These are all people whom Jehovah initially abandoned. People can be abandoned by other people, but if they are abandoned by God, these people will have no status, and they will have the lowest amount of worth. As a part of creation, being occupied by Satan or abandoned by other people are both painful things, but if a part of creation is abandoned by the Lord of creation, this signifies that his or her status is at an absolute low. The descendants of Moab were cursed, and they were born within this underdeveloped country; without a doubt, the descendants of Moab are the people with the lowest status under the influence of darkness. Because these people possessed the lowest status in the past, the work done among them is most capable of shattering human conceptions, and it is also the work most beneficial to His entire six-thousand-year management plan. For Him to work among these people is the action most capable of shattering human conceptions; with this He launches an era; with this He shatters all human conceptions; with this He ends the work of the entire Age of Grace. His initial work was carried out in Judea, within the scope of Israel; in Gentile nations He did not do any era-launching work whatsoever. The final stage of His work is not only carried out among the people of Gentile nations; even more so, it is carried out among those cursed people. This one point is the evidence most capable of humiliating Satan; thus, God ‘becomes’ the God of all creation in the universe and becomes the Lord of all things, the object of worship for everything with life.

… Since God wishes to carry out His work among His creation, He will certainly carry it out to successful completion; He will work among those people who are beneficial to His work. Therefore, He shatters all conventions in working among people; to Him, the words ‘cursed,’ ‘chastised’ and ‘blessed’ are meaningless! The Jewish people are quite good, and the chosen people of Israel are not bad either; they are people of good caliber and humanity. Jehovah initially launched His work among them and carried out His initial work, but it would be meaningless if He were to use them as recipients for His conquering work now. Although they are also part of creation and have many positive aspects, it would be meaningless to carry out this stage of work among them. He would be unable to conquer anyone, nor would He be able to convince all of creation. This is the significance of the transferal of His work to these people of the nation of the great red dragon. The deepest meaning here is in His launching an era, in His shattering of all rules and all human conceptions and also in His ending of the work of the entire Age of Grace. If His current work were carried out among the Israelites, by the time His six-thousand-year management plan comes to a close, everyone would believe that God is only the God of the Israelites, that only the Israelites are God’s chosen people, that only the Israelites deserve to inherit God’s blessing and promise. During the last days, God is incarnate in the Gentile nation of the great red dragon; He has accomplished the work of God as the God of all creation; He has completed the whole of His management work, and He will end the central part of His work in the nation of the great red dragon. The core of these three stages of work is the salvation of man—namely, making all of creation worship the Lord of creation. … The previous two stages of God’s work were carried out in Israel. If this stage of His work during the last days were still carried out among the Israelites, not only would all of creation believe that only the Israelites were God’s chosen people, but God’s entire management plan would also not attain its desired effect. During the period in which the two stages of His work were carried out in Israel, no new work had ever been carried out and none of God’s era-launching work had ever been carried out in Gentile nations. This stage of era-launching work is first carried out in Gentile nations, and additionally, it is first carried out among the descendants of Moab; this has launched the entire era. God has shattered any knowledge contained within human conceptions and has not permitted any of it to continue to exist. In His work of conquering He has shattered human conceptions, those old, earlier human ways of knowledge. He lets people see that with God there are no rules, that there is nothing old about God, that the work He does is entirely liberated, entirely free, that He is right in anything that He does. You must fully submit to any work that He does among creation. Any work He does is meaningful and is done according to His own view and wisdom and not according to human choices and conceptions. He does those things that are beneficial to His work; if something is not beneficial to His work He will not do it, no matter how good it is! He works and selects the recipient and location for His work according to the meaning and purpose of His work. He does not adhere to past rules, nor does He follow old formulas; instead, He plans His work according to the work’s significance; in the end He wants to attain its true effect and its anticipated purpose. If you do not understand these things now, this work will not achieve any effect upon you.”

from “God Is the Lord of All Creation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

God Puts His Hope Completely on Man

https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/god-puts-his-hope-completely-on-man/

I

From the beginning until now,

only man’s able to converse with God.

That is, only man is able to converse with God,

among all living things and what He created.

Man has ears to hear, and eyes to see;

he has thoughts, and language, as well as his free will.

Man has all abilities that are required

to hear God speak and understand God’s will,

and accept God’s commission,

and accept the commission from God,

and so God puts all His hope on man.

He wants to make man a companion of His,

who is of the same heart and mind with Him,

and who can walk together with Him.

II

Since God started His management,

God’s been waiting for man to give his heart,

give his heart to Him all the time,

to let Him purify and equip it,

to make man satisfy God, loved by God,

to make man fear God and shun evil.

God’s been expecting and waiting,

waiting for this outcome all the time,

to make man satisfy God, loved by God,

to make man fear God and shun evil.

God’s been expecting and waiting,

waiting for this outcome all the time.

from “God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II” in A Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

Can Knowledge Change Man's Fate?

https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/god-himself-the-unique-vi-part-1/

God’s words in this video are from the book “Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh”.

The content of this video:

How Satan uses knowledge to corrupt man (Satan uses fame and gain to control man’s thoughts)

What is the significance of prayer?

Concerning the Practice of Prayer

You pay no attention to prayer in your daily life. People have always overlooked prayer. In their prayers before they were simply going through the motions and playing around, and no one has ever fully given their heart before God and truly prayed to God. People only pray to God when something happens to them. Throughout all this time, have you ever truly prayed to God? Have you ever wept tears of pain before God? Have you ever come to know yourself before God? Have you ever had a heart-to-heart prayer with God? Praying is practiced gradually: If you don’t ordinarily pray at home, then you will have no way of praying in church, and if you don’t normally pray during small assemblies, then you will be incapable of praying during large assemblies. If you do not ordinarily draw near to God or reflect upon the words of God, then you will have nothing to say when it is time to pray—and even if you do pray, your lips will just be moving, you won’t be truly praying.

What does it mean to truly pray? It means speaking the words within your heart to God, and communing with God having grasped His will and based upon His words; it means feeling particularly close to God, feeling that He is in front of you, and that you have something to say to Him; and it means being especially radiant within your heart, and feeling that God is especially lovely. You will feel especially inspired, and after hearing your words your brothers and sisters will feel gratified, they will feel that the words you speak are the words within their hearts, the words they wish to say, and that what you say represents what they want to say. This is what it means to truly pray. After you have truly prayed, in your heart you will feel at peace, and gratified; the strength to love God will rise up, and you will feel that nothing in your entire life is more worthy or significant than loving God—and all this will prove that your prayers have been effective. Have you ever prayed in such a way?

And what about the content of prayers? You should pray, step-by-step, in accordance with your true state and that which is to be done by the Holy Spirit, and you should commune with God in keeping with God’s will and His requirements of man. When you begin practicing your prayers, first give your heart to God. Do not attempt to grasp God’s will; only try to speak the words within your heart to God. When you come before God, speak thus: “O God! Only today do I realize that I used to disobey You. I am truly corrupt and despicable. Before, I was wasting my time; starting from today I will live for You, I will live out a life of meaning, and satisfy Your will. I would that Your Spirit always works within me, and always illuminates and enlightens me, so that I can bear strong and resounding testimony before You, allowing Satan to see Your glory, Your testimony, and the proof of Your triumph within us.” When you pray in this way, your heart will be completely set free, having prayed in this way, your heart will be closer to God, and by often praying in this way, the Holy Spirit will inevitably work within you. If you always call out to God in this way and make your resolution before God, the day will come when your resolution can be accepted before God, when your heart and entire being will be received by God, and you will ultimately be made perfect by God. Prayer is of the utmost importance for you. When you pray, you receive the work of the Holy Spirit, your heart is thus touched by God, and the strength of the love for God within you comes forth. If you do not pray with your heart, if you do not open your heart to commune with God, then God will have no way of working within you. If, having prayed, you have spoken all the words within your heart and the Spirit of God has not stirred, if you do not feel inspired inside, then this shows that your heart is not earnest, that your words are not true, and still impure. If, having prayed, you are gratified, then your prayers have been accepted by God and the Spirit of God has worked within you. As someone who serves before God, you cannot be without prayers. If you truly see fellowship with God as something that is meaningful and valuable, could you forsake prayer? No one can be without communion with God. Without prayer, you live in the flesh, you live in the bondage of Satan; without true prayer, you live under the influence of darkness. I hope that the brothers and sisters are able to truly pray each and every day. This is not adherence to doctrine, however, but an effect that must be achieved. Are you willing to forego a little sleep and gratification, saying morning prayers at dawn and then enjoying the words of God? If you pray and eat and drink the words of God, in this way, with a pure heart, then you will be more accepted by God. If you do every day, practicing giving your heart to God each day and communing with God, then your knowledge of God is sure to increase, and you will be better able to grasp God’s will. You should say: “O God! I wish to fulfill my duty. In order that You may be glorified in us, and may enjoy the testimony in us, this group of people, I can but devote my entire being to You. I beg You to work within us, so that I can truly love and satisfy You, and make You the objective that I pursue.” When you are possessed of this burden, God will surely make you perfect; you should not only pray for the sake of yourself, but also for the sake of carrying out the will of God, and for the sake of loving Him. Such is the truest kind of prayer. Do you pray in order to carry out the will of God?

Before, you did not know how to pray, and overlooked prayer; today, you must do your best to train yourself to pray. If you are unable to summon the strength within you to love God, then how can you pray? You should say: “O God! My heart is incapable of truly loving You, I wish to love You but I lack the strength. What should I do? I wish for You to open the eyes of my spirit, I wish for Your Spirit to touch my heart, so that before You I am divested of all passive states, and unconstrained by any person, matter, or thing; my heart I completely lay bare before You, such that my entire being is devoted before You, and You may test me however You wish. Now, I give no thought to my prospects, nor am I bound by death. Using my heart that loves You, I wish to seek the way of life. All things and events are in Your hands, my fate is in Your hands, and, moreover, my life is controlled by Your hands. Now, I pursue the love of You, and regardless of whether You let me love You, regardless of how Satan interferes, I am determined to love You.” When you encounter such things, you pray in this way. If you do so every day, the strength to love God will gradually rise up.

How does one enter into true prayer?

Whilst praying, your heart must be at peace before God, and it must be sincere. You are truly communing and praying with God; you must not deceive God using nice-sounding words. Prayer is centered around that which God wishes to complete today. Ask God to bring you greater enlightenment and illumination, and bring your actual state and troubles before God to pray, and make resolution before God. Prayer is not the following of procedure, but the seeking of God using your true heart. Ask that God protect your heart, making it able to often be at peace before God, making you able to know yourself, and despise yourself, and forsake yourself in the environment that God has set for you, thus allowing you to have a normal relationship with God and making you someone who truly loves God.

What is the significance of prayer?

Prayer is one of the ways in which man cooperates with God, it is a means by which man calls upon God, and it is the process by which man is touched by God’s Spirit. It can be said that those who are without prayer are dead ones without spirit, proof that they lack the faculties to be touched by God. Without prayer, they are unable to attain a normal spiritual life, much less are they able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit; without prayer, they sever their relationship with God, and are incapable of receiving God’s approval. Being someone who believes in God, the more you pray, the more you are touched by God. Such people have greater resolution and are more able to receive the latest enlightenment from God; as a result, only people like this can be made perfect as soon as possible by the Holy Spirit.

What is the effect to be achieved by prayer?

People are able to carry out the practice of prayer and understand the significance of prayer, but the effect to be achieved by prayer is no simple matter. Prayer is not a case of going through the formalities, or following procedure, or reciting the words of God, which is to say, prayer does not mean parroting words and copying others. In prayer, you must give your heart to God, sharing the words in your heart with God so that you may be touched by God. If your prayers are to be effective, then they must be based on your reading of God’s words. Only by praying amid God’s words will you be able to receive more enlightenment and illumination. A true prayer is shown by having a heart that yearns for the requirements made by God, and being willing to fulfill these requirements; you will be able to hate all that God hates, upon the basis of which you will have knowledge, and will know and be clear about the truths explained by God. Having the resolution, and faith, and knowledge, and a path by which to practice after praying—only this is truly praying, and only prayer such as this can be effective. Yet prayer must be built upon the foundation of enjoying God’s words and communing with God in His words and your heart is able to seek God and be at peace before God. Such prayer has already reached the point of true communion with God.

Basic knowledge about praying:

1. Do not blindly say whatever comes to mind. There must be a burden within your heart,

which is to say, you must have an objective when you pray.

2. Your prayers must contain the words of God; they must be based upon the words of God.

3. When praying, you cannot go over old ground; you must not bring up things that are

outdated. You should specially train yourself to speak the actual words of the Holy Spirit;

only then will you be able to make a connection with God.

4. Group prayer must be centered around a core, which must be the work of the Holy Spirit

today.

5. All people must learn how to pray for others. They must find the part in God’s words

that they wish to pray for, based upon which they must have a burden, and for which they

must often pray. This is one manifestation of care for God’s will.

Personal prayer life is based upon understanding the significance of prayer and the basic knowledge of prayer. Man must often pray for his shortcomings in his daily life, and must pray upon the foundation of the knowledge of God’s words in order to achieve changes in his life disposition. Everyone should establish their own prayer life, they should pray for the knowledge based upon God’s words, should pray in order to seek the knowledge of God’s work. Lay your actual circumstances before God, and be pragmatic, and don’t pay attention to method; the key is to attain a true knowledge, and to actually experience God’s words. Anyone who pursues entry into the spiritual life must be able to pray in multiple ways. Silent prayer, pondering the words of God, coming to know the work of God, and so on—this targeted work of communion, is in order to achieve entry into normal spiritual life, making your own situation before God better and better, and causing ever greater progress in your life. In short, all that you do—whether it be eating and drinking the words of God, or praying silently or declaring loudly—is in order to clearly see God’s words, and His work, and that which He wishes to achieve in you. More importantly, it is in order to reach the standards that God requires and take your life to the next level. The lowest standard that God requires of people is that they be able to open their hearts to Him. If man gives his true heart to God and says what is really within his heart to God, then God is willing to work in man; God does not want the twisted heart of man, but his pure and honest heart. If man does not truly speak his heart to God, then God does not touch man’s heart, or work within him. Thus, the most crucial thing about praying is to speak the words of your true heart to God, telling God of your flaws or rebellious disposition and completely opening yourself up to God. Only then will God be interested in your prayers; if not, then God will hide His face from you. The minimum criterion for prayer is that you must be able to keep your heart at peace before God, and it must not depart from God. Perhaps, during this period, you have not gained a newer or higher view, but you must use prayer to keep things as they are—you cannot regress. This is the very least that you must achieve. If you cannot accomplish even this, then it proves that your spiritual life has not entered onto the right track; as a result, you are unable to hold on to your original vision, and bereft of faith in God, and your resolution subsequently disappears. Your entry into the spiritual life is marked by whether or not your prayers have entered onto the right track. All people must enter into this reality, they must all do the work of consciously training themselves in prayer, not passively waiting, but consciously seeking to be touched by the Holy Spirit. Only then will they be people who truly seek God.

When you begin to pray, be realistic, and mustn’t overreach yourself; you cannot make extravagant demands, hoping that as soon as you open your mouth you will be touched by the Holy Spirit, enlightened and illuminated, and bestowed with much grace. That is impossible—God does not do things that are supernatural. God accomplishes people’s prayers in His own time and sometimes He tests your faith to see whether you are loyal before Him. When you pray you must have faith, perseverance, and resolution. When they begin training themselves to pray, most people don’t feel that they have been touched by the Holy Spirit and so lose heart. This won’t do! You must have persistence, you must focus on feeling the touch of the Holy Spirit, and on seeking and exploring. Sometimes, the path that you act upon is the wrong one; sometimes, your motivations and conceptions are unable to stand firm before God, and so God’s Spirit doesn’t move you; so too are there times when God looks at whether or not you are loyal. In short, you must devote more effort to training yourself. If you discover that the path you act upon is deviant, you can change the way you pray. As long as you truly seek, and long to receive, then the Holy Spirit will surely take you into this reality. Sometimes you pray with a true heart but don’t feel as if you have been particularly touched. At times like these you must rely on your faith, and trust that God looks upon your prayers; you must have perseverance in your prayers.

You must be honest, and must pray in order to rid yourself of the craftiness in your heart. As you use prayer to purify yourself whenever needed, and use it to be touched by the Spirit of God, your disposition will gradually change. The true spiritual life is a life of prayer, and it is a life that is touched by the Holy Spirit. The process of being touched by the Holy Spirit is the process of changing your disposition. A life that has not been touched by the Holy Spirit is not a spiritual life, it is still religious ritual; only those who are often touched by the Holy Spirit, and have been enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, are people who have entered into the spiritual life. Man’s disposition constantly changes as he prays, and the more that he is moved by the Spirit of God, the more proactive and obedient he is. So, too, will his heart gradually be purified, after which his disposition will gradually change. Such is the effect of true prayer.

Gospel Movie Trailer "My Dream of the Heavenly Kingdom"

https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/my-dream-trailer/