Like Christ, we need to be a Man of Prayer who Lives in God’s Presence Constantly

As believers in Christ, we follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus and take Him as the reality of the burnt offering to have the same kind of living He did while on earth; He was a man of prayer, one with God, living in the presence of God, trusting in God, being satisfied only with God, and in Him, the enemy had no ground.

Christ is the reality of the burnt offering; He lived a life absolutely for God and for God’s satisfaction.

Whether He spoke or did not speak, whether He did a miracle or did nothing, in whatever He did and said, the Lord Jesus lived in oneness with God, and He expressed God.

He was the first God-man, and He had a perfect God-man living.

Now we as His disciples and as His continuation live the same kind of life that He lived not by outwardly imitating Him but by partaking of Him, enjoying Him, being conformed to His image, and taking Him as our burnt offering.

Christ’s living was fully for God; there was nothing in His living for Himself but rather, everything He did was in and for God, everything He spoke was of God and for God, and all His work was from God and for God, in oneness with God.

Even though the Lord Jesus lived in such a way, He was not after man’s glory; rather, He avoided the situations in which people wanted to crown Him as king.

Furthermore, at the end of His human life on earth, the Lord Jesus was not crowned as King and Lord by people outwardly but rather, He was put to death.

He went to death willingly, and He was crucified and died on the cross. It seemed that all that He did, all His human living and work for God, everything was over.

People “skinned” Him by speaking all kinds of evil things about Him, cut Him to pieces by accusing Him without any response from Him, and He was finally slaughtered – Him, a Lamb without any blemish.

He was reduced to zero, even reduced to nothing; in man’s sight, He was over. But that’s when God came in. God fully accepted this One and His living.

He was delighted in His Son, for His God-man living was a sweet fragrance to God for His satisfaction and delight.

So God came in and raised Him from the dead, justifying Him and approving His life, living, and work.

Now Christ is the life-giving Spirit, and His God-man living is being reproduced in us, those who are regenerated by His life.

Today He wants to live the same kind of life in us for the expression of God in man.

We are going through the same process as He did and we experience Christ in His experiences as the burnt offering to live a God-man life, a life for the satisfaction and delight of God.

The Lord Jesus as the Reality of the Burnt Offering for God’s Satisfaction Lives in us

As He carries out God’s New Testament ministry, the Lord Jesus is the reality of the burnt offering.

Both on the negative side in His experiences of being persecuted, evil spoken of, stripped of His virtues, and killed, and on the positive side in expressing God and being one with God, the Lord Jesus was the reality of the burnt offering.

He did not do anything out of Himself (John 5:19); He said that He did only what He saw the Father doing, and what He did was the Father’s work.

He had a perfect humanity and could do whatever He wanted, but He didn’t do anything of and by Himself; rather, He denied Himself and did everything with and in and for the Father.

The Lord Jesus did not do His own work (4:34; 17:4); rather, He did the work that the Father gave Him to do.

He could have done a great work and achieved great things for Himself and by Himself, and many times He had the opportunity to do so.

However, He did not do it; He denied Himself and did the work of the Father.

The Lord Jesus did not speak His own word (14:10, 24); rather, He spoke what He heard from the Father.

We all like to speak our own words; by nature, we speak what we want to speak, but the Lord Jesus denied His perfect human nature and spoke what the Father spoke.

The Lord Jesus did everything not by His own will (5:30); He did the will of the Father, not His own will.

He did not seek His own glory (7:18) but the glory of the One who sent Him. Wow!

It was easy for Him just to seek some glory for Himself, and He did gain some following and was appreciated by others; however, He sought the glory of the Father, not His own glory.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus was never disappointed because He was satisfied only with God (Isa. 42:4; 50:4-5; 53:2a; cf. John 4:13-14; 6:15; Mark 9:7-8) and lived a life for God’s satisfaction.

Because His source was in God, His words were God’s words, His work was God’s work, His will was God’s will, and He sought the glory of God, He did not look at anything in the environment to give Him satisfaction.

Rather, He was like a root out of dry ground; there was nothing in His environment to satisfy Him or make Him happy, but He was satisfied in God.

When others received Him, He secretly left and went to spend time with the Father.

When others rejected Him, He extolled the Father, for He knows all things and He does His works. What kind of life is this!

The Lord Jesus fully lived a life for God, absolutely one with God, and fully for God’s satisfaction.

He lived the life of the burnt offering, being absolutely for God and for His satisfaction. He did not faint, nor was He discouraged.

We may get discouraged, for we may still seek something in our environment or in the people around us to satisfy us, but the Lord was never discouraged.

He is not discouraged by our church life. He is never discouraged by our spiritual condition.

Such a One lives in us. He is our life and our everything, and we can take Him as our burnt offering to let Him live in us the same kind of life that He lived while on the earth.

When we live one spirit with the Lord, He lives in us a life that is absolutely for God and for His satisfaction.

The Lord’s life was His work, His move, and His ministry; His work was not different from His living, nor was His move different from His being.

With the Lord Jesus, there was no difference between His life, His work, His move, and His ministry, for He lived His ministry (see Luke 22:26-27; John 10:10b; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 5:16a; 2 Cor. 3:6; Phil. 1:25).

Whether He was awake or sleeping, whether He was speaking or being silent, whether He was working or not, and whether He did something or did not do something, His work was His living, and His move was His being.

He was fully one with God, and God was expressed through Him.

When people saw Jesus, they saw God living in Him, and when they listened to His words, they heard the word of God.

Such a One now lives in us. The reality of the burnt offering, the One who lived a life absolutely for God and for His satisfaction, now lives in us to repeat this life in us.

May we open to Him again and again throughout the day and tell Him,

Dear Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You! We take You as our life and as our person. We take You as the reality of the burnt offering. We take You as the One who lived a life absolutely for God and for His satisfaction. Live in us today. Repeat in us the life You lived while on the earth. We want to be one with You. Oh Lord, we praise You for not doing anything out of Yourself, not doing Your own work, not speaking Your own word, and not doing Your own will nor seeking Your own glory. Hallelujah, such a One now lives in us. Thank You, Lord, You are never discouraged by our situation and our condition, and You’re not disappointed with the situation in the church today. We come to You and we send our roots deep down in You. We take You as our unique source of satisfaction and encouragement. We want to live one spirit with You today. Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through us, for the Father’s satisfaction and delight!

Being a Man of Prayer one with God, Living in God’s Presence, and Trusting in God

As the reality of the burnt offering, the Lord Jesus lived as a man of prayer.

He did not just pray; He was a man of prayer, having a life of prayer, living in an atmosphere of prayer, and doing all things as a result of prayer.

He could have just done whatever He wanted, for He was God; but He chose to take the way of prayer so that He may depend on God, be one with God, constantly live in God’s presence and trust in God (John 10:30; 8:29; 14:30b; 16:32-33; 1 Pet. 2:23).

And when He prayed, He did not pray as a God-seeking person on earth trying to find out what is God’s will, nor did He pray as a spiritual person trying to get more spiritual knowledge about God to manifest this to others.

Rather, He was a man in the flesh praying to the God in the heavens, and He prayed in the divine and mystical realm.

Divine is on God’s side and mystical is on man’s side. He was a man of prayer, a man who is one with God (John 10:30).

He was a man in the flesh praying to the mysterious God in the divine and mystical realm; this is why so many times He withdrew and went to the mountain or to a private place to pray (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28).

He sought to live in the presence of God without ceasing (Acts 10:39; John 8:29; 16:32), and so He was a man of prayer, always being in prayer before God and often withdrawing from the crowd to just spend time with God.

He testified that He was never alone, for the Father was with Him.

He saw the Father’s face every moment and lived continuously in God’s presence.

He trusted not in Himself nor in those around Him but in God, even when He suffered persecution and suffering.

In the midst of sufferings, He did not speak threatening words to those who caused Him suffering but rather, He kept committing all to Him who judges righteously (1 Pet. 2:23).

When He was on the cross, being crucified and persecuted by man, He did not threaten others nor did He promise to revenge; rather, He prayed, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46).

He was a man of prayer who lived one with God, always in God’s presence, and trusting in God.

Such a One lives in us, and He wants us to spend time with Him and be a man of prayer.

We can be a man of prayer by coming to the Lord again and again, setting times to be with Him, and withdrawing from being with others to just spend time with the Lord.

His life is reproduced in us. Again and again, we need to take time out of our busy lives and spend secret, intimate, and private time with the Lord.

Having corporate meetings and enjoying the Lord with the saints is not enough; we need to spend time with the Lord to enjoy Him personally and privately.

We need to be men of prayer; we need to withdraw often from among people and just touch the Lord, open to Him, and live in His presence.

And as we meet other people, we need to still remain in God’s presence, being a man of prayer who prays constantly.

Our trust should not be in our spouse or our friends, neither should it be in people or our environment; our trust should be uniquely in God.

Even when others persecute us or revile us, we should keep committing all these things to God who judges righteously.

We are never alone; the Lord is with us, even inside of us; every moment we can contact Him and behold His face.

As we spend time with the Lord and live as a man of prayer, we live in God’s presence and we trust in God, and in us the enemy will have no ground or possibility in anything.

Right now we need to admit that the enemy still has so much ground and possibilities in us, and we still think that the Lord must have put us with the wrong people and in the wrong environment.

But as we live as a man of prayer and are one with God, living in God’s presence without ceasing and trusting only in God, the enemy will lose ground in us.

Lord Jesus, we want to be a man of prayer who lives in God’s presence and is constantly one with God. We come to You, Lord, and we want to spend time with You. We want to be those who practice coming to You in our secret place to spend time with You. Amen, Lord, we love to behold Your face. We love to spend time with You. We come to You to spend time with You and be in Your presence. Keep us in Your presence today. We trust in You and we commit all things to You. Grant us to live in the presence of God continuously and closely day by day. Amen, Lord, even when trouble comes, we want to trust in You, for You know all things, and You are doing an inner work in our being. Make us men of prayer who are one with God, who live in the presence of God continuously, and who trust in God even in suffering and persecution. Amen, Lord, we want to live the life of a God-man by being a man of prayer living in God’s presence constantly!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 10, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, An Overview of the Central Burden and Present Truth of the Lord’s Recovery Before His Appearing (2023 July Semiannual Training), week 5, entitled, The God-man Living.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Prayer is man cooperating and co-working with God, allowing God to express Himself and His desire through man, and thus accomplish His purpose, a portion from, Lessons on Prayer, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – The day-by-day Christian life, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – God’s Faithfulness and Our Perseverance in Prayer, article via, Living to Him.
  – Prayer—Our Spiritual Breathing, article via, Bibles for America blog.
  – 2 Means to Effective Prayer You Can Apply Every Day, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – How mysterious, O Lord, / That Thy Spirit dwells in mine; / O how marvelous it is, / Into one, two spirits twine. / By the spirit I can walk, / Spiritual in spirit be; / By the spirit I can serve, / And in spirit worship Thee. / Thru Thy Word and by my prayer / In the spirit touching Thee, / Lifted high my spirit is, / Strengthened shall my spirit be. (Hymns #782 stanzas 1-3)
  – Lord, in Thy presence silent I would be, / That in the inmost I to Thee may come; / I would not in my own way pray to Thee, / But let Thy prayer in me my prayer become. / It seems Thou art in heaven hearing me, / But right within my spirit Thou dost dwell; / It seems that I am praying unto Thee, / But really from Thyself the prayers do well. (Hymns #764 stanzas 1-2)
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Fully opened from within, / With thy face unveiled, beholding, / Single, pure, and genuine. (Hymns #784 stanza 2 and chorus)