6. New Testament Walkers and Talkers

1.. The Letters - Romans and Corinthians

Thinking

The letters of Paul, James, Peter, John and Jude, are examples of God's word in action. The Spirit spoke to these men in truth, and then enabled each to wrap up the words of God in their own personality to be presented first to the recipients of the letters, then on to us. We see in these letters the vision and call of Paul, the energy of Peter, the thoughtful love of John, and the faithfulness of James and Jude. They were God's words but were expressed with the style and texture of their individual personalities. Today, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and in a simpler, more humble, and often less fluent manner, we too can respond as God speaks to us. That is what this book is all about.

It is useful to cite some specific examples from the letters.

In Romans 8: 15-16, Paul writes, "..you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,.." Today, God comes to us as the Holy Spirit to prompt us, nudge us, encourage us, and enable us to call out to him as Father. When we do this, and know the intimacy of speaking to God personally as Father, the serenity of the experience is the inner voice of the Spirit. His voice within testifies that calling to God is the right thing to do because we are his children. I believe it is quite proper to put words to this experience.

Romans 8: 26. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words." Indeed, we do not know what we ought to pray about, but the Spirit helps us there too.

Praying

Show me what to pray, Lord. What do you want me to think about?

Listening

My son, it is good that you have recognised this today. There have been many times when you have come to me to reiterate your agenda. That's OK, but think about it. I even know your agenda before you frame words to it. So give me your agenda, and look beyond yourself to mine. There will be many times when seeing an item from my perspective will make your prayer more effective and aligned with my purpose. Remember that being part of my family means being aligned with my purpose. This must apply to your prayer agendas too.

Thinking

Romans 12: 2. ".. be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what the will of God is - what is good and acceptable and perfect." We need to remember that our mind and our intellect are tools of the soul in the same way that our hands and feet are. One day, our Lord will give us a new body and a new brain. For the moment one of the tasks of the mind is to translate into words the thoughts, ideas, and preverbal language spoken to our spirit by his Spirit. We also need to test the ideas and words to ensure that we have got them right - not clouded by words from the evil one. Then we can know his good and pleasing and perfect will. And in the forefront of this is his desire for a walking and talking relationship with each of us.

Listening

You missed a point here, my son. Renewing of your mind begins now and reflects the work I am doing within you now to renew your spirit.

Praying

Thank you, Lord. I am beginning to understand that now.

Thinking

In Romans 12: 6 we read that while we have different gifts, and some have the gift of prophesying, we are all called to be faithful in prayer. We must each own this responsibility now and ask for the grace to remain faithful.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul expanded on these ideas. "..the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak these things in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual"(1 Corinthians 2: 10-13).

A little later in V.16, Paul summarised this with the mystic words - "But we have the mind of Christ." Now I think we need to be very open about saying that this is a deep mystery not easily understood by a new Christian, and beyond comprehension for a person who does not know Jesus Christ. The theory is taught early - Christ has given us his Spirit who is indwelling - but acceptance requires faith. With time and infinite tenderness, the Spirit warms our awareness, shapes our thinking, and directs our speech. Discernment brings the ability to distinguish between God's voice and our own thoughts. Then faith becomes assurance based on personal experience.

Understanding this mystery takes time and the experience of knowing how the Spirit works within.

(Reader. This is a good time to pause, to read this last paragraph again, and to recall to consciousness the times that God has acted in your own life. Search deep into your mind for the "deep things of God".)

This matter of discernment, of being able to distinguish between our own thoughts and God's, is very important. Even more important is the ability to distinguish between a God-given gift and something else. Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 12: 3. "Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, 'Let Jesus be cursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." The Apostle John also spoke about this when he wrote, "but test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (1 John 4: 1). It is important to note both the negative and positive points from these words of both Paul and John. On the negative side, be alert, be careful, and ensure that a given word really is coming from God. And on the positive, know that we are not capable of turning to God in praise, in worship, in confession, or even reaching out to pick up the Bible, unless we are prompted by the Spirit.

There are other tests. Every word of the Lord is consistent with his purpose, with his love, and with the Scripture. Any apparent lack of consistency should make us pause, to think it through, and to pray for guidance.

Corinthians 14: 1 speaks about the gift of Tongues. Clearly, this is a related gift that the Lord chooses to give to some as a means of increasing faith both of the individual and the church. Even closer is the gift of prophecy. Paul's teaching on this matter in his letter to the Corinthians is consistent with that in the letter to the Romans. It is a gift given to the church in balance, but not to everybody. One line here is however important - "If in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said?" (1 Corinthians 14: 9). Paul emphasised that communication requires bringing a thought to consciousness and thence to words. This is not to say that all personal prayer requires this. It may often be a blessing to pray in ideas without formed words, or in an ecstatic tongue, but words bring a focus. Furthermore, the effort of forming words and then discerning their appropriateness or correctness as the word of God is also a blessing. "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also" (1 Corinthians 14: 15).

1 Corinthians 14: 21 takes us back to Isaiah but comes today as a special word to those of us who are Gentiles. "By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people...." (see also Isaiah 28: 11). We need to be encouraged as we read these words because they apply to us today.

Walking and talking with God was a special feature of Paul's life and he referred to it several times. He was also careful to link things he said to the authority of the Scriptures. For example in his second letter to the Corinthians, he quoted from Leviticus to give authority to his word. ".as God said, 'I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people'" (2 Corinthians 6: 16 quoting from Leviticus 26: 12). This example of citing the Scriptures to ensure consistency is a key to discernment.

Studying the Scriptures, citing words from the Scriptures, committing them to memory, repeating them in song, and every other technique for bringing words from the Scriptures to consciousness, increases the vocabulary with which we can hear God's voice.

As well as teaching, Paul also spoke personally about his conversations with God. Speaking about his personal thorn in flesh, he said, "Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Corinthians 12: 8-9). Paul was very open about telling people about this experience of conversational prayer.

Copyright Howard Smith 2002. All Rights reserved.

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