PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

During this time, you should go to the Lord and pray, not for so many affairs or business matters, but to contact the Lord, asking Him to examine you, to enlighten you, and to expose your situation in His light. As the Lord enlightens you, you will need to confess one item after another. When we do not come to the light, we do not see the uncleanness, especially the offenses on our conscience. But when we are enlightened, we are aware of all the dirt. We need to confess everything exposed by the Lord's light. Once I made a confession to the Lord that lasted more than two hours. The more I confessed, the more I needed to confess. After I confessed one thing, I had to confess another, and then another. To confess is the best way to contact the Lord in prayer for the genuine growth in life. The more we are dealt with by the Lord, the more He will be wrought into our being. This is what it means to grow.

In order to grow, we must firstly contact the Lord in our time of private prayer. I encourage all the saints, especially the young people, to build up such a habit. Every day you must have a time of prayer. Sometimes you may pray for the church or for the Lord's recovery, if you are burdened to do so. You may also pray concerning your affairs. But the primary matter is to pray for the Lord's enlightenment, exposing, and examining. Ask the Lord to show you what is within you and ask Him to deal with you. You should say, "Lord, expose through Your light my real situation and condition." If you pray like this, the light will come, and you will be dealt with. Then whatever you pray will not be a performance, but a genuine prayer from your cleansed spirit.
(Life Messages, Message Two, Witness Lee, published by Living Stream Ministry 1978.)

CONCERNING OUR INFUSION OF LIFE INTO OUR CHILDREN

Hear, O Israel: Jehovah is our God; Jehovah is one. And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shall impress them upon your children, and speak about them when you sit in your house, and when you journey on the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them upon your hand as a sign, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

I. THE BENEFIT OF REVIEWING THE PAST

Reviewing the past has a threefold benefit.

A. Bringing Us New Light and New Revelation

Reviewing the past brings us new light and new revelation. If we would have this light and revelation, we need to be in the presence of the Lord as we are reviewing our past. Otherwise, we will simply have a kind of retrospection, and this will not be helpful. If we view our past in the presence of the Lord, He may give us new light and new revelation according to what we were in the past.

B. Helping Us to Know God's Heart and God's Hand

Reviewing the past also helps us to know God's heart and God's hand. God's heart is loving and His hand is righteous. According to His heart, God is loving; according to His hand, He is righteous.

C. Helping Us to Know Ourselves, to Condemn the Flesh, and to Learn to Reject the Self and the Flesh

Reviewing the past helps us to know ourselves, to condemn the flesh, and to learn to reject the self and the flesh. While we were doing certain things or passing through certain things in the past, it was difficult for us to know ourselves. But afterwards when we look back, we can receive light to know ourselves and our flesh so that we may reject the self and the flesh.

II. THE GOVERNING THOUGHT OF REVIEWING THE PAST

Concerning reviewing the past, there is a governing thought. When we review our past, we must carry out the review according to this governing thought.

A. Showing God's Loving Heart and Righteous Governmental Dealing

Our review of the past must be governed by the thought that God's heart is loving and that His governmental dealing is righteous.

B. God's Blessing Requiring Man's Obedience and Faithfulness

God's blessing requires man's obedience and faithfulness. Obedience and faithfulness are the two conditions that must be fulfilled if we are to be qualified to receive God's blessing. Disobedience and unfaithfulness are obstacles to God's blessing. If we want God's blessing in our private life, daily life, family life, and church life, we must learn to be obedient and faithful.

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