The Principle of Mind Aiding the Spirit 399
spirit is exuding its thought incessantly: only as the spirit remains
silent must the mind fill the gap for it.
In such circumstances the believer should exercise his mind by
pondering this unsolved matter before God. Although such prayer
and consideration emerge from his mind, before long his spirit will
collaborate in the prayer and consideration. His spirit which he did
not sense before he now begins to sense, and soon the Holy Spirit
will be found leading him in his spirit. We should never sit back
because of a lack of early movement therein. Rather should we use
the mind to “scoop up” our spirit and activate it to help us know
whether or not this matter is of God.
The Principle Governing the Activity of the SpiritIn our spiritual experience the operation of the mind is
indispensable. Unlike the ocean tide, the spirit is not filled by
spontaneous comings and goings. For it to be filled we must comply
with the conditions for its filling. This is where the mind assumes its
responsibility: to set in motion what the spirit will soon carry forward
by itself. If we endlessly wait for the permeation of the spirit we shall
be disappointed. On the other hand we should not too highly esteem
the work of the mind. By this time we ought to know that unless our
action comes from the spirit it serves no useful purpose. We must not
walk after the mind. Why then do we engage the mind? We exercise
it not for its sake but for the sake of inducing the spirit to work.
Hence we continue to esteem the spirit as most important. Now if
after our mind has been functioning for some time the spirit still fails
to respond, as though there is no anointing, we must cease exercising
it. Should we detect in spiritual warfare a prolonged emptiness deep
within and our spirit continues to sense nothing, we ought to halt the
working of the mind. We should not, however, stop its working
because of the unwillingness of the flesh. Occasionally we feel tired