pray-reading
Definition
Pray-reading is the Scripture-reading practice developed by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in which the reader prays the words of the biblical text aloud rather than reading silently or analyzing them. The method aims to receive the Word not as proposition but as Spirit and life (John 6:63), through the human spirit rather than the soul (mind, emotion, will).
In this wiki, pray-reading functions as the terminus technicus for this Nee/Lee-specific practice. The scriptural basis Lee identifies is Eph. 6:17-18: the “sword of the Spirit” (the Word) is to be received “by means of all prayer and petition.”
Author Usage Variants
Watchman Nee / Witness Lee
Lee develops pray-reading most extensively in Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3 (BXL3). He provides the biblical foundation through Eph. 6:17-18:
“We must look at the Word of God as described in Eph. 6:17-18: ‘Receive…the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.’ It is the Spirit which is the word of God. Then verse 18 continues: ‘By means of all prayer and petition.’ The verses together read: ‘Receive…the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition.’ In what way should we receive the Word of God? By means of all prayer and petition. This is what we call pray-reading!”
(Nee/Lee, Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 3)
Pray-reading thus has both a pneumatological and hermeneutical function: it is the Scripture-prescribed mode of receiving the Word, and simultaneously a feeding act — God is imparted into the reader through the Word:
“There is no need to compose sentences or create a prayer. Just pray the words of the Word. Pray the words of the Bible exactly as they are. Eventually you will see that the entire Bible is a prayer book! You can open to any page of the Bible and begin to pray with any portion of the Word.”
(ibid.)
In its communal dimension, pray-reading has an ecclesial character: the Body of Christ is the proper recipient of the Word. Lee identifies four characteristics of communal pray-reading:
“When we come together to pray-read with other brothers and sisters, there are four words we should keep in mind: fast, short, genuine, and fresh.”
(Nee/Lee, Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 3)