The apostle Paul wrote, "Pray without ceasing"
(1 Thessalonians 5:17).
This is the prayer that never ends. It evolves from the Fifth Path. In the Fifth Path, your heart is engaged with Him, in His word, praying in the secret place of your heart. In the Fifth Path, we PRAY the scriptures. But in the Sixth Path, this time does not end when the quiet time comes to a close. It never ends. While on this path, we will do seemingly ordinary things like manual labor, driving a car, writing reports for work or solving math problems. But these "ordinary" things will take place on this path. They are changes of focus. At every opportune time, we turn in our spirit to God within. So, through day and night, we Turn, Turn, Turn.
In the Sixth Path we "pray without ceasing." You will never see the phrase "Sixth Path" in scripture. The "Sixth Path" is a figure of speech used to represent the numerous scriptures which describe intimate fellowship with God in intricate detail. We pray the Endorsed Prayers from scripture as revealed in chapter 4. We interact with the Holy Spirit as revealed by the scriptures in chapter 3. In pain, we respond to God according to the scriptures presented in chapter 5. The Sixth Path is walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25, subchapter 4.7). In the Sixth Path, we continually turn to Him according to His words.
God is intimately and intricately involved in every aspect of life. By His power He controls the events of life to answer prayer, bless, protect, discipline, and execute judgement... all while justly preserving the free will of man. Click here to see how God controls elections, politicians, war, weather, health, decisions, disasters and many other things. And as He interacts with us, we interact with Him through prayer, walking with Him, doing His will... the Sixth Path.
We turn to Him as we request His power and blessing in the task at hand. We turn to Him asking for guidance, that He would reveal His will, so that we can "please him in all respects" (Colossians 1:3-10). We turn to Him when we suffer, when bitter or tempted. We turn to God in our spirit. We turn, turn and turn again.
So, instead of prayer being a withdrawal from daily life, the "ordinary" things of daily life are specific events that are occurring in the Sixth Path. So, ordinary things take place in this never ending prayer of the Sixth Path. These ordinary events are landmarks along the pathway of walking by the Spirit.
At first, Turn, Turn, Turn may seem to be a series of separate actions in the same direction. The slow turning fan blade becomes a continuous blur as its speed increases. So, over time, Turn, Turn, Turn becomes a continual practice of living in His presence.
Beholding the Lord:
Turn, Turn, Turn appears to be primarily action. Beholding the Lord appears to be less active. It is action. But it is stillness. It is beholding one you worship.
- "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
- "17 Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
The first passage speaks of being still.
The second scripture is the end of a long passage about "a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit ". It began in verse 6. It ends in verse 18 with "seeing the glory of the Lord" in the present tense.
When we behold the Lord, we fix our spiritual eyes on His spirit within. Its a spiritual action. Its supernatural. As we behold Him, we may feel affection for Him. We may offer words of praise. We may call His name repeatedly. We may wait for Him to respond to a prayer... perhaps a prayer to reveal His will... perhaps a prayer for understanding of scripture.
This book was written as I beheld the Lord. I asked Him to bring scripture to my mind. As scriptures came to my mind, they became this book. This is in accordance with the words of Christ "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you" (John 14:26). I seldom memorize scripture anymore. For me, there is a better way. Scripture takes deep root in my soul as I PRAY scripture. He brings His words to mind at the time of His choosing. It is supernatural. It is not a function of memory.
So, this Sixth Path is called "Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold". I do not say that this is the greatest path or the only path. But it is fellowship with God in power, joy, intimacy and peace.
Earlier in this book, I wrote:
"Everything we do is to be done for, through and with God. This is a fellowship of purpose, power and intimacy.
To enter into this fellowship, the heart must touch what the eye cannot see. It all depends on what happens in one particular moment... in that very second when we come into contact with the word of God.
That moment is the focus of this book. It is from that moment, which this life of fellowship with God unfolds."
Please consider these words of God:
- "Enoch walked with God,"
- "Noah walked with God,"
- Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,"
- "walk by the Spirit,"
- "Pray without ceasing"
- "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ"
- "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"
- "apart from me, you can do nothing"
After years in the Fifth Path, His word will have grown deep roots in your heart. The Holy Spirit will be reminding you of His words at opportune times. "Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold" absorbs the ordinary tasks of the day and each personal encounter. It absorbs the making of a new friend and the birth of your first child. It absorbs your witness, encounters with those who grieve, every dark day... your last breath.
"Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold" is a description of fellowship With God. But the description I have presented so far is a mere skeleton of that path. The remainder of this book will present details: the flesh and breath of this path, from scripture. The details will be proved from scripture.
In this book many scriptures have been compiled for your prayerful meditation... to be read in the Fifth Path. Memory tools are provided to aid in the continual assent into the Sixth Path... Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold.
In this book you will see God's conditions for answered prayer, God's conditions for understanding scripture. You will see thirty prayers prayed by the apostles as they took up the yoke of Christ and received rest. Then you'll know what to talk about when you talk with God. You will see forty workings of the Holy Spirit, so that you may see the unseen. You have already received the acrostic "PRAY" as a reminder of how to read scripture. The acrostic "Follow Christ" will help you remember twelve prayers of scripture so that He becomes your daily bread. The acrostics "The Way" and "Power" will remind you of other prayers for success in your journey. When others encounter despair, death, even suicide, you will know how to pray with them. The Holy Spirit will remind you of His words at that opportune time. You will receive the acrostic "Kings" to help you praise your sovereign Lord... to picture your role in Paradise.
This Sixth Path is our path for this age. In this age we Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold the invisible God within. In the age to come, in the eternal state, it will be different. We will behold His presence visually. "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
My prayer for you:
Holy Father, draw the reader of this book into the secret place of your presence, no longer to fear anything but You. For you are perfect peace and paradise. This prayer is for Your glory and Your glory alone. Amen.
- "Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men! 20 In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues" (Psalm 31:19-20).
Some things cannot be understood without experience. You cannot understand extreme pain if you have never experienced pain. The same can be said about ecstasy. The various aspects of the fellowship of this book are interrelated. As we experience a little of one aspect, then we are enabled to experience a little of another. Our experience builds as we grow into a different person. Fellowship with God isn't something that we learn about and then say "Ok, I understand that. Now I will move on to something else". Fellowship with God is our relationship with Him. It is to develop and grow throughout our lives.
I am leading to something. This book is not a book that you will read and then put down. In the first reading, you will experience many scriptures regarding fellowship with God. You will experience them in a small way, as an introduction. As you read this book the first time, you will probably PRAY each scripture for a minute or two. I pray that God will lead you back to these scriptures again and again. As your relationship deepens, you will PRAY these scriptures for five minutes, thirty minutes... maybe three weeks or more.
In this book, I will present an Estimated PRAY Time. You may see (Estimated PRAY Time: 3 Minutes -- 3 Weeks). The first time you read this book, you may PRAY the scriptures in a section for three minutes. Later in life, He may draw you to PRAY them for three weeks. This is not something you can decide for yourself. He will draw you according to the experience He has chosen for you at the time. PRAY each passage for as long as He draws you into that passage. That may last for three minutes or three weeks. He decides how long your time will be in each scripture. He will reveal it by His Spirit. As you sense the heart of each passage, taste it, savor it and then swallow it whole.
What David wrote about prayer and meditation is astounding:
- "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation" (Psalm 119:99).
In the next subchapter we will explore more deeply into this fellowship with God.
Group Discussion Questions
Please prayerfully consider the following questions:
1) Should we view life as a series of events, during which we intermittently pause to pray? Or should we view life as fellowship with God wherein each life event draws us into different phases or aspects of our fellowship with our Lord?
2) Is prayer a withdrawal from daily life or the lifeblood of daily life?
3) 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 speaks of "seeing the glory of the Lord." What is meant by "seeing the glory of the Lord"? See the paragraph titled "Beholding the Lord."
4) Is "seeing the glory of the Lord" a supernatural spiritual activity or merely a mental activity?
5) 1 Corinthians 10:31 states " whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Do we glorify God by doing a good deed while we are not in fellowship with God?
6)
1 Corinthians 10:31 states " whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
Does this indicate that fellowship with God is supposed to be an intermittent state or a continuous state? Does this apply to you?
7) In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul wrote that he was "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." What percent of our thoughts should be brought into obedience?
8) Is there such thing as a neutral thought? Or do all thoughts fall into one of only two possible categories, obedience or disobedience?