We must coordinate the word with our feeling. Should our feeling fail to accompany the word the spirit is frequently restrained. Why is it that when God’s word requires the shedding of tears your tears do not fall; or when it demands shouting you cannot shout? The main hindrance is you yourself. Your feeling has been influenced by the people who surround you so that it dare not correspond to the word. Sometimes you need to shout in order to greatly release the spirit. The Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice: “On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out. . . .” (John 7.37). On the day of Pentecost “Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice” (Acts 2.14). The pressure of the Holy Spirit was so heavy upon them—the Holy Spirit had given them such deep feeling—that they were pressed to lift up their voices. Their outward emotion and inward sense were joined together in one. After Peter and John were released by the Jewish leaders, they gathered with the brethren. They “lifted their voice together to God” (Acts 4.23-24). The situation at that time was exceedingly grave, hence they asked the Lord to look upon the threatenings and give to them all boldness to speak the word so that the Lord would stretch out His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders take place through His name. This happened to Paul when he saw the man who was lame from birth. He “said with a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet’” (Acts 14.10).

All these cases show us that in the ministry of the word the going forth of the word must be accompanied by a corresponding feeling. If our emotion is not released the spirit will be held back. The Lord Jesus Himself, the early church, Peter, John, and Paul—they all had sufficiently strong feeling to lift up their voice. To release the spirit demands strong feeling. Now we are not persuading people to shout in their preaching; we are simply stating that when the spirit is vibrant the outside voice is to be lifted up. If there is no inward feeling, even though our voice fill the whole building, it is of no avail. For some, the louder they sing the less the spirit; the louder their voice in preaching the less spirit they have. Whatever is artificial is useless. Artificiality has no place in the ministry of the word. What is within should be released. Never imitate outwardly. When our word comes forth let our emotion accompany it. For this, though, we must be broken. And after the outer shell is broken we may shout, rejoice, or cry as occasion demands. Such feeling arises from within, it is not artificially manufactured from without. If the Lord cannot penetrate the feeling of those who minister, how can He ever reach the feeling of others? How cold, how dry, how opposing their feelings are! We must thrust through their emotions each time we speak. If the Lord cannot make us shed tears, He cannot make others shed them either. If the pressure on us is not heavy enough to make us cry, how can we expect the others to cry? (MOGW, 265-266, CFP, Watchman Nee).