5月25日

標　　題：傷痛的禱告

經　　節：耶穌極其傷痛，禱告更加懇切，汗珠如大血點滴在地上。（路加福音廿二章44節）

該如何禱告並不難瞭解，問題是很難動手去做。上回你整個人的身心靈陷入極大痛苦地為人代求，是什麼時候的事了（希伯來書五：7）？

我們是一個竭盡全力避免痛苦的世代，這就是現今極其缺乏代禱者的原因。大部分基督徒停留在膚淺的禱告階段，然而，神要帶領我們進入更深刻的代禱生活，這種經驗只有少數人體驗過。深入且長時間的代求是痛苦的。當其他人已經走開或睡著了，你仍然侍立在神的面前（路加福音廿二：45）。為了一些不斷悖逆神的人，你會經歷到與神隔絕的痛苦。我們之間有哪些人曾經歷過這種熱切的代求呢？

我們渴慕自己的生命及教會能擁有五旬節的經歷，但沒有客西馬尼園和十字架，就沒有五旬節。我們如何擁有成熟的禱告生活？藉著禱告。當我們覺得不想禱告的時候，就是我們應該祈禱的時候。禱告沒有快捷方式。讀有關禱告的書籍、參加禱告研討會，或背誦一些鼓舞人心的格言，都不能使我們變成代禱者。只有願意擺上自己的時間和精力禱告，才能使我們成為代禱者。

何不接受神的帶領，成為代禱者呢？不要讓自己滿足於膚淺及自我中心的禱告。安靜在神的面前禱告，直到進入祂要領你去的禱告深度。

The Agony of Prayer

And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44)

Prayer is not difficult to understand. It is difficult to do. When was the last time your heart so grieved for those you were interceding for that your entire body agonized along with your mind and heart? (Heb. 5:7).

We are a generation that avoids pain at all costs. This is why there are so few intercessors. Most Christians operate on the shallowest levels of prayer, but God wants to take us into the deep levels of intercessory prayer that only a few ever experience. Deep, prolonged intercession is painful. It involves staying before God when everyone else has gone away or sleeps (Luke 22:45). It involves experiencing brokenness with the Father over those who continually rebel against Him. How many of us will experience this kind of fervent intercession?

We long for Pentecost in our lives and in our churches, but there is no Pentecost without Gethsemane and a cross. How do we become mature in our prayer life? By praying. When we do not feel like praying is precisely the time we ought to pray. There are no shortcuts to prayer. There are no books to read, seminars to attend, or inspirational mottoes to memorize that will transform us into intercessors. This comes only by committing ourselves to pray and then doing so.

Why not accept God’s invitation to become an intercessor? Don’t allow yourself to become satisfied with shallow, self-centered praying. Stay with God in prayer until He leads you to pray at the level He wants.