12月21日

標　　題：忠心禱告

經　　節：又有女先知，名叫亞拿，是亞設交派法內力的女兒，年紀已經老邁，從作童女出嫁的時候，同丈夫住了七年就寡居了。現在已經八十四歲，並不離開聖殿，禁食祈求，晝夜事奉神。（路加福音二章36-37節）

因你的忠實，神會讓你更深刻瞭解祂的作為。忠實所帶給你的一些機會，是那些不忠誠的人所沒有的。神樂意回答忠實的祈禱者。

亞拿已經做了許多年的寡婦。在她那個時代，寡婦是沒有社會地位的，實際上，她們的生活很無助。亞拿在聖殿裡晝夜禱告、禁食事奉神。當她禱告的時候，她渴望見到彌賽亞。當救主出生的時候，神只安排極少數的人遇見救主，祂的愛子只揭露給那些忠實純潔的人。亞拿也是其中之一。耶穌後來向祂的跟隨者說：「但你們的眼睛是有福的，因為看見了；你們的耳朵也是有福的，因為聽見了。……因為天國的奧秘只叫你們知道，不叫他們知道。」（馬太福音十三：16、11）

亞拿一直忠實地祈求，直到禱告蒙實現。她禱告的回答並沒有馬上來到。事實上，這個禱告的回復是在晚年時才到。神重視她的忠實，且賜下彌賽亞的救恩計劃，包括回答一個寡婦的祈求。

忠實的祈禱包括終生等候神的回答。神尋找願意持續禱告，直到得到回答的代禱者。

Faithfulness in Prayer

Now there was one, Anna, ...a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luke 2:36-37)

Your faithfulness allows God to reveal greater insight to you than to the less faithful. Faithfulness brings opportunities to you that are not given to the unfaithful. God takes pleasure in answering prayers that come from a faithful heart.

Anna had been a widow for many years. In her day, a widow had little status in society and was virtually helpless on her own. Anna spent her time, day and night, in prayer and fasting in the temple. As she prayed, she yearned to see the Messiah. God chose few people to encounter the Savior when He was born, revealing His Son only to those whose hearts were faithful and pure. Anna was one of those few. Jesus would later say to His followers, “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . . it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matt. 13:16, 11).

Anna continued faithfully in prayer until her prayer was answered. The answer to her prayers did not come immediately. In fact, it came near the end of her life. But God honored her faithfulness. God’s redemptive plan to send the Messiah included answering the prayers of a humble widow.

Faithful praying may mean a lifetime of waiting to receive an answer. God is looking for intercessors who are willing to continue to pray and to believe until they see God’s answer.