5月26日 照耶穌所說的去思想

不住的禱告。（帖前五17）

我們對禱告的觀念，會影響我們對禱告態度的正誤。我們若視禱告如胸中的呼吸，如心中的血液，這就對了。血不停地流，呼吸也不間斷；我們雖不自覺，它卻一直在運行著。耶穌使我們與神聯合，我們未必時常感覺得到。若我們順服他，就知道他實在是時常如此。禱告不是一項活動，乃是生命。當心那些阻礙隨時禱告的東西。“不住禱告”，保持赤子般的習慣，隨時在心中向神禱告。

耶穌從未提及落空的禱告。他確實知道禱告必蒙應允。我們有沒有靠著聖靈，有主耶穌對禱告那種不可言狀的信心？還是覺得神有時不聽人禱告？“祈求就得著。”我們說：“但……但……”。

神用最奇妙的辦法應允禱告，不是有時聽有時不聽，乃是時時都聽。不過禱告得應允，未必是照我們所要的。我們指望神答允禱告嗎？我們的危險就是把耶穌所說的簡化，使之符合人的常理；其實若只是常理，就不值得說出了。耶穌所講的禱告，是超然的啟示。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，有太多的事需要祈求，有太多的人需要拯救。我何等渴望地仰望你。

May 26 Think As Jesus Taught

“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

We think rightly or wrongly about prayer according to the conception we have in our minds of prayer. If we think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts, we think rightly. The blood flows ceaselessly, and breathing continues ceaselessly; we are not conscious of it, but it is always going on. We are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect joint with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life. Beware of anything that stops ejaculatory prayer. “Pray without ceasing,” keep the childlike habit of ejaculatory prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer, He had the boundless certainty that prayer is always answered. Have we by the Spirit the unspeakable certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when God does not seem to have answered prayer? “Every one that asketh receiveth.” We say – “But . . . , but . . .” God answers prayer in the best way, not sometimes, but every time, although the immediate manifestation of the answer in the domain in which we want it may not always follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger with us is that we want to water down the things that Jesus says and make them mean something in accordance with common sense; if it were only common sense, it was not worth while for Him to say it. The things Jesus says about prayer are supernatural revelations.