晨興聖言--認識、經歷、並活包羅萬有的基督...(W6-6)
第六週■週六
晨興餧養
太二六41『要儆醒禱告，免得入了試誘；你們的靈固然願意，肉體卻輭弱了。』
弗六18『時時在靈裏禱告，並盡力堅持，在這事上儆醒，且爲眾聖徒祈求。』
雖然在宇宙中激烈進行的爭戰是在神與撒但之間，但與另一方也有牽連。這第三方包括神所揀選並救贖的人，他們是真正決定這場爭戰勝負的人。
爲了要在神這一邊與撒但爭戰，我們需要堅定持續的禱告。這種的堅定持續是必需的，因爲整個世界的趨向都是遠離神的。禱告乃是在墮落的宇宙中抵擋潮流。堅定持續的禱告就像逆水行舟。…無疑的，要這樣堅定持續的划船或禱告，都需要極大的力量。…世界上有一股強大的潮流，敵擋神的旨意。我們這些與神站在一起的人，發現整個宇宙都在反對我們，尤其是反對我們的禱告（歌羅西書生命讀經，七一八至七一九頁）。
信息選讀
在你想要堅定持續的禱告以前，首先該爲你的禱告生活和主辦交涉，要確定的向主禱告說，『主，在禱告的事上，我向你是認真的。我呼天喚地作見證，從現在開始，我要有禱告的生活。我不要作一個不禱告的人，我要作一個禱告的人。』如果你沒有向主有過這樣的禱告，你就無法堅定持續的禱告。我們要對祂說，『主，我在這事上很迫切。我把自己獻給你，好叫我有禱告的生活。主，保守我在禱告的靈裏。如果我忘記了、忽畧了，我知道你不會忘記。求你一再題醒我要禱告。』…我們都必須爲着我們的禱告生活向主許願。我們應當告訴主：『主，我知道如果我忘了所許的願，你不會忘記。主，從一開始我就要清清楚楚的把責任交給你。主，不要讓我過去，要題醒我禱告。』
我們爲禱告和主辦了這樣的交涉以後，就該劃出定時禱告的時間。比方說，你可以每天早晨留下十分鐘。…我們的態度應當把禱告當作我們最重要的事，不讓任何的事打岔。如果我們沒有這種態度，我們的禱告生活就無法成功。不論我們每天必須作多少事，我們至少能在某些時段留下幾分鐘來禱告。早晨我們可以有一些禱告，然後中午、下班後以及晚間可以再有些時間禱告。我們在一天之內劃出確定的時間，就能留下半個鐘頭來禱告了。
我們若要經歷基督並活基督，就需要留在禱告的氣氛裏。…藉着禱告，我們就被帶進靈裏，在靈裏我們與主是一，並接受祂作我們的生命。這個經歷太寶貴了，因此當我們這樣享受時，我們不願意停下來。我們喜歡留在靈裏，與主是一。然而，只要我們禱告的時間過了，我們多半又回到天然生活的方式裏。我們不再在禱告的氣氛裏，反而又自動的開始竭力想要聖別、屬靈、得勝。每當我們失敗了，我們就悔改，向主認罪，決心重頭再來一遍。這不是過基督徒生活的路。相反的，我們日常的生活應當與我們在真正禱告裏的經歷一樣。當我們把自己禱告到靈裏，我們就與主是一，享受祂的同在，並且自然而然的活祂。我們用不着努力，就能聖別、屬靈且得勝；我們沒有難處，也沒有罣慮（歌羅西書生命讀經，七二○至七二一、四一五至四一六頁）。
參讀：長老訓練第六册，第十章。
WEEK 6 — DAY 6
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Eph. 6:18 By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
Although the battle raging in the universe is between God and Satan, another party is involved. This third party consists of God’s chosen and redeemed people, the ones who will actually decide the outcome of the battle.
In order to fight on God’s side against Satan, we need to persevere in prayer. This perseverance is needed because the course of the whole world is away from God. To pray is to go against the current, the trend, in the fallen universe. Persevering in prayer is like rowing a boat upstream…No doubt, to persevere in this way, either in rowing or in praying, requires a great deal of energy…There is a strong current in the world in opposition to the will of God. As those who take sides with God, we find that the whole universe is against us and, in particular, against our prayer. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 578-579)
Today’s Reading
Before you try to persevere in prayer, you should first make a deal with the Lord concerning your prayer life. Pray to Him in a definite way and say, “Lord, I mean business with You about this matter of prayer. I call heaven and earth to witness that from this time forth I will have a life of prayer. I will not be a prayerless person. Rather, I will be a praying person.” If you do not have such a prayer to the Lord, you will not be able to persevere in prayer. We need to say to Him, “Lord, I am desperate about this. I offer myself to You so that I may have a prayer life. Lord, keep me in the spirit of prayer. If I forget this or neglect this, I know that You will not forget it. Remind me again and again about prayer.”…We all need to make a vow to Him concerning our prayer life. We should tell the Lord, “Lord, I know that if I forget this vow, You will not forget it. From the very beginning, Lord, I want to clearly hand the responsibility over to You. Lord, don’t let me go. Remind me to pray.”
After we make such a deal with the Lord concerning prayer, we should set aside definite times for prayer. For instance, you may reserve ten minutes every morning…Our attitude should be that prayer is our most important business and that nothing should be allowed to interfere with it. If we do not have this attitude, we shall not be able to have a successful prayer life. No matter how many things we have to do each day, we can reserve at least a few minutes here and there for prayer. We may pray a little in the morning. Then again at noon, after work, and in the evening we may have other times for prayer. By setting aside definite times during the day, we may be able to have a half hour reserved for prayer.
If we would experience Christ and live Him, we need to remain in an atmosphere of prayer…By prayer we are brought into the spirit, where we are one with the Lord and take Him as our life. This experience is so precious that when we are enjoying it, we do not want it to end. We like to remain in spirit to be one with the Lord. However, as soon as our time of prayer is over, most of the time we revert to our natural way of living. We are no longer in an atmosphere of prayer. Automatically we begin to try once again to be holy, spiritual, and victorious. Whenever we fail, we repent, confess to the Lord, and resolve to try again. This is not the way to live the Christian life. On the contrary, our daily living should be the same as our experience in genuine prayer. When we pray ourselves into the spirit, we are one with the Lord, we enjoy His presence, and we spontaneously live Him. Without exerting any effort, we are holy, spiritual, and victorious. We have no problems and no anxieties. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 579-580, 334)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” ch. 10
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