牧者心聲
一小時的禱告
程續戰牧師
2024 年 11 月 9 日 / 10 日
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「應當一無掛慮，反而要凡事藉著禱告祈求，並且懷著感謝的心，把你們的需要告訴神。這樣，神所賜那超乎人所能理解的平安，必在基督耶穌裡保守你們的心思意念。」（腓四6-7，新漢語譯本）弟兄姊妹，你在甚麼時候最難於向天父祈禱呢？在趕工作死線時？還是遇到試探時？有位姊妹每遇忙碌或試探，禱告就會縮短、甚或取消，但是她發現，假如禱告不足夠（特別在忙碌或遇上試探的時候），她便會較容易與人起紛爭。
「當遇到忙碌或試探時，想取消禱告或把禱告時間縮短時，我們應該認出這試探到底是怎樣一回事（就是從天父拿走我們所有恩典的第一步），然後把原定的祈禱時間延長幾分鐘。」這是姊妹在靈修書籍看到的提醒，她感到當頭棒喝，原來那惡者經常設法令禱告的人縮短或取消禱告的時間，從而由天父那裡拿走我們所有的恩典。姊妹得到這提醒後，便嘗試操練之前老師所教導的：禱告一小時。起初她感到很困難，覺得禱告的時間很長，但她嘗試設定好鬧鐘，堅持鬧鐘未響起就不離開座位，繼續禱告。姊妹帶著自己的煩惱和各種的情緒去到主耶穌面前，把自己心底的聲音，如實地告訴祂，也把自己的渴求告訴祂。很奇妙，一小時的禱告過後，天父轉化了她的心情，她很真實地經歷到保羅所講的「神所賜那超乎人所能理解的平安」。
有一次，我遇上很艱難的狀況，感到忐忑不安，主讓我想起這句話：「不禱告是那惡者從天父那裡拿走我所有恩典的第一步。」主叫我放下手中的工作，設定好鬧鐘一小時後響起，並且開始禱告⋯⋯我以真實的自己去到天父面前，向祂訴說我的迷惘和傷痛⋯⋯在禱告中，神叫我想起十字架上遍體鱗傷的耶穌，祂儘管極度痛苦，但仍堅持沒有從十字架下來，這一切全因為祂愛我。我心中冒起一句話：「愛仍是惟一的出路！」當鬧鐘響起的時候，天父也轉化了我的心情，叫我經歷到保羅所講的「神所賜那超乎人所能理解的平安」，這時我再次感受到神對我的愛和照顧，祂幫助我有更大的動力去愛。
在忙碌的生活裡，我們未必能做到每天一小時的禱告，但我鼓勵你每週或隔週試一次。當你遇上困苦試探的時候，更加要保持這一小時的禱告，甚或再加長幾分鐘。期盼你能經歷保羅所講的「神所賜那超乎人所能理解的平安」。
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) Brothers and sisters, what is the most difficult time for you to pray to our Heavenly Father? When meeting deadlines? Or when faced with temptations? One sister has found that whenever she is busy or faced with temptations, her prayers would shorten or stop. But she also found that if prayer is lacking (especially in times of busyness and facing temptations), she is more prone to having conflicts with others.
"When busyness or temptations hit, and when we want to stop or shorten our prayers, we must recognize the temptation for what it is (It is the first step by which the grace from our Heavenly Father would be taken away). Then we should lengthen our prayers by a few minutes." This is the reminder the sister got from a devotional book. It was a wake-up call for her. This is the plot of the evil one, who tries hard to make us shorten or stop our prayers in order to take away all the grace from our Heavenly Father. With such a reminder, the sister tried to practice what her teacher taught: one-hour prayers. It was very difficult at first as she felt that the prayer time was very long. But she set the alarm clock and insisted on not leaving her seat before the alarm went off and would continue to pray. The sister took her troubles and all other sentiments to the Lord Jesus. She poured out her heart to Him and told Him all her desires. Miraculously, at the end of the hour-long prayer, the Heavenly Father changed the way she felt. She literally experienced what Paul called "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding."
Once I was in a very difficult situation and I became anxious. The Lord let this reminder come to my mind: "Stopping prayer is the first step by which the evil one tries to rob us of all the grace from our Heavenly Father." The Lord asked me to set aside the work at hand, set the alarm clock for one hour, and started praying… I went before the Heavenly Father just as I was. I told Him my confusion and my pain… In the prayer, God reminded me of Jesus with all His wounds and bruises on the cross. Even though His pain was immense, He persevered and did not come down from the cross. He did it all for His love of me. Then, a sentence came to my mind, "Love is the only way out!" And when the alarm clock sounded, my feelings were also changed by the Heavenly Father. I experienced what Paul called "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding." At that moment, I again felt the love and care of God for me, from which I derived a greater motivation to love.
Amid the hassle of life, we may not be able to pray for an hour every day. But I do encourage you to try once a week or once every other week. When in difficulty or facing temptations, you need an hour-long prayer or a few additional minutes even more. It is my hope that you will experience what Paul describes as "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding."
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