恒切的祷告
一个人怎能“不住地祷告”？有没有可能做得到的呢？
起初我们可能以为，这个命令的意思是要求我们24/7跪下或低头、闭上眼睛祷告；然而，视祷告为某些动作或姿势，会大大限制了我们对祷告的了解。祷告的意义实在深长得多呢！
在这个月，我们已经探讨过，祷告是关乎我们的心灵的，意思是说，祷告不是一项和所有其他事情不同的活动，它其实与我们生活上的每一个环节都息息相关，目的是让我们享受和加深我们与神的关系。
小说家Flannery O'Conner 去世多年后，一本收集了她部分的祷告的书出版了，书名是A Prayer Journal(祷告日记)；书中的祷告表达她渴慕去爱神和每时每刻都想着衪，写得非常美丽。和我们很多人一样，O'Conner 也会怪责自己忽略了祷告的，不过，就是她对自己的祷告的不满，也成为她的祷告！
每当我们思想或感受到神、并且因此受感动作出反应时，我们就是在祷告了，就如某人所说：“你常常都可以与神讲心事的。”当我们享受神的同在或渴望与衪同在时，我们就是在祷告；当经历霎时间突发的感恩、偶尔发生的代求和无声的渴求时，我们也是在祷告。不住的祷告，是那颗朝向神的心持续稳定的跳动。
主啊，感谢祢赐给我们那么多不同的祷告方式；求祢保守我们在耶稣里靠近祢。阿们。
帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:16-18
16 要常常喜乐，
17 不住地祷告，
18 凡事谢恩，因为这是神在基督耶稣里向你们所定的旨意。
Unceasing Prayer
"Pray continually. . . ." — 1 Thessalonians 5:17
How can a person "pray continually"? Is that possible?
At first we might think this command means we should be kneeling or bowing our heads and praying with our eyes closed 24/7. But thinking of prayer only in terms of certain actions or postures can really limit our understanding. Prayer is so much more!
We've been looking at prayer this month as a matter of the heart. This means prayer is not an activity that is different from all the other things we do. It's directly connected to every aspect of our lives, for the enjoyment and the deepening of our relationship with God.
Many years after the writer Flannery O'Connor died, some of her prayers were published in a book titled A Prayer Journal. Her prayers in that book beautifully express her desire to love God and to think about God all the time. Like many of us, O'Connor also chided herself for neglecting prayer. But even her frustrations with prayer were a way of praying!
Any time that we think about or are made aware of God and are moved to respond, we engage in prayer. As someone said, "You can always have a word with God." That can happen when we enjoy God's presence or when we crave it; it can happen in momentary bursts of gratitude, sporadic intercession, and silent desire. Continual prayer is the steady beat of a heart turned toward God.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us so many different ways to pray. Keep us close to you, in Jesus. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
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