0806 禱告中的十字架
到那日，你們要奉我的名祈求…《約翰福音 16:26》
我們太常認為基督的十字架是我們必須經歷之事，但我們經歷的目的是為了進入它。十字架對我們來說只代表一件事：與主耶穌基督完全、整個、絕對的認同。對我們來說，再沒有什麼比在禱告中更真實實現這種認同了。
「…你們所需用的，你們的父早已知道了。」（馬太福音 6:8）。那我們為什麼還要祈求呢？禱告的要點不是要從神那裡得到答案，而是要與祂有完全和徹底的合一。如果我們只是因為想要得到答案才禱告，我們就會對神感到煩躁不耐煩和憤怒。每次我們的禱告都會得到答案，但它並不總是以我們期望的方式出現，我們靈里的煩躁表明我們拒絕在禱告中真正與我們的主認同。我們這在里不是為了證明神回答了禱告，而是要成為神恩典的活生生戰利品。
「…我並不對你們說，我要為你們求父。父自己愛你們…」（約翰福音 16:26-27）。你與神是否已達到如此親密的程度，以至於唯一可以解釋你的禱告生活的理由，是它已經與耶穌基督的禱告生活合而為一？我們的主是否用祂的生命交換了你的生命？如果是，那麼「到那日」你將與耶穌緊密地認同，以至於不再有任何區別。
當禱告似乎沒有得到回應時，小心不要試圖將責任歸咎於別人。這總是是撒旦的陷阱。當你似乎沒有得到答案時，總是有原因的——神利用這些時候來給你深刻的個人指導，而且這不是為了任何人，只單單為你。
來自章伯斯的智慧
隨着年齡的增長，我是否變得更高尚、更好、更有幫助、更謙卑呢？我是否展現出讓人認識到與耶穌同在的生命？或者我是否變得更加自我主張，更加有意地堅持自己的方式？對自己說真話是一件很偉大的事情。《幫助之地》
0806 The Cross in Prayer
In that day you will ask in My name… —John 16:26
We too often think of the Cross of Christ as something we have to get through, yet we get through for the purpose of getting into it. The Cross represents only one thing for us— complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.
“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should we ask? The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God. We receive an answer every time we pray, but it does not always come in the way we expect, and our spiritual irritation shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace.
“…I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you…” (John 16:26-27). Have you reached such a level of intimacy with God that the only thing that can account for your prayer life is that it has become one with the prayer life of Jesus Christ? Has our Lord exchanged your life with His vital life? If so, then “in that day” you will be so closely identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to place the blame on someone else. That is always a trap of Satan. When you seem to have no answer, there is always a reason— God uses these times to give you deep personal instruction, and it is not for anyone else but you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. The Place of Help, 1005 R