0824 灵性探索
你们中间，谁有儿子求饼，反给他石头呢？ 《马太福音 7:9》
我们的主在这里用来说明祷告的例子是其中一个好孩子在求一些好的东西。我们谈论祷告，好像无论我们与神的关系如何，祂都会垂听我们的祷告（见马太福音 5:45）。永远不要说神的旨意不给你你所求的东西。不要灰心放弃，而是找出你没有得到的原因；要增加探索的强度和查验证据。你与配偶、孩子和同学的关系正确吗？在这些关系中，你是一个「好孩子」吗？你是否需要对主说：「我一直很暴躁易怒，但我还是想得到属灵的祝福？」你无法得到祝福，也必须没有它们，除非你有「好孩子」的态度。
我们将反抗误认为是奉献，与神争论而非降服。我们拒绝查看那些清楚表明我们错误的证据。我是否一直求神给我钱去买我想要的某物，却拒绝偿还我欠某人的钱？我是否一直向神求自由，然而却不给某个属于我的人的自由权？我是否拒绝原谅某人，并对那个人不友善？我是否一直像神的孩子般活在亲戚和朋友面前？（参见马太福音7:12）
我只有通过重生，才能成为神的孩子，而作为祂的儿女，只有当我「行在光明中」，我才是良善的（约翰一书 1:7）。对于我们大多数人来说，祷告只是某种琐碎的宗教表达，是与神的神秘与情感的相交，我们都擅长制造灵雾遮盖我们的视觉。但如果我们寻找并查验证据，我们就会非常清楚地看到哪里出了问题——一段友谊、一笔未偿还的债或一种不正确的态度。除非我们以神的儿女身份生活，生活若不像神的儿女，否则祷告是没有意义的。然后耶稣谈到关于祂的孩子们时说：「凡祈求的，就得着…」（马太福音 7:8）。
来自章伯斯的智慧
亚伯拉罕的一生是两件事的例证：毫无保留地降服于神，以及神为了祂自己至高目的而完全拥有祂的孩子。《不知往何处去》
0824 The Spiritual Search
What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9
The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).
I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. –Not Knowing Whither