Holiness or Hardness Toward God?

He . . . wondered that there was no intercessor . . . —Isaiah 59:16

The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.

Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, “But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this”? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.

Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?

Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work-work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.

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對神柔順還是剛硬？

他見無人拯救、無人代求，甚為詫異。 （賽五十九16）

不少人禱告半途而廢，對神硬心，是由於對禱告只有一種情感上的興趣。 [我們有禱告呀！ ]聽起來很不錯。讀點關於禱告的書，執拗禱告很有益，使思想安靜、靈性高升。可是，以賽亞卻暗示說，神對這種禱告的觀念大感驚奇。

敬拜與代求必須同時進行，兩者是缺一不可的。代求是我們催逼自己去體會主耶穌對所代求的人迫切的心情。但多少時候，我們不是敬拜神，而是在堆砌禱詞。我們到底在敬拜，還是與神爭論？ －－[我看不出你（神）有什麼辦法。 ]這明明就不是敬拜。一旦看不見神，我們就變得硬心主觀。我們把所求的事，仍在神寶座之前，並指明要他怎樣做。我們不是在敬拜，也沒有尋求主基督的心意。向神硬心，對人也必然沒有憐憫。

我們向神敬拜，是否提升到有主的心，使我們能為別人代求？我們是否與神活在聖潔的關係上？還是剛硬武斷？ [無人真正好好地代求。 ]那末，你就做那代求的人吧！敬拜神，活在聖潔的關係裡；投入真正的代求工作裡。要記住：代求是一種工作，是需要一切能力的工作。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，我的靈魂將安息在你這位世界的創造者，以及那位在我裡面創造生命的主耶穌基督裡。噢，求你賜下聖靈的能力，讓我更完全地敬拜你。