Vital Intercession

. . . praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . . —Ephesians 6:18

As we continue on in our intercession for others, we may find that our obedience to God in interceding is going to cost those for whom we intercede more than we ever thought. The danger in this is that we begin to intercede in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting up to a totally different level in direct answer to our prayers. Whenever we step back from our close identification with God’s interest and concern for others and step into having emotional sympathy with them, the vital connection with God is gone. We have then put our sympathy and concern for them in the way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.

It is impossible for us to have living and vital intercession unless we are perfectly and completely sure of God. And the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. It is sympathy with ourselves or with others that makes us say, “I will not allow that thing to happen.” And instantly we are out of that vital connection with God.

Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own “sad and pitiful self.” You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives. God gives us discernment in the lives of others to call us to intercession for them, never so that we may find fault with them.

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有力的代求

靠著聖靈，隨時多方禱告祈求。 （弗六18）

我們代求的時候，會發覺對神的順服，與別人的得失有極大的關係，這是我們想不到的。但有一個危機，就是那些神聽了禱告而逐漸被提升到另一個不同領域裡的人，我們用人的同情心去代求。一旦我們從與神同心去關懷別人，退到用同情心去代禱，那與神息息相關的聯繫就失去了。我們把同情心摻入代禱中，便是故意頂撞神。

除非我們完全認識神，否則無法作有效的代求。我們與神的關係最大的分化力，就是個人的同情與偏見。認同是代求的鑰匙，一旦停止與神同心，就是同情心而不是罪在作祟，不一定是罪阻礙我們與神的關係，同情心也會。對自己的同情，對別人的同情，令我們說：[我不要讓這樣的事發生。 ]這樣，與神密切的關係，就立時中斷。

代求根本沒有時間，也沒有傾向於為自己的愁腸禱告。你不用排除自己的憂愁，因為根本不應該有自己的成分在裡面。你這時是與神同心，完完全全地關懷別人。神呼召我們代求，是要明辨，不是要吹毛求疵。

祈禱◆主啊，當我們開始在晨禱中[為我們的國家代求]，懇求你的靈指引我們。