The Purpose of Prayer

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

“Ask, and you will receive . . .” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

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禱告何益？

救主教導我們禱告。 （路十一1）

祈禱在人的生命中並無地位。我們常聽到這樣的說法：一個人若不禱告，他的生命就會受虧損。這個我不同意。受虧損的是在他裡面神兒子的生命，那生命不是靠食物養活，而是靠禱告養活的。人重生以後，神兒子的生命就住在他裡面；他可以養育這生命，也可以叫它餓壞。禱告是屬神生命得滋養得方法。我們一般對禱告的看法，並不是新約聖經的看法。我們往往視禱告為從神求討東西的途徑。但聖經中的禱告，是叫我們得以認識神自己。

[凡祈求的，就得著。 ]我們在神面前埋怨，或與他辯論，或對他冷漠，卻甚少求什麼。試看有小孩子樣式的兒女那種坦率大膽，是多麼可愛！我們的主說：[你們若不迴轉，變成小孩子的樣式－－]求吧。神必然成就。給主耶穌一個機會，讓他可以自由行事。人非到了盡頭，不會這樣作。

當人到了盡頭去祈求，並不是懦弱，因為這是唯一通往現實的方法。在神面前，只管按你的本相，擺出你那來到盡頭的問題。每當你自滿自足，就不會來求神。與其說[到改改變萬事]，不弱說禱告改變我，然後我改變萬事。神的行事方法，就是藉基於救贖的禱告，改變一個人對事物的看法。禱告不是改變外在事態，乃是在人的本性上行奇事。

祈禱◆[主－－我們的神。全能者作王了。 ]主啊，這句話是何等偉大和令人振奮。願我因著知道你作王，而充滿了寧謐的平安。