Know Him better
In a study on prayer several years ago, 1,137 people were surveyed by LifeWay Christian Resources in the U.S. Close to half (48%) pray at least once a day. 74% prayed for their own problems or difficulties, 82% prayed for their family or friends, 38% prayed for people suffering from natural disasters. Interestingly, 21% prayed for winning the lottery, close to 10% prayed for finding a good parking spot or not getting caught speeding.
Undoubtedly, it’s very common to pray for our own needs and for people and events around us. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus also taught us to pray for our “daily bread” and “deliver us from evil”, etc. (Mt 6:11-13). In 1Timothy chapter 2, Paul urged Christians to pray for peace, the government and the world.
What do we often pray for? Are our prayers a shopping list of requests for God to do something for us? Or for our family and friends? Basically, it’s asking God to fix what we could not properly do. The problem is that these types of prayers often make us focus on whether our prayers are answered, or the outcome of our prayers. But what other focus or aspects should our prayers have?
Paul prayed for the church in Ephesians in Eph1:15-23. After giving thanks for the church, the focus of his prayer in v.17-19 was for them to “know God.” When we reference Ephesians chapters 1 & 3 and Philippians chapter 1, we find that Paul habitually prayed for the Christians’ spiritual life and their relationship with the Lord. What can we learn from this?
The “know” that Paul meant is not just head knowledge, but a deep and thorough understanding of God. Obviously, Paul finds it important for us, through prayer, to really know God, and to establish a two-way relationship with Him. Brothers and sisters, do we pray for knowing God? And in our prayer for others, do we pray that they too can know God in a deeper way?
Let us learn from Paul’s prayer together, to “keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better (Eph 1:17).
「真知道祂」
根據美國LifeWay基督教資源事工，數年前有關祈禱的調查發現，受訪的1,137人有接近一半 (48%)，每天至少祈禱一次。在所有受訪者中，74%的人為自己的需要及困難祈禱，82%的人為朋友和家人祈禱，38%為那些遭受天災人禍的人而祈禱。有趣的是，竟然也有21%為能夠中彩票而祈禱，更有近10%的人為找到泊車位、超速駕駛而不需受罰等祈禱。
無疑，為我們自身的需要，以及週遭的人和事祈禱，是很正常的事。耶穌在主禱文中，也教導我們為「日用的飲食」、「脫離兇惡」等祈禱 (太6:11-13)。在提摩太前書二章中，保羅促請受信者為平安、政府和世界的需要祈禱。
我們一般又會為甚麼事情祈禱呢？我們禱告的内容，會否像一張購物清單般 — 求神為我們做這事？求神為我的家人、朋友做那事？總之，就是求神幫自己辦妥未能完成的事情。問題是，這樣的祈禱，很容易使我們著重於祈禱是否蒙應允，又或者會很在意祈禱的結果。其實，祈禱的焦點及方向還有甚麼呢？
以弗所書1:15-23記載了保羅為以弗所教會的禱告。除了為信徒感恩外，他在17-19節中祈禱的重點，都是讓人「知道祂」。當我們參考以弗所書第一和第三章，並腓立比書第一章後，我們可以看出保羅習慣上，都會為信徒的靈命和與主的關係而禱告。這對我們的祈禱有甚麼啟迪嗎？
保羅提及的「知道」，不單止是頭腦上的知識，而是對神有透澈深入的認識。明顯，保羅所看重的，是我們藉著祈禱，去真正認識神，並與祂建立相互交往的關係。弟兄姊妹，我們的祈禱内容，是否有認識神的元素呢？我們為別人的代禱，又有否為著他們能更深地認識神而祈禱？
讓我們一同學習保羅的祈禱，「求我們主耶穌基督的神，榮耀的父，將那賜人智慧和啟示的靈賞給你們，使你們真知道他。」(弗1:17)
