第一週 • 週二
晨興餧養
猶20 親愛的，你們卻要在至聖的信仰上建造自己，在聖靈裏禱告。
雅五17 以利亞是與我們性情相同的人，他懇切禱告，求不要降雨，雨就三年零六個月不降在地上。
我們常常提起以利亞的禱告〔雅五17〕。…這裏的懇切禱告，希臘原文的意思是他用禱告來禱告，或者說他在禱告裏來禱告。這是聖經裏一個很特別的說法。…這就是我們所說雙層人物的禱告。當以利亞在那裏禱告的時候，他是用一個禱告來禱告，或者說他是在一個禱告裏來禱告。換句話說，他是用聖靈在他裏面的那個禱告來禱告。因此以利亞的禱告，可以說就是神在以利亞裏面求告祂自己。慕安得烈（Andrew Murray）弟兄曾說過，一個真實的禱告，乃是住在我們裏面的基督，禱告那坐在寶座上的基督。這句話聽起來很特別，好像是基督求告基督自己，但在我們的經歷中的確是這樣。
真實的禱告，定規是叫我們這個人與神完全調和…。你禱告就是祂禱告，祂禱告也就是你禱告。祂在你裏面禱告，你就在外面禱告。祂和你裏外完全合一，並且還同時禱告。在這時候你和神二者不能分開，已經調成一個了。結果你不光是與神合作，還是和神同工，叫神的自己和祂的心意藉着你發表出來，最終叫神的旨意得着完成。這就是聖經中要有的真實禱告（李常受文集一九五九年第四冊，二九至三○頁）。
信息選讀
猶大書二十節那裏又說，要『在聖靈裏禱告』。意思就是你不能在你自己裏面禱告。換句話說，也就是要有雙層人物的禱告。還有以弗所六章十八節說，『時時在靈裏禱告。』…這裏的靈不光指着聖靈，也包括我們的靈。我們禱告的時候必須是在這樣的靈裏來禱告。
說到禱告的原則，首先我們必須看見，禱告不該是人發起的，禱告應該是神發起的。任何一個禱告，就連你我到神面前去認罪，都該是神在你我裏頭作工所作出來的。…若不是聖靈在我們裏面作工，我們就無法憑空的到神面前去認罪。…連這個認罪的禱告，發起的還不是禱告的人，乃是神的靈，其他的禱告就更不必說了。…一個彀水準的禱告，也必定是神從裏面經過的。…每一次當我們有過好的禱告，摸着神，摸着寶座的時候，我們還都覺得，我們這個人是在神裏頭走路，連我們那些禱告的話也都是在神裏頭說的。我們這個禱告的人，和我們禱告的話，都是從神裏面經過的。就是因為有這兩面的經過，所以我們在禱告的時候，常覺得神的同在比任何時候都濃厚。
很少有人會告訴你說，你必須在禱告的時候和神一同禱告。但事實上，好些禱告得好的人，都有這樣的經歷。…每一個好的禱告，都是在你裏頭的基督，禱告在寶座上的基督。
許多時候，你和弟兄姊妹一同禱告，…有的人當他禱告得非常正確的時候，你也覺得在他那些禱告的話語裏碰着了神，你也覺得他那些禱告的話就是神的出來。我們碰到這種情形就說，他的靈出來了。實在說，那就是神從他裏面出來了。因為那不光是他在禱告，也是神和他一同在禱告。神在他裏面禱告，他也在神裏面禱告。他的確能說，『我的禱告是神和我，我和神一同禱告。』…一個彀水準的禱告，不光是神從人裏面經過，人從神裏面經過，也是人和神，神和人一同禱告（李常受文集一九五九年第四冊，三○、三三至三六頁）。
參讀：禱告，第二章。
WEEK 1 — DAY 2
Morning Nourishment
Jude 20 But you, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
James 5:17 Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he earnestly prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
We often speak of Elijah’s prayer [James 5:17]…Earnestly prayed in Greek means “prayed with prayer,” or “prayed in prayer.” This is a very peculiar expression in the Bible…This is what we mean by prayer of two parties. When Elijah was praying, he was praying with, or in, a prayer. In other words, he prayed with the prayer of the Spirit within him. Thus, we can say that Elijah’s prayer was God praying to Himself in Elijah. Andrew Murray once said that a real prayer is the Christ who indwells us praying to the Christ who is sitting on the throne. That Christ would be praying to Christ Himself sounds strange, but in our experience this is really the case.
Real prayers will certainly cause our being to be wholly mingled with God…When you pray, it is He praying, and when He prays, it is also you praying. When He prays within you, you express the prayer outwardly. He and you are altogether one, inside and outside; He and you both pray at the same time. At that time you and God cannot be separated, being mingled as one. Consequently, you not only cooperate with God but also work together with God so that God Himself and His desire may be expressed through you, thus ultimately accomplishing God’s purpose. This is the real prayer that is required of us in the Bible. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” p. 23)
Todays Reading
Jude 20 says, “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” This means that you should not pray in yourself. In other words, it means that your prayer should be the expression of two parties, you and the Holy Spirit, praying as one. Ephesians 6:18 says, “By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit.”…The spirit here does not refer solely to the Holy Spirit; rather, it also includes our human spirit. When we pray, we must pray in such a mingled spirit.
Concerning the principles of prayer, we must first see that prayer should not be initiated by man but by God. Any prayer, even our confession of sins before God, should be the result of God’s working within us…Unless the Holy Spirit works within us, we can never go before God to confess our sins…In fact, every kind of prayer that we pray should be initiated by the Spirit of God. A prayer that measures up to the standard is surely one in which God passes through it…Every time we prayed an effective prayer that touched God as well as His throne, we also felt that in such prayer we were walking in God, and even the words of our prayer were spoken in God. Both we, the praying ones, and the words of our prayer passed through God. Because of these two aspects of passing through, when we pray, we often sense God’s presence more strongly than at any other time.
Very few people would tell you that when you pray, you must pray together with God. But in reality, many who pray well have this experience… A good prayer is Christ in you praying to the Christ on the throne.
When you pray with the brothers and sisters,…while someone is praying very properly, you may sense that you have touched God in the words of his prayer and that his utterances are God’s coming forth. When we meet this kind of situation, we say that his spirit has come forth. Actually, it is God coming forth from him, for it is not only he praying there but God and he praying together. God is praying in him, and he is praying in God. He really can say, “My prayer is God and I, I and God, praying together.”…A prayer that is up to the standard is not only God passing
through man and man passing through God but also man and God, God and man, praying together. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 23-28)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 2
