“于是彼得被囚在监里；教会却为他切切地祷告神。” – 徒 12:5
当出现问题时，我倾向于即刻进入解决问题的模式。我想要找到可行的解决方案，并将方案付诸实施。
早期教会的处境很紧张，我们一直在探索其中的一些问题。今天我们看到希律王既残忍又狡猾。他给教会施加压力，杀死了使徒雅各，他喜欢这样做，以迎合那些把耶稣钉在十字架上的人。于是希律拿住彼得，也将他下在监里。希律王用了四班兵丁来看守他，这简直滑稽可笑。
你注意到教会的反应了吗？他们是不是开了个战略会议讨论怎么把彼得救出来呢？不！他们做了最自然不过的事——祷告。你是不是很喜欢这个方式？这不是一个使用“只是”这个限定词的祷告。我们祷告有时会说：“神啊，我们只是祈求……”但这些祷告的人所做的乃是热切地寻求神。
当我遇到困难的时候，我时常首先试着用自己的头脑来解决问题。祈祷作为次要的选项被边缘化了。我想知道，如果我们练习一种本领，第一反应是首先转向神祷告，那又会怎样呢？我相信这会让我们换个角度看待问题。也许我们便不会那么不知所措了。如果我们先停止去尝试解决问题，也许焦虑和担心就会减少很多吧！
祷告
神啊，愿你是我在艰难时刻的第一反应。请原谅我有些时候没有大胆地向你祈求。阿们。
使徒行传 12:1-5
1那时，希律王下手苦害教会中几个人，
2用刀杀了约翰的哥哥雅各。
3他见犹太人喜欢这事，又去捉拿彼得。那时正是除酵的日子。
4希律拿了彼得，收在监里，交付四班兵丁看守，每班四个人，意思要在逾越节后把他提出来，当着百姓办他。
5于是彼得被囚在监里，教会却为他切切地祷告神。
Don’t Fix It; Pray
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” – Acts 12:5
When there is a problem, I tend to go into fix-it mode. I want to find the solution and make it happen.
Things were intense for the church in its early days, and we’ve been exploring some of that. We have seen today that King Herod was cruel and cunning. He had put pressure on the church and had killed the apostle James, and he liked how that made him popular with the people who had gotten Jesus crucified. So Herod arrested Peter and put him in prison too. It’s almost comical that Herod used four squads of soldiers to guard him.
Did you notice the church’s response? Did they jump into a strategy meeting on how to get Peter out of prison? Nope! They did what came naturally to them—they prayed. Don’t you love that? And it’s not a prayer qualified with the word “just.” We sometimes do that when we pray, “God we just ask . . . .” But these people earnestly sought God with passion.
Sometimes when I’m having a tough moment, I try to sort things out in my own understanding. Prayer gets sidelined as an afterthought. I wonder what it would be like if we grew a response muscle that moved us to turn to God first. I’m sure it would help us see things differently. Maybe we wouldn’t be so overwhelmed. Maybe anxiety and worry would have less of a pull if we stopped trying to fix it first.
Prayer
God, may turning to you be my first response in tough times. Forgive me when I don’t boldly make my requests to you. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
