弗一9　　　　　　照着祂的喜悦，使我们知道祂意愿的奥秘；这喜悦是祂在自己里面预先定下的。

　　约壹五14~15　我们若照祂的旨意求什么，祂就听我们；这是我们向着祂所存坦然无惧的心。我们若知道祂听我们一切所求的，就知道我们所求于祂的无不得着。

　　神如果会自己打发工人，主就不必命我们去求庄稼的主打发了！如果祂的名自然会被人尊为圣，祂的国度会用不着我们的同工便降临，祂会使祂的旨意通行在地上，祂就必定不教我们这样祷告了。如果祂自己不必有祂召会的同情，便会再来，祂的灵就不必感动使徒求祂快再来了。如果父神自然会使祂的信徒合而为一，祂就不必求祂了。如果人和神的同工是不紧要的，就祂今日在天长远的祷告有什么用处呢？…与神同情的祷告是比什么都紧要的。祂只能在祂儿女与祂同情的事上作工。祂不肯在没有祷告的地方，就是没有祂子民意志与祂联合的地方作工。意志联合的祷告才是真祷告。祷告的得着应验并非祷告的最高目的。祷告乃是为着与神的旨意联合，使神有作工的可能。有时如果意志是与神联合的，就是求错了，得不着应验，但是，神却得着利益，因祂能因着我们的同情而作工。（倪柝声文集第一辑第八册，一四页。）

　　Eph. 1:9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself.

　　1 John 5:14-15 And this is the boldness which we have to ward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

　　If God will send laborers by Himself, the Lord would not have told us to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers [Matt. 9:38]! If His name will automatically be sanctified, if His kingdom will come without our cooperation, and if He will cause His will to be carried out on earth by Himself, He would not have taught us to pray this way [6:9-10]. If He will come again without the need for the sympathy of the church, His Spirit would not have inspired the apostle to ask Him to come quickly again. If God the Father will automatically cause His believers to be one, there would not have been the need for the Lord to pray such a prayer…. Praying in sympathy with God is more important than doing anything else. He can only work on matters in which His children sympathize with Him. He is not willing to work where there has been no prayer, where He does not have His people’s will in union with Him. This union of the wills is real prayer. Obtaining an answer to prayer is not the highest goal of prayer. The purpose of prayer is that we be one with God’s will so that God can work. When our will is one with God, even though we may at times ask amiss and our prayer is not answered, God still receives the benefit because He is able to work as a result of our sympathy with Him. (CWWN, vol. 8, p. 13)

　　神作工是有一定的规律的，是有一定的原则的。神虽然能随着自己的意思作，但祂并不是随便去作，祂必须按着祂所定的规律和原则去作。神是超乎一切规律和原则之上的，祂是神，祂可以随着自己的意思去作。但是，我们在圣经中看见一件非常希奇的事，就是虽然祂是大的，虽然祂是可以随着自己的意思作事的，但是祂竟然循着规律而行，祂竟然把自己好像也放在规律之下，受规律的支配。

　　那么，神作工的原则是什么呢？神作工有一个主要的原则，就是要人祷告，要人在祷告上与祂合作。…从前有一个很会祷告的基督徒，他说，所有属灵的工作都有四个步骤：第一步是神起意，这就是神的旨意。第二步是神把这个旨意借着圣灵启示给祂的儿女，叫他们懂得神有一个旨意，神有一个打算，神有一个要求和盼望。第三步就是神的儿女把神的旨意回头祷告给神听。祷告就是响应神的旨意。如果我们的心与神的心完全是相合的，自然就会说出神所愿意作的事来。结果，第四步，神就必定去作成功那件事。

　　在这里，我们不是要看第一如何，也不是要看第二如何，我们所要注意的是第三—我们怎样把神的旨意回头祷告神。请注意‘回头’这两个字。一切有价值的祷告都是回头的。如果我们的祷告只是为要成功我们所打算、所盼望的，这在属灵的世界中是没有多大价值的。必须是从神起头，我们响应，这才是有价值的祷告。神的工作是被这样的祷告所支配的。多少事，神愿意作，但是因为神的子民不祷告的缘故，祂宁可不作。神必须等人同意以后祂才去作，这是神作工的一个大原则，是圣经中最要紧的原则之一。（倪柝声文集第二辑第十八册，一四至一五页。）

　　参读：倪柝声文集第二辑第二十四册，第八十七篇。

　　God works according to certain laws and principles. Although He can act as He pleases, He does not act recklessly; He acts according to His preordained laws and principles. God is above all laws and principles; He is God, and He can act as He pleases. Yet we see a wonderful thing in the Bible. Although He is so great and can act as He pleases, He acts according to laws, and it seems as if He has voluntarily placed Himself under law and is willing to be governed by law. What are the principles of God’s work? One main principle of God’s work is the need for man’s prayer. He wants man to cooperate with Him in prayer.

　　There was once a Christian who was very experienced in prayer. He said that all spiritual work consists of four steps. In the first step, God intends to do something; there is God’s will. In the second step, He reveals this will to His children through the Spirit so that they know His will, His plan, His desire, and His aspiration. In the third step, God’s children return His will back to Him through prayer. Prayer is the echoing of God’s will. If our heart is in tune with God’s heart, spontaneously we will speak forth God’s will. As a result God will accomplish His work in the fourth step.

　　We will not look at the first and second steps now. We will pay attention to the third step, which is returning God’s will back to God. Please pay attention to the word return. All worthwhile prayers are a kind of returning. If our prayer is only for the fulfillment of our plans and wishes, it will not have any value in the spiritual realm. Only the prayers that are initiated by God and that echo what He has initiated have any worth. God’s work is governed by prayers. God is willing to do many things, but He will not do them when His people do not pray. He must wait for man to agree with Him before He will do them. This is a great principle of God’s work, and it is also one of the most crucial principles in the Bible. (CWWN, vol. 38, pp. 281-282)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 44, ch. 87