王上八48　 他们……向着自己的地，就是你赐给他们列祖之地，和你所选择的城，并我为你名所建造的殿，向你祷告。

　　约十四13~14 你们在我的名里无论求什么，我必作成，叫父在子身上得荣耀。你们若在我的名里求我什么，我必作成。

　　从圣经里我们能够看见什么是祷告，祷告乃是：第一，神有一个需要，神有一个目的；第二，神借着圣灵，将这心意放在人的心里，要人也觉得这需要；第三，人将这心意借着祷告送到神那里；第四，神就作工，成全这心意。这就是祷告。

　　所有正式的祷告，都是从神的心里起头的，……也都是表明神的心意的。祷告乃是说，神心里有一个愿望要达到，但祂不直接去作，祂要地上有人与祂合作，于是祂让人知道祂的心意，并且要人为祂的心意祷告，然后祂才成功祂的心意（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十四册，七至八页）。

　　1 Kings 8:48 ...And they pray to You toward their land that You have given to their fathers, the city that You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name.

　　John 14:13-14 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

　　The Bible shows us what prayer is. First, God has a need; He has a purpose. Second, He puts this purpose within man through the Holy Spirit so that man feels this need as well. Third, man responds by uttering this purpose back to God through prayer. Fourth, God does His work and accomplishes this purpose. This is the meaning of prayer.

　　All proper prayers issue from God’s heart and express God’s desire. Prayer implies that God has a desire. He wants to fulfill such a desire, yet He does not want to do it directly; He wants man to cooperate with Him on earth. For this reason He unveils His desire to man and charges man to pray. Only after man prays will He fulfill His desire. (CWWN, vol. 44, pp. 735-736)

　　〔在王上八章四十六至五十三节，所罗门〕为着神的民将来的被掳祷告。……他祷告在神的民被掳时，耶和华垂听祂民的祷告，为他们施行公理，只要他们肯全心全魂归向神，又向着神赐给……之地，和神……的城，并……神……的殿祷告。……关于神垂听祂选民〔的〕祷告，……〔四十八节〕强调三件事：圣地，预表基督是神分给信徒的分（西一12）；圣城，表征在基督里神的国；圣殿，表征神在地上的家，召会。这三件事—圣地、圣城和圣殿，是关乎神经纶的三件紧要的事。在被掳到巴比伦期间，但以理把窗户开向耶路撒冷，一日三次，向着圣地、圣城与圣殿祷告（但六10）。这指明我们向神的祷告，必须是向着神永远经纶里的目标，就是基督、神的国、与神的家，这样神必垂听我们的祷告。

　　圣地、圣城和圣殿，都是基督的预表。基督是我们美地；基督是我们的城，我们的国；基督也是殿，神的居所。今天，我们的祷告该对准圣地、圣城和圣殿。这意思是说，我们的祷告该对准神的权益，就是对准基督与召会—神在地上的权益。……神权益的属灵意义，就是基督自己。这指明不论我们为谁祷告，我们的祷告必须对准基督，就是神的权益。我们需要为圣徒祷告，但我们的祷告不该对准他们。一面我们为他们祷告，另一面我们是因着神的权益为他们祷告。倘若我们的祷告只对准我们所代祷的人，这会带进仇敌的攻击。这是属灵争战中的属灵战略。

　　我们需要记得，祷告与三方有关：我们、神和撒但。有时我们为某人祷告，撒但就来攻击他，使他的情形变得更糟。这原因乃是我们的权益是在于那人，不在于神的经纶。不论我们为谁祷告，我们的祷告都该对准神的基督，就是神在祂经纶中的权益。

　　我们要正确地祷告，就必须在主耶稣的名里向神祷告（约十六24），对准神为着祂经纶的权益。我说“在主耶稣的名里”这辞，意思不是指任何传统形式的祷告。在耶稣的名里祷告，就是为着神在地上的权益祷告；神在地上的权益，就是基督作神给我们的分，作神的国，并作神的居所。我们的祷告该全然为着神的权益，以完成神的经纶（列王纪生命读经，四六至四八页）。

　　参读：列王纪生命读经，第六篇。

　　[In 1 Kings 8:46-53 Solomon] prayed that in the [future] captivity of His people Jehovah would hear His people’s prayer and maintain their cause when they would return to Him with all their heart and with all their soul and pray to Him toward the land, …toward the city, ...and toward the house. Concerning God’s listening to the prayers of His elect, three things are stressed [in] verse 48: the Holy Land, typifying Christ as God’s allotted portion to the believers (Col. 1:12); the holy city, signifying the kingdom of God in Christ; and the holy temple, signifying God’s house, the church, on the earth. These three things—the holy land, the holy city, and the holy temple—are the three crucial things regarding God’s economy. During the Babylonian captivity Daniel prayed for the holy land, the holy city, and the holy temple three times a day by opening his window toward Jerusalem (Dan. 6:10). This indicates that God will listen to our prayer in the way that our prayer to God must be toward Christ, the kingdom of God, and the house of God as the goal in God’s eternal economy.

　　The holy land, the holy city, and the holy temple are all types of Christ. Christ is our good land; Christ is our city, our kingdom; and Christ is the temple, God’s dwelling place. Today, our prayers should be aimed at the holy land, the holy city, and the holy temple. This means that our prayers should be aimed at the interest of God, that is, at Christ and the church as God’s interest on earth. The spiritual significance of God’s interest is Christ Himself. This indicates that no matter for whom we are praying, our prayer must be aimed at Christ as God’s interest. We need to pray for the saints, but we should not aim our prayers at them. On the one hand we pray for them, but on the other hand we pray for them because of God’s interest. If in our prayer we aim at the one for whom we pray, this will bring in the enemy’s attack. This is a spiritual strategy in the spiritual warfare.

　　We need to remember that prayer involves three parties: us, God, and Satan. Sometimes when we pray for a certain person, Satan comes to attack him, and his situation becomes worse. The reason for this is that our interest is in that person, not in God’s economy. No matter for whom we are praying, we should aim our prayer at God’s Christ, who is God’s interest in His economy.

　　To pray properly, we must pray to God in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 16:24), aiming at God’s interest for His economy. By the expression in the name of the Lord Jesus I do not mean any traditional form of prayer. To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray for the interest of God on earth, which is Christ as God’s portion to us, as God’s kingdom, and as God’s dwelling place. Our prayer should be altogether for God’s interest to fulfill God’s economy. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, pp. 38-40)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, msg. 6