诗二七8　　你说，你们当寻求我的面；那时我的心向你说，耶和华啊，你的面我正要寻求。

　　约十五7　　你们若住在我里面，我的话也住在你们里面，凡你们所愿意的，祈求就给你们成就。

　　祷告的意义，第一是吸取神，第二是发表神；这二者是相联的。发表神，意思就是让神说话，让神发表出来。祷告并不是我们说话，发表我们自己，乃是让神说话，发表祂自己。

　　新约中有一个马大，非常多言多语。…当马大的兄弟拉撒路死了之后，主到了马大那里。马大没有让主先说话，她一看见主，开头一句话就说，“主啊，你若早在这里，我兄弟就不会死。”（约十一21。）主对她说，“我是复活，我是生命；信入我的人，虽然死了，也必复活；…你信这话吗？”（25~26。）马大回答说，“主啊，是的；我信你是基督，是神的儿子。”（27。）她对主所说的，和主向她所启示的，根本不合。她一直说话，因此主的话说不到她里面。…真正的祷告乃是人到神面前，不自己说话，而让神说话；不发表自己，而让神发表。然而许多时候，我们在祷告中就像马大，只顾发表自己，而没有让神发表。（祷告的意义与目的，一二至一三页。）

　　Psa. 27:8 When You say, Seek My face, to You my heart says, Your face, O Jehovah, will I seek.

　　John 15:7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

　　The first meaning of prayer is to absorb God, and the second meaning is to express God. These meanings are related. To express God means to let Him speak, that is, to let God be expressed. Prayer is not our speaking or expressing ourselves. Prayer is our letting God speak and express Himself.

　　In the New Testament Martha had much to say. When Martha’s brother, Lazarus, died and the Lord came, Martha did not let the Lord speak first. As soon as she saw the Lord, she said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). The Lord said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live…. Do you believe this?” (vv. 25-26). Martha replied, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God” (v. 27). What Martha said did not correspond with what the Lord revealed to her. Because she kept speaking, the Lord’s words could not get into her…. Real prayer is our coming to God and letting God speak and express Himself instead of speaking our own words and expressing ourselves. We are often like Martha in our prayer. Our only care is to express ourselves, not to let God express Himself. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” pp. 227-228)

　　这并不是说，祷告都不要讲话。祷告也会讲话，问题是讲什么话。在祷告里，应当讲神在我们里面讲的话。神在我们里面讲话了，我们把祂在里面讲的，再对祂讲。…诗篇二十七篇八节所说的就是这原则。…这就是根据神在里面说话而有的祷告。所以祷告时，外面的话，乃是发表里面的话。外面是人说话，里面是神说话。神在里面说了，人才在外面说。祷告不是你说话求什么，乃是你发表神在你里面所说的；所以，你的祷告就成了神的发表。这才是真正的祷告。

　　我们可能有这样的经历，当我们听见召会需要为某次特别聚会祷告，或为召会的复兴而祷告，正当我们跪下来要开始祷告时，觉得里面有从主来的话，把我们里面的光景，以及我们在主面前的情形，都说了出来。这时候，我们就该停止所有想要祷告的项目，不要顾召会复兴，也不要管特别聚会或其他的事，只该跟着里面的感觉，说出里面主对我们说的话。我们里面若感觉主责备说，“你这个人满了血气。”我们就应该说，“主啊，我是一个满了血气的人。”又感觉到主说，“你这个人全是自己。”我们立刻就该说，“主啊，我是一个满了自己的人。”…诗篇二十七篇四节，大卫说要瞻仰神的荣美，“在祂的殿里求问。”大卫不是说“求告”，也不是说“求讨”，乃是说“求问”。求问，就是来问神。

　　总之，祷告的意义就是吸取神并发表神。每一次的祷告都该碰着神，都该让神经过而得着发表。我们这样祷告，结果里面就能给神一再涂抹，而得与神更多调和。这时我们就会知道，神是我们的一切；我们也必看见，神无时无刻不与我们同在，并且在我们每一点的需要上，祂都作了我们的供应。

　　（约翰十五章七节）给我们看见三个非常重要的点。第一，我们要住在主里面。住在主里面，就与主有交通；与主交通，就是住在主里面。第二，主的话住在我们里面。因着我们住在主里面，与主有不断的交通，主就在我们里面对我们说话。第三，我们向着主有出乎心愿的祈求。这种祈求或祷告，乃是从主在我们里面说话而来的。如果我们是一个与主有交通的人，主就在我们里面向我们说话；主说了话，我们就有话向主祈求，向主祷告。（祷告的意义与目的，一三至一六页。）

　　参读：以弗所书生命读经，第九十五篇；来到施恩的宝座前（小册）。

　　We should speak when we pray; however, the question is, What do we say? In our prayer we should say what God is saying within us. God speaks within us, and to pray is to repeat what He has spoken back to Him. This is the principle of Psalm 27:8…. Such prayer is according to God’s speaking within us. Therefore, the words we utter in prayer are an expression of the speaking within us. Without is man’s speaking, but within is God’s speaking. Once God speaks within, we speak without. Prayer is not our asking for something through speaking; it is our expressing what God has spoken within us. Hence, our prayer becomes God’s expression. This is real prayer.

　　For example, we hear that the church needs to pray for a certain special meeting or for the revival of the church. Just as we begin to pray, we sense a word from the Lord telling us something concerning our inner condition and our situation. We should stop praying and forget about the revival of the church or the special meeting and follow the inner sense; we should speak the words that the Lord has spoken. If we sense the Lord’s rebuke, saying, “You are full of the flesh,” we should say, “Lord, I am full of the flesh.” If we sense that the Lord is saying, “You are full of the self,” we should immediately say, “Lord, I am full of the self.” In Psalm 27:4 David said that he desired to behold the beauty of Jehovah and “inquire in His temple.” David did not say “cry out” or “beseech” but “inquire.” To inquire is to ask God.

　　To pray means to absorb God and to express Him. Every prayer should touch God and let Him pass through us and be expressed. When we pray in this way, we will be anointed by God and be mingled more with Him. Then we will know that God is our everything. We will also see that He is always with us and is our supply in every need.

　　John 15:7…presents three crucial points. First, we must abide in the Lord. To abide in the Lord is to have fellowship with the Lord. Second, the Lord’s words must abide in us. When we abide in the Lord and are in constant fellowship with Him, He speaks within us. Third, we ask the Lord according to our heart’s desire. Such asking, or praying, comes from the Lord’s speaking within us. If we are in fellowship with the Lord, He will speak within us. When the Lord speaks, we have the words with which to ask Him, that is, to pray to Him. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” pp. 228-231)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 95; Come Forward to the Throne of Grace (booklet)