太六9~10　　…你们要这样祷告：我们在诸天之上的父，愿你的名被尊为圣，愿你的国来临，愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。

　　犹20　　亲爱的，你们却要在至圣的信仰上建造自己，在圣灵里祷告。

　　弗六17~18　　…借着各样的祷告和祈求，…时时在灵里祷告，并尽力坚持，在这事上儆醒，且为众圣徒祈求。

　　祷告的意义是什么？许多人一听见祷告这一个辞，马上就领会说，祷告就是人来求告神，祷告就是因为人这里有了缺乏，需要物质的供应；或者有了疾病，需要医治；或者有了其他的难处，需要解决，所以就到神面前去求告，求神供应，求神医治，求神解决。人以为说，这些就叫作祷告。…这个定义虽然不敢说错，但是太浅显，不够深刻，也不够准确。

　　祷告不光是人来接触神，祷告乃是人和神彼此的接触。神、人接触的这一件事是圣经里一个太大的题目。…人活着乃是为着作神的器皿。在宇宙中，神是人的内容，人是神的器皿。若是没有人，神就没有地方安放祂自己，神就是一位无家可归的神。我不懂得为什么这样，我只知道事实是这样。在宇宙中神最需要的就是人。就着神自己来说，祂本身是完全的；但是就着神在宇宙里的故事来说，祂自己还需要人来配合（祷告，七至九页）。

　　Matt. 6:9-10 …Pray in this way: Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

　　Jude 20 But you, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

　　Eph. 6:18 By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition…

　　What is the meaning of prayer? Many people, upon hearing the term prayer, immediately think that it means man coming before God to make supplication. Because man is in want and needs material supply, or is sick and needs healing, or has other problems and needs some solution, he goes before God, asking Him to supply his needs, heal his sickness, and solve his problems. Men consider these as prayers… We dare not say that such a definition is wrong, but it is too superficial and lacks both depth and accuracy.

　　Prayer is not just man contacting God; it is the mutual contact between man and God. This matter of the contact between God and man is a very great subject in the Bible… The purpose of man’s living is to be God’s vessel. In the universe God is man’s content, and man is God’s container. Without man, God has no place to put Himself—He becomes a homeless God. I do not understand why this is so, but I know that it is a fact. In the universe God’s greatest need is man. God as an entity in Himself is complete, but as far as His operation in the universe is concerned, He still needs man to fulfill that operation. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 17-18)

　　神…在人的深处给人造一个灵…，就是要叫人能接受祂这位是灵的神。这正如神要人接受食物，就给人造一个胃一样。请你想想看，假使神不给人造一个胃，我们怎样能接受食物呢？食物所以能接受到我们里面，给我们享受，并且消化作我们的成分，就是因为我们有一个胃。同样，…我们里头有了一个灵，所以就能把神接受到我们里面，吸取神作我们的成分。

　　创世记头两章里面，神创造人，要人作祂的器皿，就是作了这两步的准备。一步是叫人像祂，一步是叫人里头有一个灵来接受祂。等这两步都准备好了，祂就把自己以一棵生命树的方式摆在人的跟前，好叫人接受祂，得着祂作生命。弟兄姊妹，就在这里需要一个神、人接触的故事。神、人一接触，神就进到人里面作人的内容，人也就作了祂的一个器皿，在外面彰显祂，神永远的心意在人身上就达到了。

　　请大家记得，真实的祷告，就是神人二者互相的接触。祷告不光是人来接触神，也是神来接触人。任何一个祷告，若没有人碰着神，和神接触，也没有神碰着人，和人接触，这一个祷告就不是一个够得上水平的祷告。每一个够得上水平的祷告，定规是神人二者交流，互相接触的祷告。神和人就如同电流一样，是彼此交流的。你很难说祷告是单方面的神在人里面，或者是单方面的人在神里面。按着事实和经历说，祷告就是神人交流。一个真实够得上水平的祷告，定规会有一种光景，神人二者互相交流，叫人触着神，也叫神触着人；叫人和神有联结，叫神也和人有联结。所以祷告最高、最准确的一个定义，就是神人互相接触（祷告，一○至一一页）。

　　参读：祷告，第一篇。

　　God create[d] a spirit for man in the depths of his being… because God wants man to receive Him, who is Spirit. In the same way, He created a stomach for man because He wants man to take in food. Consider this: suppose God did not create a stomach for man—how could we take in food? Because we have a stomach, we can receive food into us, enjoy it, digest it, and assimilate it into our being, making it our constituent. In the same manner, since we have a spirit within us, we can receive God into us and assimilate Him, making Him our very constituent.

　　In the first two chapters of Genesis, when God created man to be His vessel, He made these two steps of preparation: one step was to create man to be like Him, and the other was to put a spirit within man so that man might receive Him. After He had made these two preparations, He placed Himself before man in the form of the tree of life in order that man might receive Him and obtain Him as life. Brothers and sisters, it is in man’s spirit that the contact between God and man is made. Once there is such a contact between God and man, God enters into man to be his content, and man becomes God’s vessel to express Him outwardly. Thus, God’s eternal intention is fulfilled in man.

　　Please remember, real prayer is the mutual contact between God and man. Prayer is not just man contacting God but also God contacting man. If in prayer man does not touch or contact God, and God does not touch or contact man, that prayer is below the proper standard. Every prayer that is up to the standard is one which is a mutual flow and contact between God and man. God and man are just like electric currents flowing into one another. It is hard to say that prayer is solely God in man or solely man in God. According to the fact and experience, prayer is the flowing between God and man. Every prayer that is truly up to the standard surely will have a condition of mutual flowing between God and man so that man may actually touch God and God may actually touch man; thus, man is united with God, and God with man. Therefore, the highest and most accurate meaning of prayer is that it is the mutual contact between God and man. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 19-20)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 1