作者: John Samson 翻译: 骆鸿铭
祷告是一个需要谦卑、弃绝骄傲、承认需要，以及认识对基督的靠赖之地。我们必须将依靠的祷告放在所有的努力之前，因为我们常常忽视祷告，并且尝试以自己意志的力量，去完成神放在我们心中，要我们去做的事。但是，另一方面，祷告却没有行动也是愚蠢的。在任何处境下，祷告却没有行动都不是明智的。Prayer is the place
where humility is adopted, pride is abandoned, needs are admitted, and
dependence acknowledged upon Christ. We must preface all endeavors with
dependent prayer since too often we ignore prayer and seek to accomplish in the
strength of our own wills those things God has placed on our hearts to do. But,
on the other hand, prayer without action is also foolish. In most
circumstances, it is not wise to prayer and then do nothing.
让我们举农夫为例：他不是只是祷告，盼望农作物会自己长出来。不，他会开垦贫瘠的土地，播撒种子，并辛勤工作直到收成。但是他也知道，没有降雨和气候的祝福，无论他如何地努力，他也无法得到收成。因此，农夫的耕作与上帝的祝福是同时都需要的。Consider the
farmer: He does not merely pray and hope that crops will come forth. Rather, he
plows up the fallow ground, sows his seed and labors until harvest. But he also
knows that without the blessing of rain and climate, his harvest will never
come, no matter how hard he works. So both the farmers' work and God's blessing
is necessary for results.
同样地，当我们祷告时，我们不能只是坐着干等，期盼事情会发生。当我们看到神的旨意没有行在地上，我们必须同时祷告，并采取行动，改变才会发生。这个由祷告所驱动的行动是最有智慧的，也最有可能带来成功。正如耕种农作物一样，最终的结果仍要靠赖上帝对我们劳作的赐福。我们必须：1) 不可独立于上帝之外来工作；2) 不可停止手上的工作，等待奇迹发生；我们必须做工，好似结果要靠我们，与此同时，我们也安息在信心当中，相信一个荣耀的事实，即所有的事都要依靠掌权的上帝。这是圣经的模式，也是落在协同运作的教义（doctrine of
concurrence）范畴内的。Likewise when we
pray, we should not merely sit back and hope something will happen. When we see
God's will not being done on earth we must both pray and work to see change
take place. This prayer driven work is the most wise and likely to bring
success. Like the planting of crops, the results are still ultimately dependent
on God blessing the endeavor. We must 1) not work independently of God and 2)
should not put our hands to rest only trusting in a miracle but must work as if
the outcome depended on ourselves, while we rest in faith upon the glorious
fact that everything depends on the sovereign Lord. This is the biblical model
and would fall under the doctrine of concurrence.