查驗加爾文的禱告規則（一）Examining Calvin’s Rules of Prayer (Part 1)
[每日靈修] 1/2/2018, 駱鴻銘編譯
對約翰•加爾文來說，禱告就像是上帝賜給祂子民的無價之寶。
加爾文的第一條祈禱規則是：務要充分認識我們禱告的對象。祈禱的關鍵是敬畏和愛慕的心態：「正確禱告的第一條規則是：讓我們的心靈和思想的骨架有那些與上帝交談的人的樣式。」
加爾文寫道，我們在禱告時很容易走神。我們會變得不專心，好像我們正在和一個很容易令我們感到厭煩的人交談。這是羞辱上帝的榮耀：「那麼，讓我們明白，除了那些深受上帝的威嚴所感動，以至於他們在禱告中不再有任何屬世的煩惱和情感的人以外，沒有人能算是為禱告做好了準備。」
加爾文的第二條禱告規則是：我們只祈求上帝所允許的事。如果我們為我們的罪惡慾望而懇求祂的祝福，禱告就變成了一種褻瀆的行為：「我最近觀察到，在禱告中的人，比起他們在同等地位的人當中講一些笑話，更會輕易放行一些不正當的慾望。」
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
你個人的禱告生活如何符合這兩條規則？你的心靈和思想是否有那些與上帝交談的人的樣式？你只祈求上帝允許的事嗎？
進一步研讀：
詩一〇九4 他們與我為敵以報我愛，但我專心祈禱。
林前七5 夫妻不可彼此虧負，除非兩相情願，暫時分房，為要專心禱告方可；以後仍要同房，免得撒但趁著你們情不自禁，引誘你們。
弗六18 靠著聖靈，隨時多方禱告祈求；並要在此警醒不倦，為眾聖徒祈求。
Examining
Calvin’s Rules of Prayer (Part 1)
For
John Calvin, prayer was like a priceless treasure that God has offered to His
people.
Calvin’s
first rule of prayer was to enter into it with a full awareness of the One to
whom we are speaking. The key to prayer is a spirit of reverence and adoration:
“Let the first rule of right prayer be, to have our heart and mind framed as
becomes those who are entering into converse with God.”
Calvin
wrote of how easy it is for our minds to wander in prayer. We become
inattentive, as if we were speaking to someone with whom we are easily bored.
This insults the glory of God: “Let us know, then, that none duly prepare
themselves [sic] for prayer but those who are so impressed with the majesty of
God that they engage in it free from all earthly cares and affections.”
Calvin’s
second rule of prayer was that we ask only for those things that God permits.
Prayer can be an exercise in blasphemy if we entreat His blessing for our
sinful desires: “I lately observed, men in prayer give greater license to their
unlawful desires than if they were telling jocular tales among their equals.”
Coram
Deo
How
does your personal prayer life line up with these two rules? Is your heart and
mind framed as becomes those who are entering into conversation with God? Do
you ask only for those things God permits?
Passages
for Further Study
Psalm
109:4
1
Corinthians 7:5
Ephesians
6:18