祷告与行动Prayerand Action
作者：John Hendryx 译者：诚之
祷告是一个需要谦卑、弃绝骄傲、承认需要，并承认倚靠基督的境地。我们必须将依靠的祷告放在所有的努力之前，因我们常常忽视祷告，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，祷告却没有行动都算是愚昧。
让我们举农夫为例：他不是只作祷告，然后盼望农作物会自己生长出来。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，没有上帝降雨和气候的祝福，无论他如何努力，他也无法获得收成。因此，农夫的耕作与上帝的祝福对于收成来说，是同时必要的。
同样，当我们祷告时，我们不能只是坐著干等，期盼事情自动发生。当我们看到上帝的旨意没有行在地上时，我们必须祷告，并同时采取行动，改变才会发生。这个由祷告所激发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，最终的结果仍要依赖上帝对我们劳作的赐福。我们必须：1) 不可独立在上帝之外去工作；2) 不可停止手上的工作，等待奇迹发生；我们必须做工，有如结果要靠我们；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主权的上帝。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。
Prayer
and Action
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. 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. 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. Lke 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
soveriegn Lord. This is the biblical model and would fall under the doctrine of
concurrence.
