9Marks Journal: The Church Praying (46-47期：教會中的禱告)

Abraham prayed. Moses prayed. David prayed. The prophets prayed. The apostles prayed. Jesus himself prayed. But do our churches pray when they gather together? My own experience suggests, not much. There might be a few cursory upward glances through the course of a church service. But there are almost no studied, careful, extended times of prayer—little to no adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or supplication. And that lack of praying, when you think about it, is embarrassing. Do we actually think we can change the leopard spots, or bring the dead to life? Anything a church does that will be eternally worthwhile must be done by the Lord, which is to say, through prayer. Our primary hope for this Journal is that it would both encourage churches to pray more together and offer a few pointers on how.

亞伯拉罕禱告過。摩西禱告過。大衛禱告過。眾先知禱告過。使徒也禱告過。甚至耶穌自己也禱告。

但是當今教會聚集時禱告了嗎？

我自己的經歷得出的結論是：不多。也許在教會崇拜環節中，禱告只是匆匆一環。但是卻缺乏慎重的、仔細的、充分時間的禱告，也沒有讚美、認罪、感恩和祈求。而這樣禱告的缺乏是令人難堪的。我們真的認爲我們可以改變種族隔離政策，或者讓死人復生嗎？教會所作的任何具有永恆價值的事，一定是由神親自做工成就，同時也是透過禱告。

本期期刊最大的盼望是鼓勵教會聚集時更多禱告，並且提供實踐的指引。可以從Ryan Fullerton和Megan Hill的文章開始。他們的文章會激勵你讀本期其餘的文章。