第二週．週一

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晨興餧養

太十四２３『既解散了群眾，祂就獨自上山去禱告。到了晚上，只有祂單獨在那裏。』

路六１２『那些日子，耶穌出去上山禱告，整夜禱告神。』

在行了［食飽五千人的］神蹟後，主就獨自上山去禱告。

主沒有與群眾在一起留在所行神蹟的結果裏，乃是離開他們，在山上獨自在禱告中與父在一起。我們若到一個地方去，有了極大的成功，我們會立即離開，還是會留下來享受這個大的成功？我們必須看見並跟從主耶穌的榜樣。祂沒有留在所行大神蹟的結果裏。祂獨自上山去禱告。『獨自』這辭很有意義。這意思是說，祂不讓人知道祂去禱告；否則，他們會跟著祂。祂離開他們，獨自在禱告中與父在一起。我喜歡這三句話：『在山上』、『在禱告中』、『與父在一起』。我們應當從主在這裏的榜樣學，操練在山上在禱告中與祂在一起。祂望著天，意思是祂不信靠自己。祂上山去，意思是祂要在禱告中與父在一起。（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第三冊，七○九至七一○頁。）

信息選讀

與別人一起禱告是很好的，但通常我們需要獨自禱告。我們與別人一起禱告時，無法像我們獨自向主禱告時享受主那樣深。甚至主耶穌也告訴我們，我們禱告時，要私下關上門，隱密的向那在隱密中察看我們的父禱告。（太六6。）這樣，我們就會感覺到祂與我們是何等親，我們與祂是何等近。我們必須學習離開群眾、家庭、朋友、和召會裏的聖徒，去到更高一層的『高山』。我們必須上得更高，遠離較低一層屬地的事物，獨自與父在一起，隱密的與祂有親密的交通。這就是『上山禱告』的意義。

我們需要來看，主耶穌為甚麼在這神蹟之後，立即到山上去。［十四23。］約翰六章二十七節告訴我們這個理由。這一節說，主在行了神蹟之後說，『不要為那必壞的食物勞力，要為那存到永遠生命的食物勞力，就是人子要賜給你們的，因為祂是父神所印證的。』主告訴那些得著祂餧養的人，不要尋求那必壞的食物，乃要尋求那存到永遠生命的食物。我信主耶穌到山上，是這樣禱告：『父阿，在你的祝福下，我向你禱告。你藉著祝福餧養了五千人；但是父阿，他們只是尋求那必壞的食物。我仰望你祝福他們，使他們尋求那存到永遠生命的食物。父阿，你知道我是你所差遣的那一位；只有我能給他們那存到永遠生命的食物，但他們不是這樣認識我。他們只知道我能行神蹟，用物質的食物餧養他們。但他們卻不知道，惟有我能給他們永遠生命的食物。』

在約翰六章，主啟示祂是從天上來的糧，也就是生命的糧。至終，祂告訴我們，這糧就是祂的話。『我對你們所說的話，就是靈，就是生命。』（63。）三章三十四節說，祂是那說神的話並無限賜給那靈的一位。要這樣認識祂，需要有啟示，因此祂獨自到山上為他們禱告。（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第三冊，七一○至七一二頁。）

參讀：神人的生活，第十四篇。

WEEK 2 — DAY 1

Morning Nourishment

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Matt. 14:23 And after He sent the crowds away, He went up to the mountain privately to pray. And when night fell, He was there alone.

Luke 6:12 And in these days He went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

After performing the miracle [of feeding five thousand], the Lord went up to the mountain privately to pray.

The Lord did not remain in the issue of the miracle with the crowds but went away from them to be with the Father privately on the mountain in prayer. If we go to a certain place and have a great success, would we leave right away, or would we remain in this big success to enjoy it? We need to see and follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus. He did not remain in the issue of the great miracle that He performed. Instead, He went up to the mountain privately to pray. The word privately is very meaningful. This means He did not let the people know that He was going to pray. Otherwise, they would have followed Him. He went away from them to be with the Father privately in prayer. I like these three phrases: to be with the Father, on the mountain, and in prayer. We should learn from the Lord’s pattern here by exercising to be with Him on the mountain in prayer. His looking up to heaven means that He had no trust in Himself. His going up to the mountain means that He wanted to be with the Father in prayer. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” pp. 564-565)

Today’s Reading

To pray with others is good, but often we need to pray by ourselves. When we pray with others, we cannot enjoy the Lord as deeply as when we pray to the Lord privately. Even the Lord Jesus told us that when we pray we should enter into our private room and shut our door and pray to the Father who sees in secret (Matt. 6:6). Then we have the sensation of how intimate He is to us and how close we are to Him. We have to learn to leave the crowds, our family, our friends, and the saints in the church to go to a higher level on a “high mountain.” We have to go higher, far away from the earthly things on a lower level. We need to get to a higher level, separated from the crowd, to be with the Father privately and secretly to have intimate fellowship with Him. This is the significance of being on the mountain in prayer.

We need to consider why the Lord Jesus went to the mountain right after this miracle [14:23]. John 6:27 gives us the reason. [It] says that after performing the miracle, the Lord said, “Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you; for Him has the Father, even God, sealed.” The Lord told the ones whom He fed not to seek the food that perishes but to seek the food that abides unto eternal life. I believe the Lord Jesus went to the mountain to pray in this way: “Father, I pray to You under Your blessing. Through Your blessing, You fed the five thousand, but Father, they are just seeking for the food that perishes. I do look unto You that You would bless them that they would seek the food that abides unto eternal life. Father, You know that I am Your sent One. Only I can give them the food that abides unto eternal life, but they do not know Me in this way. They know only that I can perform a miracle to feed them with physical food. But they do not know that it is only I who can give them food that is of the eternal life.”

In John 6 the Lord revealed that He is the bread out of heaven, the bread of life. Eventually, He said that this bread is just His word. “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (v. 63). John 3:34 says that He is the One who speaks the word and gives the Spirit not by measure. To know Him in this way requires a revelation, so He prayed for them privately on the mountain. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” pp. 565- 566)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 14