第二十五週．週四

W25-D4-c

晨興餧養

腓四６～７　『應當一無罣慮，只要凡事藉著禱告、祈求，帶著感謝，將你們所要的告訴神；神那超越人所能理解的平安，必在基督耶穌裏，保衛你們的心懷意念。』

〔保羅在腓立比四章六節〕說到禱告、祈求和感謝。禱告是一般的，包括了交通和敬拜的成分；祈求是專一的，與特殊的需要有關。…我們每天需要分別一段時間來接觸主，與祂交通，並敬拜祂。在我們交通的過程中，可以有特殊的祈求。這樣，我們不僅有一般的禱告，也向主有特殊的祈求。

我們禱告、祈求的時候，都該伴隨著對主的感謝。最近我又學了一次感謝主的功課。我求主恢復我健康的時候，祂責備我，沒有為著目前仍然擁有的健康感謝祂。每當我們生病的時候，必須對主說，『主，我感謝你，我多少還有點健康。主，我病了，可是我還沒有病到一個地步，不能把基督服事給眾聖徒。但是，主阿，你知道，我不是完全的健康。因此，我求你使我康復，完全健康起來。』我們都必須學習這樣向主祈求。（腓立比書生命讀經，六五一至六五二頁。）

信息選讀

在腓立比四章六節保羅…說，『應當一無罣慮。』…罣慮暗中破壞活基督的生活。我們不該罣慮，只要凡事藉著禱告、祈求，帶著感謝，將我們所要的告訴神。這樣，神的平安，必在基督耶穌裏，保衛我們的心懷意念。（7。）這樣，神的平安拯救我們脫離憂愁和罣慮。…免於罣慮，目的是為著使我們平靜、安寧。

在六節…『凡事』指每天臨到我們的許多不同的事。在主的祝福之下，許多積極的事發生，使我們聽見好消息；然而，我們有時也經歷消極的事，聽見壞消息。雖然如此，我們該凡事藉著禱告、祈求，帶著感謝，將我們所要的告訴神。

保羅說，『將你們所要的告訴神，』這似乎很容易領會。但…我花了相當的時間研讀『告訴神』這句話。這裏直譯是給神知道。『給』，原文常譯為『與…同在』，（約一1，可九19，林後五8，約壹一2，）表示向前的動作，有活的聯合並交往之意，含示交通。…我們應當在這樣的交通裏，在這樣的聯合並交往裏，將我們所要的告訴神。這需要我們禱告接觸神。

即使我們沒有特殊的需要，我們每天仍需要一段禱告的時間，以敬拜主，並與祂有交通。我們在禱告中敬拜主，並與祂有交通，就享受與祂的來往，並實行與祂生機的聯合。

實行與主生機的聯合，結果乃是神的平安在基督耶穌裏，保衛我們的心懷意念。（腓四7。）神的平安實際上就是平安的神自己，（9，）藉著我們禱告與祂交通，注入我們裏面，抗拒苦惱，化解罣慮。（約十六33。）…平安的神在基督裏，在我們的心懷意念前巡查或守衛，保守我們平靜安寧。

我們若要過一無罣慮的生活，就必須領悟，我們所有的遭遇，不論是好是壞，都是神所派定的。我們需要對這個領悟有充分的把握，…〔相信我們〕的環境是神所派定的，〔這樣我們〕就能彀為著主的安排敬拜主。（腓立比書生命讀經，二七三至二七六、六三六至六三七頁。）

參讀：腓立比書生命讀經，第六十、六十二篇；神救恩生機的一面，第四篇。

WEEK 25 — DAY 4

W25-D4-en

Morning Nourishment

Phil. 4:6-7 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

In Philippians 4:6 Paul speaks of prayer, petition, and thanksgiving. Prayer is general and includes the essence of worship and fellowship; petition is special and is related to particular needs…Daily we need to have a time to contact the Lord, to have fellowship with Him, and to worship Him. During the course of our fellowship, we may have particular requests. Thus, we not only pray in a general way but make petitions to the Lord in a particular way.

Both our prayer and petition should be accompanied by thanksgiving to the Lord. Recently, I once again learned the lesson of being thankful to the Lord. When I asked the Lord to restore my health, I was rebuked by Him for not thanking Him for the measure of health I still had. Whenever we are ill, we need to say, “Lord, I thank You that I am still healthy to a certain degree. Lord, I am ill, but I am not so ill that I cannot minister Christ to the saints. But, Lord, You know that I am not altogether healthy. Therefore, I ask You to improve my health and make me fully healthy again.” We all need to learn to petition the Lord in this way. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 529-530)

Todays Reading

In Philippians 4:6 Paul…says, “In nothing be anxious.”…Anxiety undermines the living of Christ. Instead of being anxious, in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, we should make our requests known to God. Then the peace of God will guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus (v. 7). The peace of God saves us from worry and anxiety…Being free from anxiety is for the purpose of keeping us calm and tranquil.

In verse 6…the words in everything refer to the many different things that happen to us day by day. Under the Lord’s blessing, many positive things happen, and we hear good news. However, we also experience negative things and hear bad news. Nevertheless, in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, we should make our requests known to God.

It may seem easy to understand Paul’s word, “Let your requests be made known to God.”…I have spent considerable time studying the phrase to God. It may also be rendered “before God” or “in the presence of God.” The Greek preposition is pros, often translated “with” (John 1:1; Mark 9:19; 2 Cor. 5:8; 1 Cor. 16:6; 1 John 1:2). It denotes motion toward, in the sense of a living union and communion, implying fellowship…We should let our requests be made known to God in such a fellowship, in such a union and communion. This requires that we pray to contact God.

Even if we do not have specific needs, we still need a time of prayer day by day to worship the Lord and have fellowship with Him. As we worship the Lord and have fellowship with Him in prayer, we enjoy communion with Him and practice the organic union with Him.

The issue, the result, of practicing the organic union with the Lord is that the peace of God guards our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). The peace of God is actually God as peace (v. 9) infused into us through our fellowship with Him by prayer. This peace is the counterpoise to troubles and the antidote to anxiety (John 16:33)…The God of peace patrols, or stands guard, before our hearts and thoughts in Christ.

If we would have a life free of anxiety, we need to realize that all our circumstances, good or bad, have been assigned to us by God. We need to have [the] realization with a full assurance…[that our] circumstances come from God’s assignment…[Then we] will be able to worship the Lord for His arrangement. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 225-227, 516)

Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 60, 62; CWWL, 1994- 1997, vol. 3, “The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation,” ch. 4