May 7

"He spake a parable¹ unto them...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." (Luke 18:1)

No temptation in the life of intercession is more common than this of failure to persevere². We begin to pray for a certain thing; we put up our petitions for a day, a week, a month; and then, receiving as yet no definite answer, straightway we faint, and cease altogether from prayer concerning it.

This is a deadly fault. It is simply the snare³ of many beginnings with no completions. It is ruinous in all spheres of life.

The man who forms the habit of beginning without finishing has simply formed the habit of failure. The man who begins to pray about a thing and does not pray it through to a successful issue of answer has formed the same habit in prayer.

To faint is to fail; then defeat begets⁴ disheartenment, and unfaith in the reality of prayer, which is fatal to all success.

But someone says, "How long shall we pray? Do we not come to a place where we may cease from our petitions and rest the matter in God's hands?"

There is but one answer. Pray until the thing you pray for has actually been granted, or until you have the assurance in your heart that it will be.

Only at one of these two places dare we stay our importunity⁵, for prayer is not only a calling upon God, but also a conflict with Satan. And inasmuch as God is using our intercession as a mighty⁶ factor of victory in that conflict, He alone, and not we, must decide when we dare cease from our petitioning. So we dare not stay our prayer until the answer itself has come, or until we receive the assurance that it will come.

In the first case we stop because we see. In the other, we stop because we believe, and the faith of our heart is just as sure as the sight of our eyes; for it is faith from, yes, the faith of God, within us.

More and more, as we live the prayer life, shall we come to experience and recognize this God-given assurance, and know when to rest quietly in it, or when to continue our petitioning until we receive it. --The Practice of Prayer.

Tarry at the promise till God meets you there. He always returns by way of His promises. --Selected.

　 五月七日

“耶稣设一个比喻，是要人常常祷告，不可灰心”（路十八：1）。

　　祷告生活中顶普遍的失败，就是缺少恒心。我们开始为某件事祈求；祈求了一日，一星期，一月；如果一无所得，我们就立刻灰心，认为无望了；于是在祷告中再不提起了。

　　这是顶大的错误。有始无终的人在无论什么事上都是无结果的。

　　有了有始无终的习惯，就是有了失败的命定。半途而废的祷告也是如此。

　　灰心生失望，失望生不信，不信生失败——这都是祷告的致命伤。

　　有人问说：“我们祷告，应该到什么时侯为止呢？难道不能把事情交在神手中而停止祷告么”？

　　只有一个答复：祷告到你已经得着你所求的，或者到你心中已有确实的把握——信神必为你成就的时候为止。

　　只有这二处我们可以停止我们的祷告，因为祷告不只是呼求神，也是抵挡撒但。神常用我们的祷告来使我们制服撒但，所以只有神，不是我们能随便停止祷告。

　　但愿我们不敢随意停止祷告，除非答应已经来到了，或者已经有把握了。在第一处我们可以停止祷告，因为我们看见了。在第二处我们可以停止祷告，因为信心的眼睛也已经看见了。——译自祈祷训练

　　在祷告生活中，有了长期的经验，我们就能认识这是神赐的“把握”，而知道什么时候可以停止，什么时候应当继续祈求，直到获得回音。

　　停留在神的应许上，直到你在那里遇见了神。——选

1 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

2 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

3 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

4 begets   

v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 )；产生，引起

参考例句：

• It begets at least seven standard type offspring from such matings. 这类交配中生下至少七个标准型后代。 来自辞典例句
• Violence begets violence until the innocent perish with the guilty. 暴力招致暴力直到这因罪行而无缘无故的毁灭。 来自电影对白

5 importunity   

n.硬要，强求

参考例句：

• They got only blushes, ejaculations, tremors, and titters, in return for their importunity. 她们只是用脸红、惊叫、颤抖和傻笑来回答他们的要求。 来自辞典例句
• His importunity left me no alternative but to agree. 他的强硬要求让我只能答应而没有别的选择。 来自互联网

6 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。