And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. – Ephesians 6:18
With a chime, the doors slid shut. “Hello? Hello??” The handphone conversation terminated prematurely. The cell signal was lost in the confines of the lift and the call disconnected. It’s so frustrating and disappointing because we have come to expect 100% mobile coverage within Singapore. We want to have good cell phone signal all the time.
Our expectation for mobile signal is paralleled by Paul’s expectation for Christians to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers… [to] keep on praying. John Wesley regards prayer as “the grand means of drawing near to God.”55 He writes in his sermon “The Wilderness State”:
Perhaps no sin of omission more frequently causes this [quenches the Spirit] than the neglect of private prayer; the need for prayer cannot be supplied by any other spiritual discipline.f Nothing can be more plain… that the life of God in the soul does not continue, much less increase, unless we use all opportunities of communing with God, and pouring out our hearts before him. If therefore we are negligent of this… [or] hurry them over in a slight and careless manner, that life will surely decay. 56
要靠着圣灵，随时多方祷告祈求，并要为此警醒不倦，为众圣徒祈求。《以弗所书》6：18
随着铃声，门被关上了。 “喂？你听得到吗？”手机交谈过早终止。信号在电梯的范围内消失，联系中断。它令人沮丧和失望，因为我们期待新加坡境内的手机信号覆盖率达到100％。我们想要任何时候有良好的手机信号。 我们对手机信号的期待与保罗对基督徒在圣灵中随时多方祈祷。。（持续祷告）的期待相平行。约翰卫斯理把祈祷视为“接近上帝的最大途径”。他在他的讲道“荒芜状态”中写道： “恐怕没有比因忽视私人的祷告以致频繁熄灭圣灵的感动更加疏忽的罪了，祷告的需要不能被其他属灵操练所取代，明显地，。。与上帝同心合意的生命不会持续下去，除非我们利用一切与上帝交流的机会，并将我们的心倾倒在他面前。因此，如果我们忽略这一点。。或是急匆匆地轻易将它们挤掉，生命定会凋残。”
反思
约翰.卫斯理在每天的班会（或小组）聚会中常问的一个问题是：“我是一个享受祷告的人吗？” 你今天有祷告吗？你享受祷告吗？
Reflection
One of the questions asked when John Wesley gathered his class (cell) group everyday was, “Am I enjoying prayer?”57 Have you prayed today? Are you enjoying prayer?