7月26日
标 题：你的天父知道你
经 节：你们不可效法他们；因为你们没有祈求以先，你们所需用的，你们的父早已知道了。（马太福音六章8节）
即使在求告之前，天父早已开始预备我们所需用的（以赛亚书六十五：24）。耶稣要自己的门徒知道，神多么爱他们每一个人。这就是为什么祂要他们祷告。祂向他们保证，在他们祷告以前，神已经知道他们所有的处境。
祷告的目的，不是要告诉神我们的需要，因为祂早已知道我们的需求。那为什么应当祷告呢？祷告为的是更亲密地经历神。孩子愈经历慈爱父母的供应，就愈确信自己是父母的心肝宝贝。父母通常在子女察觉自己的需求之前，早就预备好供应他们的需要。天父早知道我们今天或下礼拜会发生什么事。祂极想要我们能够经历祂的供应。
我们总是意外地发现，神比我们更清楚我们真正的需要。有时候，我们自以为知道什么最好，甚至笨拙地以为自己不需要神的供应。然而，神要我们向祂祈求所需（马太福音七：7）。祂已经预备好要在我们的软弱上，显出祂的刚强。天父清楚知道什么对我们最好，祂预备好要供应我们每个需要，只要我们肯开口求（腓立比书四：13）。
Your Heavenly Father Knows You
Therefore do not be like them. For your Father
knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8)
Even before we call on Him, the Father has already
begun to provide all that we need (Isa. 65:24). Jesus wanted His disciples to
learn how intimately God knew and loved each of them. That is why He told them
to pray. He assured them that even before they prayed, God knew all about their
situation.
Prayer is not designed for us to inform God of our
needs, for He already knows them. Why, then, should we pray? Prayer enables us
to experience God more intimately. The more a child experiences the loving
provision of a parent, the more convinced he becomes of his parent’s
unrelenting love. Often a parent will anticipate a child’s need before the
child recognizes it and be prepared in advance to provide for that need. Our
heavenly Father knows exactly what we will face today and next week. He is
eager for us to experience Him as He provides for us.
To our surprise, we often discover that God knows
far better than we do what is best for us. At times we assume that we know what
would benefit us. We can even be foolish enough to assume that we don’t require
anything of God. Yet God wants us to go to Him in our need (Matt. 7:7). He is
ready to show His strength through our weakness. Our heavenly Father knows
exactly what is best for us, and He is prepared to provide for every need, if
we will but ask (Phil. 4:13).
