十一月三日
他正祷告。（徒9：11）
天父时常留心人的祷告。扫罗一开口祷告，神就听见了。这真是在苦难中祷告之人的安慰。伤心至极的人常双膝跪地，痛哭流涕，哀声叹气；但他的呻吟却使天上的琴瑟齐鸣，他的眼泪被神珍藏在天上的泪袋之中。“你把我的眼泪装在你的皮袋里。”这就是说当眼泪流下之时，神都收了去。祈求神的人，虽然因爲惧怕的缘故不知该说什麽，但是至高者都知道。他只能泪眼朦胧地仰望神，但“祷告就是落眼泪”。泪珠是天上的钻石；叹息是耶和华院中的音乐，是“上达至高大君的庄严歌声”。
你的祷告虽然微弱而战栗，但是不要以爲神因此便不关心了。雅各的梯子能上通高天，我们的祷告靠着恩约的使者也可以上达天庭。我们的神不但听我们的祷告，而且也欢喜听祷告。他“不忘记困苦（谦卑）人的哀求”。他幷不关怀高傲的眼和夸大的话；他幷不在意君王的豪华和炫张；他幷不倾听夸张的战歌；他幷不留心骄傲人的顺利；但是满了忧伤的心，或是因痛苦、悲哀、悔改的唉哼而战颤的嘴唇，耶和华的心便敞开了；他把这些都记载在他的记忆之中；他把我们的祷告，像玫瑰花瓣一样夹在他的记念簿里，每当他打开就发出奇异的芳香来。
“人心内忧闷者暗中常哭泣，速来到恩座下俯伏祈求。
连苦楚与患难，皆得主怜惜，地上之忧虑，天上能拯救。”
November
3
“Behold,
he prayeth.”–Acts 9:11
Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven.
The moment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the
distressed but praying soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his
knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet
that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has
been caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. “Thou
puttest my tears into thy bottle,” implies that they are caught as they
flow. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by
the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but “prayer is the
falling of a tear.” Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of
the music of Jehovah’s court, and are numbered with “the sublimest strains
that reach the majesty on high.” Think not that your prayer, however weak
or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob’s ladder is lofty, but our prayers
shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds. Our
God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it. “He forgetteth not
the cry of the humble.” True, He regards not high looks and lofty words;
He cares not for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He listens not to the swell
of martial music; He regards not the triumph and pride of man; but wherever
there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep
groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open; He marks it down in
the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the
pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is opened at last, there
shall be a precious fragrance springing up therefrom.
“Faith asks no signal from the skies,
To show that prayers accepted rise,
Our Priest is in His holy place,
And answers from the throne of grace.”
