Read: Romans 8:22–26 | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 5–6; Ephesians 1

阅读: 罗马书章-节 | 全年读经进度: 以赛亚书5-6章;以弗所书1章

God never leaves the voices of His children unheard.

上帝永远垂听祂儿女的声音。

The Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

我们本不晓得当怎样祷告，只是圣灵亲自用说不出来的叹息替我们祷告。-罗马书8章26节

In November 2015, I learned I needed open-heart surgery. Surprised and a little shaken, I was naturally drawn to think about the possibility of death. Were there relationships I needed to mend? Were there financial matters I needed to attend to for my family? Was there work that could be done ahead of time? And what about work that couldn’t wait; who should I hand that off to? It was a time to both act and pray.

在2015年11月，当我得知自己必需接受心脏手术时，在震惊之余又有点不安。我担忧自己是否会丧命？是否需要与哪些人修复关系？是否需要处理家里的财务问题？我能在开刀前预先完成某些工作吗？那些急需完成的工作，该交付给谁？我一心想赶紧安排事务，并祷告交托。

Except I couldn’t do either.My body was so weary and my mind so fatigued that even the simplest of tasks seemed beyond my strength. Perhaps most surprising, when I tried to pray, my thoughts would drift to the discomfort, or the shallow breathing caused by the damaged heart made me fall asleep. It was frustrating. I couldn’t work and I couldn’t even ask God to let me live so I could spend more time with my family!

但结果我什么都做不到。我感到身心俱疲，连最基本的生活小事都力不能及。最出乎意料的是，我甚至在祷告时，都可能因身体不适而分心，或因心脏受损以致呼吸微弱，而昏昏欲睡。这让我备受挫折，我不但无法工作，连祈求上帝给我时间多陪伴家人的能力也没有！

The inability to pray troubled me most. But as with all other human needs, the Creator knew this was happening to me. I would eventually recall He made two preparations for such occurrences: the prayer of the Spirit for us when we can’t pray (Rom. 8:26), and the prayer of others on our behalf (James 5:16; Gal. 6:2).

无法祷告最令我担心，然而，造物主既深知我们一切所需，祂也明了我经历的苦难。那一刻我终于领悟到，祂早已为了这样的情况，在你我的生命中作了两项预备：当我们无法祷告，圣灵亲自替我们祷告（罗马书8章26节）；祂也预备了其他人为我们代求（雅各书5章16节；加拉太书6章2节） 。

What a comfort it was to know that the Holy Spirit was even then raising my concerns before the Father. What a gift also to hear from friends and family as they prayed for me. Then came another surprise: As my friends and family asked me what to pray for, it became clear that my answers to them were also being heard by God as prayers. 

纵然我无法祷告，但知道圣灵将我的需求交托在天父面前，是多大的安慰；听到至亲好友都在为我代祷，又是多大的喜乐。更令人惊讶的是，当亲友问我代求事项时，我能确信当我将代祷事项告诉他们时，上帝也听见了，这成了我的祷告。

What a gift it is in a time of uncertainty to be reminded God hears our heart even when we think we can’t call out to Him.

让我们不要忘记，在彷徨的时刻，即使我们以为无法呼求上帝，祂却依然倾听我们的心声，这是何等的恩典。

INSIGHT

Anyone who has traveled to a foreign country can understand the value of a good translator. Someone who is familiar with our language and that of the country we are visiting knows how to choose just the right words to communicate clearly.

Have you ever been in a situation so perplexing you didn’t know the right words to use when you prayed? Because of our limited perspective and the distraction of our sinful inclinations we can sometimes struggle with prayer. Yet God the Holy Spirit is our intercessor. He groans with our concerns as He Himself makes our prayers conform to the will of God. It’s a comfort that the Holy Spirit knows our own limitations and weaknesses and translates our requests to God in conformity with His will. 

In what ways does understanding the intercession of the Holy Spirit comfort you when you find it hard to pray?

灵粮透视

任何曾到国外旅行的人，都明白一个好的翻译员是多么重要。所谓好的翻译员，就是熟悉我们语言的当地人，他知道怎么遣词造句，知道如何表达正确的意思。

你可曾在祷告中，不知道要用什么字词较为合适吗？由于我们有限的视野，以及我们犯罪的倾向，使我们有时候会觉得不知如何祷告。然而，圣灵是我们的代祷者，祂亲自用说不出来的叹息替我们祷告，并让我们的祷告与上帝的旨意相符。让我们感到安慰的是，圣灵知道我们每个人的有限和软弱，会按着上帝的旨意翻译我们的祈求。

在你难以开口祷告时，知道圣灵会为我们代祷，会如何让你的心得安慰呢？

??Romans? ?8:22-26? ?NIV??

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

整理：于姊妹