祷告比赞美容易 It is easier to pray than to praise
【作者:取材自Catechetical Help / 顾美芬译】剪下一方暖和--喻道小故事 2013.09.15
It is easier to pray than to praise. In times of great peril , national crises, or personal danger, people will pray for help.
It was natural for George Washington to drop to his knees at Valley Forge and ask God for strength and courage. Abraham Lincoln often confessed that he spent much time in prayer because the responsibilities and challenges of his office were enormous .
A soldier who survived the World War II was asked whether he prayed during the ordeal . He replied, “I guess everybody prayed there.“ While Charles Lindbergh was making his historic flight across the Atlantic, the fans at Yankee Stadium were asked to stand for two minutes to pray for his success. No one thought it strange.
It is at times more difficult to remember to praise and thank God. Ten lepers met Jesus one day. They were in need of help. It was easy for them to pray, “Have mercy upon us.” But only one remembered to return to render praise and thank to Jesus.
We can give praises and thanks for many blessings, the list below is only some of God’s rich blessings to us. You can make it from A to Z.
A for art艺术
B for beauty美
C for children孩子
D for doctors医生
E for education教育
F for friends朋友
G for God神
H for home家
I for immortality不朽
J for Jesus耶稣
K for knowledge知识
L for laughter欢笑
M for music音乐
N for nature自然
O for opportunity机会
P for peace和平
Q for questions疑问
R for romance罗曼史
S for sunsets日落
T for tomorrow明天
U for unity合一
V for victories胜利
W for work工作
X for all the X-tra things we forgot to mention所有忘记提的额外之事
Y for you你
Z for zest热心
字汇
peril危险
enormous巨大的
ordeal考验
leper麻疯病人
祷告比赞美容易。在极危难之时，不论是国家面临灾难，个人遭遇危险，人都会祷告寻求帮助。
乔治华盛顿在Valley Forge战场跪下求神赐力量勇气，这是很自然的事。亚伯拉罕林肯常常承认花很多时间祷告，因为他职务的责任和挑战非常巨大。
一个从二次大战生还的士兵被问到，是否在考验中祷告，他回答，「我想那裏每个人都祷告。」查理林白将横跨大西洋作历史性飞航时，有人要求洋基运动场上的球迷起立为此行成功祷告两分钟，没人觉得奇怪而不祷告。
然而有时候，要记得赞美感谢神反而比较困难。有一天，十个长大麻疯的人遇见耶稣，因为急需帮助，他们很容易就祷告说，「可怜我们吧。」但事后只有一个人记得回去赞美感谢耶稣。
我们可以为受到的许多祝福而赞美感谢，以下只是神丰富祝福的一小部分，你可以从头到尾列张清单算一算。
思考与应用
1. 你通常在什么情况下会祷告？你的祈求和赞美的比率差不多吗？
2. 岁末年终，我们可以从A到Z 想出26件和上面不同，而值得感谢的事吗？（顺便测试英文程度）
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