「碰到有需要的时候，就当立即祷告」。这是一个很好的座右铭；然而，难道祷告就只是求神的帮助吗？神当然喜欢我们凡事向祂祈求，或为别人的需要向祂代求；可是，祷告却绝不仅限于向神求这求那。

圣经之中至少提到五种祷告，它们分别是：颂赞、感恩、认罪、代求和祈求。也许，我们可以将这五种祷告的元素写在圣经的封面页底，让它时刻提醒我们祷告不仅限于祈求。

颂赞是向神的敬拜。我们在祷告中向神发出颂赞，全因为祂就是那位配得称颂的神；我们在颂赞中不单注目于神的作为，更注目于祂的美善和伟大。

感恩是为到神的一切作为而感谢祂。我们不单只要凡事祈求，更要凡事谢恩。要为到神垂听我们的祷告、拯救我们的灵魂和时刻保守我们，不住的向祂感恩。

任何人都会有犯罪跌倒的时刻，基督徒也不能例外；因此，我们必须借着祷告向神认罪。请读约翰壹书一章9节。我们要记着：只要我们来到神的面前，寻求祂的饶恕，祂必然会赦免我们。

我们要学会在祷告中记念别人，为别人的需要代祷。这就是圣经所讲的代求。至于祈求，就是求神满足我们本身的需要。我们祷告的时候，往往一开口就只懂得为自己的需要祈求，至于另外的四种祷告，却总是抛诸脑外。

诚然，我们并非在每次祷告的时候，都周全地兼顾这五方面的祷告。有时，我们在危急的关头，只能呼求神的拯救；但是，当神应允了我们的祷告，我们却不可忘记向神谢恩。

我们该时常检视自己的祷告生活，看看是否只侧重了某一方面，而完全忽略了另一些方面。但愿我们都一起学习祷告，以致我们的祷告生活愈益丰富。

反思：

「只要凡事借着祷告、祈求和感谢，将你们所要的告诉神。」腓立比书四章6节

'When in need, pray.' That would be a good motto. But is asking for help all there is to prayer? God does expect us to ask him for the things we need or which we want him to do for others. But there is more to prayer than just asking all the time.

There are at least five different kinds of prayer mentioned in the Bible. They are: adoration, thanksgiving, confession, intercession and petition. It would be helpful to write those five words down in the back of your Bible.

Adoration is worshipping God because he is God. It is recognising him for what he is, not just for what he can do for us.

Thanksgiving is thanking God for all that he has done. It is not asking for anything more. We should never forget to continually thank God for answering prayer, for saving our souls and for keeping us day by day.

All of us sin, even if we are Christians. Therefore we need to confess our sins in prayer to God. Read 1 John 1:9 and remember as you pray that God is always waiting to forgive us when we turn to him.

We need to pray for other people, too, and for their needs. This is called intercession. Petition is asking God for the things we need ourselves. Too often that is one part of prayer we use the most - what about the other four?

We may not be able to include all of these five kinds of prayer every time we pray. Sometimes we need to send an urgent call to God for help and there isn't time for anything else. But when he answers, let's not forget to thank him for doing this for us.

Over a period of a day or two we ought to use every one of these kinds of prayer. Listen to yourself as you pray. See if one or two of these are missing from your prayers. Make sure that all of them are included in your prayer life from now on.

A THOUGHT:

In everything … with thanksgiving … let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6