我们该怎样祷告
提摩太前书二章1至8节
1我劝你第一要为万人恳求、祷告、代求、祝谢，
2为君王和一切在位的，也该如此，使我们可以敬虔、端正，平安无事地度日。
3这是好的，在神我们救主面前可蒙悦纳。
4他愿意万人得救，明白真道。
5因为只有一位神，在神和人中间，只有一位中保，乃是降世为人的基督耶稣。
6他舍自己作万人的赎价，到了时候，这事必证明出来。
7我为此奉派作传道的，作使徒，作外邦人的师傅，教导他们相信，学习真道。我说的是真话，并不是谎言。
8我愿男人无忿怒，无争论（注：或作“疑惑”），举起圣洁的手，随处祷告。
信息分享
保罗写这封书信的目的，乃是要教导提摩太如何带领会众认识纯正的道理和圣洁的行为。保罗首先就提到祷告；但反观我们，却经常忽略祷告，常常没有把祷告放在首要位置，等有空的时候才祷告，并任由讨论、工作、日常忙碌挤走祷告的时间。
留意保罗在第1节说「我劝你，第一要……」，接着他便列举各种我们需要用到的祷告，并特别提到四种祷告方式：恳求、祷告、代求、祝谢。当然，我们还可以加上敬拜和颂赞。
第一个词「恳求」，意即我们可为某些具体需要向神祈求。我们的祷告很容易流于简单地求神「祝福某人」；然而，我们若能知道代祷对象的具体需要，包括朋友、宣教士、所爱的人、教友、非信徒等，我们就可以为他们的需要向神恳求。
「祷告」是指一般的祈求，而「代求」则是代表某人向神祈求。我们经常忘记在祷告中谢恩。我们怎样恳切祈求，也当怎样恳切谢恩。我们能否检查一下，所有这些内容是否都包含在我们日常的祷告中呢？
那么，我们又该为谁代祷呢？保罗教导我们要为这世上的当权者祷告。我们有这样做吗？保罗指出，我们若时常为他们祷告，就能更加平安度日。
最后，保罗更要肯定我们懂得奉谁的名祷告。这段经文包含了新约中一个最重要的真理：基督是神人中间的惟一中保，我们不再需要靠任何人，祂填补了神人之间的所有空缺。这宝贵的真理就足以让我们感谢神。
HOW WE SHOULD PRAY
1 Timothy 2: 1-8
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
Message
This epistle was written so that Timothy would know how to instruct the churches in doctrine and behaviour. Paul makes prayer a first priority. We often fail here. Instead of making prayer absolutely essential, we pray if we have time and often prayer is crowded out by discussion, business or busyness.
Notice Paul’s word in verse 1- “I urge, then; first of all,” then he goes on to list the various kinds of prayer we need to use. Four ways to pray are mentioned - requests, prayers, intercession, and thanks giving. We could add others such as adoration and praise.
The first term - requests, might suggest that we should be more specific in our praying. It is easy to pray “God bless so-and-so”, but when we know of a definite need in the life of a friend, missionary, loved one, church member, or unsaved person, we should spell it out before the Lord.
“Prayers” could suggest general petitions while “intercession” is asking on behalf of another. “Thanksgiving” is often omitted from our praying. We need to be as specific in our thanks as we are in our asking. Can we check up right now on how many of these are regularly included in our praying?
Then who should we pray for? The answer is for those who are over us in this world. How often do we do that? Paul says if we did we would live more peaceable lives than we otherwise might.
And Paul makes sure that we know in whose name we should pray. One of the great truths of the New Testament is here in this passage - we don’t need anyone else, Christ is the one and only mediator between God and man. He fills all the space between. Why not thank God today for this wonderful truth?