Seeking God’s Help 寻求上帝帮助
Dexu Xia
We will stand in your presence . . . and will cry out to you in our distress. 2 Chronicles 20:9
For five years in the late 1800s, grasshoppers descended on Minnesota, destroying the crops. Farmers tried trapping the grasshoppers in tar and burning their fields to kill the eggs. Feeling desperate, and on the brink of starvation, many people sought a statewide day of prayer, yearning to seek God’s help together. The governor relented, setting aside April 26 to pray.
In the days after the collective prayer, the weather warmed and the eggs started to come to life. But then four days later a drop in temperature surprised and delighted many, for the freezing temperatures killed the larvae. Minnesotans once again would harvest their crops of corn, wheat, and oats.
Prayer was also behind the saving of God’s people during the reign of King Jehoshaphat. When the king learned that a vast army was coming against him, he called God’s people to pray and fast. The people reminded God how He’d saved them in times past. And Jehoshaphat said that if calamity came upon them, “whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine,” they would cry out to God knowing that He would hear and save them (2 Chronicles 20:9).
God rescued His people from the invading armies, and He hears us when we cry out to Him in distress. Whatever your concern—whether a relationship issue or something threatening from the natural world—lift it to God in prayer. Nothing is too hard for Him.
How has God answered your prayers? What situations in your life or in the world could you commit to Him today?
Creator God, You made the world and all that’s in it. Please restore order and save Your people, whom You love.
我们在急难的时候，站在这殿前向祢呼求。—历代志下20章9节
在19世纪末，蝗虫大军突袭美国明尼苏达州长达五年之久，让当地的农作物惨遭浩劫。农民虽试图用焦油围困蝗虫，并将农地烧毁以杀死虫卵，但都无法彻底消灭蝗虫，致使许多人处于饥饿边缘，并对此深感绝望。于是，他们渴盼全州的人民能在某一天同心祷告寻求上帝的帮助，而州长最终同意将4月26日定为祷告日。
在大家集体祷告后的几天里，天气转暖，虫卵开始孵化。但随后四天，气温突然下降，刚孵化的幼虫因不敌严寒的天气而死亡，这令众人喜出望外。蝗虫自此绝迹，明尼苏达州的农民又能收割他们的玉米、小麦和燕麦了！
约沙法王统治犹大国期间，也曾藉着祷告来拯救上帝的子民。当他知道将有敌军入侵时，他立刻召集上帝的子民禁食祷告，并在祷告中提及上帝曾如何拯救他们。约沙法也说，如果有祸患临到他们，“或刀兵灾殃，或瘟疫饥荒”，他们就会向上帝呼求，知道祂必垂听且施行拯救（历代志下20章9节）。
那时，上帝从入侵大军的手中拯救了祂的子民，同样地，当我们在患难中呼求祂时，祂也会垂听我们的祷告。无论你遇到什么困难，不管是天灾或人际关系问题，都可以在祷告中交托给上帝，因为在祂没有难成的事。
上帝曾如何回应你的祷告？
今天你要将哪些自己的事或世界上的事交托给上帝呢？
创造万物的上帝，祢创造了世界及其中的一切，
求祢恢复其中的秩序并拯救祢所爱的子民。