Pray For God’s Favour

‘You bless the righteous, You surround them with Your favour.’ Psalm 5:12 NIV

When you ask someone for a favour, you’re generally asking for something they don’t owe you. The Bible says of God: ‘You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favour.’ This word ‘righteous’ doesn’t mean flawless, otherwise none of us would qualify! It means to be clothed in ‘the righteousness of God’, thereby making us acceptable before God and qualifying us for His favour (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). And that’s a truth you need to grasp and hold on to! Why? Because when you have God’s favour, people start favouring you too—often for reasons they themselves can’t explain!

The favour of God made it possible for people in the Bible who otherwise wouldn’t have amounted to much, to do great things. God called a teenager named Esther to save the Jewish people. So she stepped out in faith, approached the king uninvited, even though it violated protocol, and ‘obtained favour in his sight.’ (Esther 5:2 AMP) God made a way for her to do the job He’d given her.

Without the favour of God, Ruth, a Gentile, wouldn’t have been accepted by the Jews. But because God had a plan for her life and her heart was open to Him, she ended up marrying Boaz, ‘a mighty man of great wealth.’ (Ruth 2:1 KJV) And from that union descended King David, and ultimately our blessed Lord Jesus. What favour!

The Bible says, ‘A good man will obtain favour from the Lord.’ (Proverbs 12:2 NAS) And a single moment of God’s favour will do more for you than a lifetime of striving. So pray for the favour of God today—and start looking for it!

向神求恩惠

因为你必赐福与义人；耶和华啊，你必用恩惠如同盾牌四面护卫他。 (诗篇 5:12 和合本)

当你向别人求助时，你通常是在请求一些他们并不欠你的东西。圣经说：“因为你必赐福与义人；耶和华啊，你必用恩惠如同盾牌四面护卫他。” “义人”这个词并不意味着完美无缺，否则我们谁也不能胜任！它的意思是穿上“神的义”，使我们在神面前蒙悦纳，进一步在神面前蒙恩惠（神使那无罪的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为　神的义。(哥林多后书 5:21 和合本)）。这是你需要把握和坚持的真理！为什么呢？因为当你得到了上帝的恩惠时，你身边的人也开始恩待你——通常是出于他们自己无法解释的原因！

神的恩惠使圣经中那些本来不会有大作为的人得以成就大事。上帝叫一个名叫以斯帖的年轻人去拯救犹太人。于是，虽然未被邀请，她依然满怀信心地走近国王（译注：当时如果没有被国王邀请，是不能直接面见国王的，否则可能会被杀头）。尽管这违反了礼仪，然而她得到了国王的恩惠。当她决定去做神的工时，神就为她开路。
（译注：本段可参考圣经·以斯帖记）

如果没有神的恩惠，身为外邦人的路得就不会被犹太人接受。但是，由于神对她的生活有一个计划，她的心也向神敞开，她最终嫁给了波阿斯，一个拥有巨大财富的大能勇士。大卫王和我们的主耶稣也从这结合中诞生。这是多么大的恩典呀！
（译注：本段可参考圣经·路得记）

圣经说：“善人必蒙耶和华的恩惠。”（箴言12:2）神对我们的帮助哪怕只有一秒钟，也远胜过我们自己一生的打拼。所以从今天开始，让我们一起向神求恩惠吧，让我们定睛在神的身上。

（翻译：段麦克 @ 2018-04-11）