我們一家人在一起的最好時光是在晚餐時。在家裡吃完飯後，我們把餐具放在一邊，一起喝咖啡或熱巧克力。我們沒有特別的議程；我們只是享受彼此。聆聽、交談和歡笑。如果你和好朋友或家人有同樣的經歷，你就會知道這是天堂的一點體驗。

當耶穌描述他希望與我們的親密關係時，他談到了與我們一起吃飯。 「看哪！我站在門外敲門；如果有人聽見我的聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裡去，我要跟他在一起，他也要跟我在一起吃飯。」（啟示錄 3：20 新譯本）。

禱告的生活感覺就像我們的家庭吃飯時間，因為禱告全是關於關係的。它是親密的，暗示著永恆。我們不考慮交流或言語，而是考慮我們在與誰交談。禱告只是我們體驗和聯繫上帝的媒介。

奇怪的是，許多人在學習如何禱告時很費勁，因為他們把注意力放在禱告上，而不是放在上帝身上。把禱告作為中心，就像把談話作為家庭吃飯時間的中心。在禱告中，專注於談話就像試圖在開車時看著擋風玻璃而不是看穿它。它使我們卻步，令我們不知道該往哪裡走。談話只是我們體驗彼此的工具。因此，祈禱不是本書的中心，認識那一位——認識上帝，才是中心。

Our best times together as a family are at dinner. At home after a meal, we push our dishes aside and linger together over coffee or hot chocolate. We have no particular agenda; we simply enjoy one another. Listening, talking, and laughing. If you experience the same thing with good friends or with family, you know it is a little touch of heaven.

When Jesus describes the intimacy he wants with us, he talks about joining us for dinner. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

A praying life feels like our family mealtimes because prayer is all about relationship. It’s intimate and hints at eternity. We don’t think about communication or words but about whom we are talking with. Prayer is simply the medium through which we experience and connect to God.

Oddly enough, many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying, not on God. Making prayer the center is like making conversation the center of a family mealtime. In prayer, focusing on the conversation is like trying to drive while looking at the windshield instead of through it. It freezes us, making us unsure of where to go. Conversation is only the vehicle through which we experience one another. Consequently, prayer is not the center of this book. Getting to know a person, God, is the center.

Miller, P. E., & Powlison, D. (2017). A praying life: connecting with god in a distracting world. Ch.2 NavPress.