第一章：祈祷的启示
Chapter One: The Revelation of Prayer
普遍的祈祷呼召
The universal call to prayer
2566人是在寻找神。在创造的行动中，神把每个存在从虚无中呼召出来。「赐他荣耀尊贵为冠冕」，人仅次于天使，能够承认「耶和华我们的主啊，你的名在全地何其美」。诗 8:5；8:1。即使人因罪失去了神的样式，他仍是造物主的形象，也仍保有对那位呼召他进入存在者的渴望。一切宗教都见证了人对神的根本性寻求。参徒 17:27。
2566Man is in search of God. In the act of creation, God calls every being from nothingness into existence. “Crowned with glory and honor,” man is, after the angels, capable of acknowledging “how majestic is the name of the Lord in all the earth.”Ps 8:5; 8:1. Even after losing through his sin his likeness to God, man remains an image of his Creator, and retains the desire for the one who calls him into existence. All religions bear witness to man’s essential search for God.Cf. Acts 17:27.
2567是神先呼召人。人可能忘记造他的主，或躲避他的面；可能追逐偶像，或指控神明抛弃了他；然而那又活又真的神仍不知疲倦地呼召每个人进入那奥秘的相遇，也就是祈祷。在祈祷中，信实之神爱的主动永远先行；我们自己的第一步永远是回应。随着神逐步启示自己，也把人启示给自己，祈祷就显得是一种彼此的呼唤、一场约的戏剧。这戏剧藉着言语与行动牵动人的心，并贯穿整个救恩史。
2567God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer. In prayer, the faithful God’s initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself, prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a covenant drama. Through words and actions, this drama engages the heart. It unfolds throughout the whole history of salvation.