Emergency service people are called first responders. Their first response is to help. Police, fire fighters, and paramedics all race to respond when someone is in need. For many it comes naturally. For most, training is needed to be able to fly into action during an emergency. As a former police officer, my husband was trained to be a first responder.

急救人员被称为第一反应人员，他们的首要任务就是给予帮助。每当有人有需要时，警察，消防员，护理人员都会奋力迅速反应。挺多人都可以很自然的如此，但是大部分人还得需要被训练，在第一时间做出反应。作为一位曾经的警察，我的丈夫就是被训练成为第一反应人员。

As a Christian, I have a desire to speak to the Lord about things. But, like a paramedic, there’s training necessary before I learn to pray first in a situation. I have to make a conscious decision to do that. His Word is a great reminder.

作为一个基督徒，我需要渴望与上帝交谈，就像护理人员一样，我需要培训一下自己，以能在任何情况下都在第一时间祷告。我必须下意识地做那个决定。祂的话语是很好提示。

When I’m going through something difficult, I struggle with taking my cares to God first—before worrying. My first response is to share my anxieties or fears with my husband, Paul, or have a marathon conversation with my girlfriend.

当我正在经历一些难事的时候，我很难不去担忧却去首先交托上帝。我的第一反应是和我的丈夫保罗分享我的焦虑与害怕，或者，和我的闺蜜煲电话粥。

When I have a weakness, I make a point to teach my children the areas I struggle in, so they can avoid my pitfalls. Things like swimming in deep water, eating more veggies than cookies, keeping my patience while driving—prayer as a first response in every situation. I learned through an emergency experience that they had actually listened to me.

当我软弱时，我会趁机教导孩子们我挣扎的领域，这样他们就可以不重蹈我的覆辙了。就像在深水里游泳，多吃蔬菜少吃曲奇，在开车时保持冷静这样的事情一样，祷告成为我生活中任何境况的第一反应。从一次突发状况中我了解到孩子们真的按我说的做了。

We were getting onto the freeway, when Paul accelerated to merge with traffic. “Geesh!” I heard him say as a wooden garage door tumbled through the air and landed with a thud, throwing up dust and debris not more than 50 feet in front of us.

我们正要开到高速路上，当保罗准备加速融入车流时，只听保罗喊道：“天哪”！同时看到一个木制的车库门随着气流猛然落到地上，激起的灰尘和碎片离我们不足五十尺。

We watched in stunned silence as a full-sized pickup truck careened out of control, skidding sideways across three lanes. The driver overcorrected, and the truck went airborne. His vehicle cartwheeled off the freeway and over a 30-foot embankment, landing somewhere below.

我们眼睁睁地看着一辆大号卡车失去控制并侧翻，横跨三个车道向边道滑去。司机已经控制不住了，卡车几乎飞了起来。最终那个庞然大物飞出了高速公路，飞过差不多30尺高的路堤，落在一个较低的地方。

As Paul (a former police officer) pulled over, I silently prayed he would stop our Suburban before the children caught a glimpse of the potential fatality. Quickly, but calmly, he put the car into park and unbuckled his seat belt. “Call 911.” Bolting out of the car, he sprinted down the freeway, over the embankment, and out of sight.

当保罗（曾经的警察）准备停下车的时候，我默默的祷告，在他停下我们的车之前孩子们不会看到可能会有的可怕场面。他迅速但冷静地把车停在停车场，解开安全带，告诉我拨打911，他就奔出了车，全力跑向高速公路，越过路堤，消失在视线中。

As I dialed 911, my hands began to shake; I (a former police dispatcher) wasn’t familiar with being on this side of an emergency call. As I gave the dispatcher information, I could hear soft voices from the backseat.

在拨打911时，我的手开始抖起来，作为一名曾经的接警员，不太熟悉在线路那一头的情况。当我向接警员描述完情况之后，我听到后座上孩子们细微的声音。

My children were praying.

我的孩子们在祷告。

They had been trained to make prayer their first response. I was touched as I listened to them pray for their daddy and the man in the pickup truck.

他们已经被训练把祷告当作第一反应。在他们为爸爸和卡车里的司机祷告时，我被深深地触动了。

The looky-loos gathered, pulling their cars onto the shoulder. Some even got out and stood, peering over the edge to view the carnage below. Still, none ran down the steep embankment or attempted to climb over the barbed wire fence.

旁观者开始聚集，他们把车停在边上，还有些人甚至离开车，站在那里看热闹。却没有人走近些，也没有人尝试越过护栏。

No one, except my husband.

没有人，除了我的丈夫。

The driver was alive when Paul got to him, his truck eventually landed upside down on a frontage road below. Partially ejected out the passenger window, he was semi-conscious. Work tools, ladders, and broken glass had been launched and scattered alongside the road, out of the way of oncoming traffic.

当保罗赶到时，那个司机还活着，他的卡车最终翻倒在路边，副驾驶的窗户半开着，司机的意识模糊。工具，梯子，破碎的玻璃散落一地，也挡住了交通。

Paul thought for sure the driver was dead. We discovered later when the ambulance arrived that his injuries were minor.

保罗认为司机已经死了。但是当救护车赶到时，我们得知他只是受了轻伤。

I was proud of my husband, but I wasn’t surprised. He’d been trained to react this way. My children were proud of their dad too. One moment they were talking with him in the car, and the next they witnessed Clark Kent transform into Superman. First responders are trained to do just that.

我为我的丈夫感到骄傲，但是我并不吃惊。他被训练成如此反应。我的孩子们也为他们的父亲骄傲。前一刻他们还在车上与他交谈，接着他们就见证了他们的爸爸像蜘蛛侠一样变身。第一反应人被训练出那样的反应。

What impressed me more than my Superman spouse was my children’s first response. They began to pray, without provocation or direction from me. They’d been trained to bring their cares before the Lord. Someone once shared with me, “Joanne, if all you can do is pray, then that’s what you should do.” My children lived those words out that day.

比起我的丈夫的反应，孩子们的第一反应更让我印象深刻。在没有我的指示情况下，他们开始祷告。他们被训练要把他们的需要告诉上帝。曾经有人与我分享：“如果你所能做的只有祷告，那么你就只祷告”。我的孩子们在那天活出了这句话。

Practicing what I preach

练习我传递的

I used to believe I was too busy to pray. Not true. Prayer took a backseat in my faith journey for far too long. Making time for it is a discipline I am still learning. At least now I understand I have time for it. How could I honestly believe I didn’t have time to talk with God? I made time daily to eat at least three meals a day, browse the internet, and make phone calls to friends who had no power to change the problems I was facing even if they wanted to.

我总是觉得我太忙了，以至于没时间祷告。那不是真的。祷告在我的信仰之旅中被放在后位上已经很久了。安排好祷告的时间对我来说仍然是正在操练的功课。至少，现在我明白我有时间祷告。我是怎么想的，会觉得我没时间与上帝对话呢？我却有时间每天至少有吃三餐，上网，和那些并不能真正解决我问题的朋友们通话？

I used to believe prayer was a lesser responsibility for those who didn’t have the gift of teaching or couldn’t make a tater tot casserole for the church potluck. Prayer was at the bottom of my to-do list. Those who were labeled prayer warriors, well, I thought it was great for them, but it must be because they weren’t gifted for anything else.

我总是认为祷告的责任比起在教会中教导的，或是爱宴的服侍没有那么大。祷告总是我待办事情的最后一项。那些“祷告勇士”们，我承认那对他们来说很棒，但是那肯定因为他们没有其他的恩赐。

When I was younger, if I had been given a book to read, I would have voraciously attacked each chapter except the one on prayer. After all, prayer was boring, prayer took time, and prayer was only for emergencies, right? I was raised in a church where prayers were memorized and recited and didn’t require much reflection on my part.

当我年轻时，如果读书，我会选择跳过“祷告”那个章节。毕竟祷告很无趣，也很占用时间，祷告只是为了紧急事件，不是吗？我成长的教会中，会背诵祷告，但是不需要我有太多的回应。

When I first brought my husband to a service in my childhood church, he was surprised at the lack of emotion, the monotone presentation of those who repeated the same prayer over and over—almost in a chant. Frankly, I wasn’t too interested in digging much deeper. As far as I was concerned, prayer was boring, and that was that.

当我第一次带我的丈夫来到我儿时的教会时，他很惊讶于那些缺少感情，一次又一次地被人们像数来宝一样重复着的祷告词而惊讶到。坦白讲，我没什么兴趣深层探讨。我所涉及到的祷告是枯燥的。

Prayer is an important part of my day now. I can’t imagine how my marriage would suffer if Paul and I spoke only every now and then or just once on Sunday. I’m grateful for a Lord and Savior who not only died for me but who also takes the time to listen whenever I speak to Him.

现在，祷告成为我生活中很重要的一部分。我很难想象如果我和保罗只是偶尔谈话一下，或者只是在周日时有交流，我们的婚姻会是什么样。我很感恩，我的救赎主不仅救赎了我，并且愿意随时随地在我身边聆听我的话语。

If you have struggled with making prayer your first response, here are some ideas to get you started:

如果你也同样有困难，让祷告成为你遇事的第一反应，那么下面有一些小建议，你可以试一试：

• Set apart time each day for prayer.

  每天单独拨出一些时间祷告。

• Pray with your children each night before bed and before they leave for school  in the morning. Allow them to overhear your own prayers or see you praying with your husband from time to time.

  每天在孩子们睡前或上学之前，和他们一起祷告。允许孩子们时不时地偷偷倾听你和丈夫的祷告。

• Begin  a prayer journal. Every couple of months read through it. Your trust in  Him will grow as you see how He’s been faithful to answer your prayers.

  开始写祷告日记，每隔几个月就拿出来读一读。你信靠祂，当然会随着祂为你成就的祷告事项越来越信靠祂。

• Find yourself a prayer partner. Some of the sweetest phone calls I’ve shared      have included prayer time with a girlfriend.

  找到你的祷告伙伴。我的一些最甜蜜的祷告就是来自于我和闺蜜的电话祷告。

Is He your first step and first response when life gets harried and priorities get skewed? Have you talked with Him lately? If you haven’t, maybe it’s time you did.

当你的生活变得紧张或是遭遇麻烦时，祂是不是你的第一优先选择？最近你有没有和祂交流？如果没有，那么现在开始吧。