《論語．述而》「子路請禱」章保留了孔門弟子在面對老師重病時的心理反應。基於對這章上下文的理解和關注點的差異，漢儒和宋儒對於子路這個行為的評價並不相同。通過解釋史的呈現可以看出，漢代儒者從孔子的應答之言出發，基本否定子路的行為，並由此否定祈禱行為的正當性；而宋儒尤其是朱熹則更關注此一行為中的個人情感，因而對子路更具「同情之理解」。在朱熹看來，請禱本身是子路出於關心孔子的情感所生發的自然反應，是面臨無能為力之困境時安頓自身「歉然不足」之心的一種方式，自有其自身的經典依據。由此區分，亦展現出朱熹對於祈禱意義與限度的獨特理解，顯示出不同時代儒者對於信仰世界的態度差別。

The chapter ＂Zi Lu asked to pray for Confucius＂ in Analects preserved a careful mental reaction of Confucius' disciples when they facing the sickness of master. However, based on the different concerns and understandings about their context, Confucians in Han and Sung dynasty have very dissimilar interpretations on Zi Lu's action. Through presenting the hermeneutical history of this chapter, we can find that the scholars in Han dynasty basically held a negative attitude toward Zi Lu's behavior, with Confucius' reaction as their foundation. On the other hand, scholars in Sung dynasty, especially Zhu Xi, concerned more on Zi Lu's personal feeling in that context, as a result, they can have a more sympathetically understanding to Zi Lu's reaction. For Zhu Xi, 'ask for praying' reflects a natural reaction facing the situation of Confucius' sickness, for this behavior could settle their own anxiety, which had its own basis in classics. Through this distinction, we can also find Zhu Xi's unique attitude towards the meanings and limits of prayer and his different attitude toward the transcendental world compared with his contemporary Confucians.