The Power of Agreement

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
—Matthew 18:18-20

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 18 that our prayer life is more than a personal experience. First, remember how vital personal and intimate prayers are to our spiritual growth.

God loves it when his kids come to him in prayer with their specific requests and needs. I recalled this week at our church service how David wrote in Psalm 18:3, “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

When we come to God in secret and lay our hearts out before him, calling on his name for help and direction, he responds with his grace and goodness. These spaces of prayer are critical to our growth because they allow us to address the parts of our hearts that only God can see. Prayer begins with openness and vulnerability before God.

But it doesn’t end there. Prayer becomes exponentially more powerful when we gather together and pray in agreement. Intercession can be a personal mission, but clearly, God designed the ministry of prayer to happen in communion. When we gather with believers to seek God’s face and pray for his hand in our world, our agreement pulls on the heart of God in a way that doesn’t happen when we try to go solo.

For some reason, the Father’s attention is drawn to the prayers of his people in unity under Jesus’ name, so much so that God is promised to be present in their prayers.

Suddenly, the pursuit of presence and glory doesn’t seem far-fetched. Community around the presence of God is simply the result of believers unified in Jesus’ name and praying.

As you continue growing in your prayers of faith privately and personally with God, I want to challenge you to consider where God might have you engage in corporate prayers. Is there a prayer meeting in your church community that you can engage with? How do you respond to corporate prayers on Sunday mornings? What would change if we recognized that these prayers of unity are the foundation for establishing God’s presence in the church?

God, help me grow in the ministry of prayer. Help me respond to your invitation to pray in unity with other believers. Open the way for me to engage with other believers in prayer in my church community.