Prayer of the Week

"If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." Matthew 18.19

"Anything they ask"... "It will be done." What a great promise. Jesus tells his disciples- and us- that God will answer all our prayers. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite's candidate friend, Pedro, "Your wildest dreams will come true." I do not want to diminish the significance of the promise. It is true. It is valid. There is an unequivocal assertion of God's ability and desire to answer requests. But we must temper our excitement with the first part of the verse.

"If two of you agree..." We Christians, particularly we American Christians, should be ashamed of our privatized faith. We have translated the popular phrase "personal relationship" to mean "private relationship." This is terribly unfortunate. There is nothing private about the Christian faith. We are to share it at every opportunity. We are to tell others who are not Christians so that they will want to join the faith, and we are to tell those who are Christians so that they will be encouraged in the faith.

What Jesus is advocating is that we should be praying together. Our efforts on Sunday morning are a good start. Joining other believers at the altar rail in unified petition is a wonderful thing. But we should also be praying together in small groups throughout the week. The most practical way to do this is to pray with your family, but you might also have co-workers or neighbors that you could pray with.

There is power in praying together. Jesus promised answers when we move from private to public prayer.

PRAYER: Lord God, send me a prayer partner. Help me to find a person, or persons, who are of like mind. Knit our hearts and spirits together so that we can lift our prayers to you on a regular basis. Make me a prayer warrior. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.