Jesus said to them, “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 18:19-20).
All prayers are good prayers.
Some prayers will be answered, and some will not, but an artist in praying learns as much from unanswered prayers as fulfilled requests.
There is a type of praying that has a powerful promise. It’s praying in unity.
When someone asks me to pray, often I pray right then. But a spontaneous request often does not carry the same weight of burden as a request developed in unity. Let me restate clearly – all prayer requests are good prayer requests and should be met with serious prayer. However . . .
I am more passionate about prayers in which I’m a participant in developing the ask.
Jesus promised in Matthew 18 that what we agree about on earth will be done by our Father in heaven. What a great promise, but it’s based upon unity and cooperation between individuals in developing the request.
I’ve often been involved with a group coming together to develop a unified specific request. We then asked, and almost every time, God answered.
One time our ministry needed $100,000 as a downpayment for a building. Through frustrating circumstances, the real estate agent called on a Monday telling us that the closing was on Thursday and that we needed to bring with us $100,000.
We only had $120,000 in the bank, and staff salaries were due on Friday. We agreed to ask God to provide us with $120,000 that week.
A very specific and needed request and one prayed in unity.
When we arrived back from closing on the property, I went to my car. My associate pastor walked into our current church building, and on the way inside, someone got out of their car and handed him a check for $100,000.
The person said, “I was going to give this money on Sunday, but the Lord told me to bring the money today.”
Agreeing prayers are powerful.
Have you learned to pray in agreement with your spouse, family, friends, and church members?
Let’s review: A need + unity + a big request. This is the formula that Jesus gives us for powerful prayers.