As I read a book on prayer last week, I was struck by the phrase “the power of two-pray.” The idea of "two-pray" comes from Jesus words: Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst, [and] this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (Mat 18:20; 1 John 5:14-15).
After God created Adam, He said “It is not good for man to be alone.” When Jesus sent out his disciples he sent them two by two. It was not merely a matter of being lonely if they had gone out singly, "Lone Ranger" ministry was not God’s design. He intends that one partner complement (complete) the other. The principle: two together do more than two apart.
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor, for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion, but woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. (Ecclesiastes 4:10-12).
Greg,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement to pray with other people. My observation is that one of the most powerful weapons God has provided in our spiritual arsenal is unity. If the enemy of our souls can keep us apart at this foundational level of two-prayer then he most certainly will be able to prevent the more damaging effects of corporate prayer--and worship-- applied against his kingdom of darkness.
Ignorance, in this case, is not bliss. If we fail to recognize the exponential effects of united prayer even at the two-prayer level, we will have little use for prayer on a much grander scale. One of our Lord's final requests from the Father while in His flesh was "...that they may be one,even as We are One..." It is no surprise, then, that the "Lone Ranger" mentality is fought for by the enemy to replace our conscious dependence upon one another to join together in prayer,no matter how large or small the projected effect will be.
Stan