May 6 - Matthew 18:19-20

May 6
Matthew 18:19-20

Matthew 18:19-20 Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth oncerning anything that they ask, it will be done by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name I am there in the midst of them.

I love the Word of God. It is alive and it ministers to the soul - both in the Old and New Testament continuously. I opened up my Bible this morning and it opened up to Matthew 18:19-20 and it brought back many memories of times when I asked other believers to agree with me in prayer for something that was important to me - relying on this verse as a promise from God regarding the power of agreement in prayer when we line ourselves up with the Word of God.

There is so much power in agreement - and when believers come together in Jesus' name, which Jesus is the Word (John 1:14), that means we must agree on and trust in every promise that is in our Bible.  We must believe, and not doubt God's Word in which we are agreeing to to have that agreement valid.  In other words, you can be a believer in Jesus, but not necessarily believe in a particular promise in the Word of God for you or another person. Hope, by the way, is not belief.

I am always careful when I go to other believers for agreement in prayer. First of all, they have to be believers in Jesus, and secondly, they must be strong believers, believing in that promise from the Word of God on my behalf that I am seeking agreement on.  Any unbelief from anyone in what I am looking for agreement is not belief, and it then invalidates my agreement in prayer. I sometimes will even ask each person whether they truly believe in my request (that must line up with the Word of God) to make sure we are all in agreement. That is the condition that God hold regarding agreement in prayer.

So then, three things I leave with you today. If you are asked to agree with another believer in prayer over something, make sure it lines up with Scripture. Secondly, even if it does, but you can't fully support their request for whatever reason, bow out gracefully, and lastly, but most importantly, if you are asking for agreement from others, make sure they all fully agree with you on your prayer request. That way you can honestly confess "where any two or three of us agree on earth concerning what we ask, it will be done by our Father in heaven."