The Prayer Of Unity 9
1 How truly wonderful and delightful
to see brothers and sisters living together in sweet unity!
2 It’s as precious as the sacred scented oil
flowing from the head of the high priest Aaron,
dripping down upon his beard and running all the way down
to the hem of his priestly robes.
3 This heavenly harmony can be compared to the dew
dripping down from the skies upon Mount Hermon,
refreshing the mountain slopes of Israel.
For from this realm of sweet harmony
God will release his eternal blessing, the promise of life forever! Psalms 133
There’s something powerful that happens when believers come together
to pray. As we join our hearts with others at the “throne of grace”.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
We can expect an even greater impact. Prayer is meant to be more
than just our own private devotional time with God. It’s meant to be a shared
experience with others in a corporate setting as well. The Lord loves to see
His kids praying together with passion and with unity. You and I are called to
be His prayer pioneers.
The early disciples continually gathered together for prayer.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:42
Corporate intercession was the consistent practice of the early
church, providing the fuel for revival and miracles. Every church that is
pursuing the heart of God needs to establish regular, corporate times of
intercession. These united prayer gathering will one day become
twenty-four-hour prayer centers for every region of the earth as God
reestablishes the Tabernacle of David among the nations. Listen to what the
Father says about His end-time intercessors:
7 ‘I will welcome you into my holy mountain
and make you joyful in my house of prayer.
I will accept every sacrifice and offering
that you place on my altar,
for my house of worship will be known
as a house of prayer for all people.’” Isaiah 56:7
The Lord longs to bring joy into the house of prayer. Enjoyable
prayer is even now being released into prayer rooms across the earth! For His
promise is that He will give those who are dedicated to prayer great joy. And
His love-sick worshippers are already filling the House of Prayer and finding
prayer enjoyable as they spend time with Him.
HEAVEN WAITS FOR EARTH!
The movement of God must come to the earth by aggressive, even
furious prayer, The move in heaven is controlled by the move on earth. Listen
to what Jesus has taught us:
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed
in heaven. Matthew 18:18
This is in the context of united, believing prayer. There must
be a move on earth before there is a move in heaven. We are given the keys and
must utilize them before heaven will move! It’s not heaven that binds first or
looses first; it’s earth. Our prayers
must bind everything that’s contrary to heaven and loose everything that God
wants to be done on earth.
The Sovereign Lord wants the church to control heaven!
Are you getting it yet? There’s a power that God puts under the
control of His interceding people. Just like Moses’ uplifted hand controlled
the outcome of the battle.
8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Exodus 17:8-11
So intercessors are those who lift up their hands on earth and
see heaven’s grace pour out on the earth’s battlefields. Truly, God wants us to
win and taste victory, but if we don’t pray aggressively, battles may be lost.
God will actually yield to our plea! The Father lets His Son “pin Him to the
mat,” so to speak, by intercession.
37 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also let the
house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men
like a flock. Ezekiel 36:37
UNITED PRAYER: THE POER OF GOD
Jesus taught His disciples that the power of prayer is
multiplied when believers come together to intercede. One can chase a thousand
and two can chase ten thousand! Using the mathematics of heaven, only seven
praying in accord could chase one billion! World- changing prayer will result
when we agree with others and pray in unity. This is why Jesus always sent out
His disciples two by two. To pray together in one spirit and with one heart is
to touch heaven. There is a corporate model of prayer in the Bible that is not
individualistic. We experience the blessing of heaven talked about in Psalms
when we come together in true unity.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing—
Life forevermore. Psalms 133
Jesus’ words to us:
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on
earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father
in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My
name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19-20
Since we have this confidence, we can also have great boldness
before Him, for if we present any request agreeable to his will, He will hear
us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we
have obtained the request in faith that we ask of Him.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him,
that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And
if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15
Throughout the book of Acts, we see the church actively entering
into the prayer of agreement and coming together for prayer. Our authority
increases when the church prays in unity.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and
supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His
brothers. Acts 1:14
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were
all with one accord in one place. Acts 2:1
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they
were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Sharing in All Things
32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one
soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own,
but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the
apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace
was upon them all. Acts 4:31-33
The longing of Jesus was that all His followers would be one in spirit
and in glory with himself. There is a sense in which every time we come
together as one to intercede, we are brining delight to the heart of the Lord
Jesus and, in part, answering this prayer. Corporate prayer meetings are a kind
of practice for heaven’s glory, you will even feel heaven’s glory filling the
room!
Praying together releases heaven on earth and takes us into our
destiny. There is a measure of God’s Spirit that will not be given to the church
until we come together in united, sustained prayer, He’s waiting on us to agree
with Heaven! True prayer brings a joy and gladness into the prayer meeting. The
Lord has said.
7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7
It's a religious spirit that wants to make every prayer meeting
into a time of confession and repentance. But introspection, apart from the
genuine conviction of the Holy Spirit, moves us away from God’s heart, not
closer. Yes, there are times of weeping. As Scripture says,
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3:4
But when you have the bridegroom, we encounter Him with love and
joy. Divine romance needs to be brought into the prayer meeting!
We’re His bride, and we earnestly love Him. How can we be
negative when our thoughts are filled with the Bridegroom and His exquisite
love for us? The Lord really wants us to enjoy our prayer time with Him.
There is such an interesting dynamic that takes place in the
corporate setting. As we come together and place our full focus on God, we can
engage our spirit at the deepest level. Our attention span tends to lengthen.
Most of us can pray longer when we’re together and the Spirit of God is moving
in the room through one another.
Two are better that one: they can chase ten thousand
distractions away. When hundreds or thousands gather for intercession, power is
released. And then we are enabled to engage with God aggressively rather than
passively disengage while others are praying. It’s almost like a healthy, holy
peer pressure for all of us to stay united in the spirit. Those weak in prayer
are taught, and those that are strong in prayer are able to lead and encourage
without undue coaxing. And the icing on the cake is that the commanded blessing
of Psalm 133 is released as our voices and hearts have come together as one.
Something special happens when the church prays!
Intercessory prayer meetings are the womb of the church,
birthing God’s purpose. Many churches don’t understand this and want to silence
the groans of labour pains. But this is a type of travail that brings in the
harvest. You may want to instruct those that are new to intercessory prayer
about what’s happening but beware that you don’t mistake true intercessory
travail with those who simply make noise to have their own emotional brokenness
filled.
The hope of the world is that an intercessory army will rise and
take her place as the warring bride armed with the mighty weapons of the
promises of God (Eph5,6).
When Zion travails, she brings forth her children! At times, it’s
best to wait and see what God is doing before shutting someone down from
expressing themselves in ways that you’re not used to… you may be in the midst
of pre-revival travail!
Pray this today:
Lord Jesus, we feel a deeper call from the throne room to enter
into prayer with You. Prayer is where it’s at, and we want to be on the front
lines of Your advancing Kingdom. Make us a walking prayer meeting. Cause our
hearts to burn with deeper longings to be Your prayer partner. We want to learn
all that You have to teach us. Amen.