Matthew 18:15-20
Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty – Debbie and Julie too (leaving today, coming home tomorrow)!
“Notice what you notice.” It seems like I’m running into a lot of confusing statements these days. Today is another. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. (v. 19) So if a couple of us agree on something, it should be done, yes? But I know that more than a couple of us would agree to ask for complete healing for brother Jim without the need for any surgery or even any more chemo. But I don’t see that kind of healing happening much. And yes, I know that it’s a bigger world out there and I don’t know the full implications of anything for which I might be praying; the Father knows best what is in my or our best interests and will act accordingly. So Jesus’ statement leaves me confused. What is He really saying?
I think the clue is in the next sentence: For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them. (v. 20) If two of us are agreeing with something that we are asking, it must be the case that we are together “in Christ”. And if so, because two or more of us are gathered “in Christ”, then He is in the midst of us. And if He is truly in the midst of us and is speaking to us, then if we hear Him we would most certainly agree with Him. And because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (John 14:10, 11, 20), He will know the Father’s will and will speak to our hearts accordingly. That’s why we end our “asking” prayers with “…not my will, but your will be done”. We can’t go wrong if we end our prayers with that phrase. My thoughts…
Slava Bohu!