Bible League: Living His Word "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."Whenever individual members of the church gather together in prayer, even just two or three of them, Jesus says He is there with them. This does not mean, of course, that Jesus is not there when only one person comes before Him in prayer. Nor does it mean that a minimum of two or three must show up in order for Jesus to show up. Indeed, the idea of verse 20 is more that the gathering and agreement between the two or three is because of the presence of Jesus, not the cause of His presence. Since it is Jesus who gathers us together for prayer, it means that Jesus values corporate prayer. Again, this does not mean that individual prayer is not valuable, for "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (James 5:16), but it does mean that it is important for Christians to pray together. The church is not made up of isolated individuals. The church, rather, is a body of believers and it works best as a coordinated body. If the prayer of one righteous man is powerful and effective, then it is difficult to see that the prayer of agreement between two or three or a thousand of them would not be even more powerful and effective. Jesus says that if the two or three agree about anything, it will be done for them. This does not mean that the gathering grants them a blank check. Jesus has also told us, for example, that we must remain in Him and His words remain in us if anything is to be done for us (John 15:7). Prayer has more to do with remaining in Jesus and cooperating with the will of God than it does with trying to get whatever we want, no matter what that might be. As a Christian, you are not alone. You are a member of a body of like-minded people joined together in Christ. Don't be afraid to make your cares and concerns known to your fellow believers. Don't be afraid to pray in agreement with them. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Kings 15, 16, 17 2 Kings 15 -- Azariah, Jotham Kings of Judah; Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah Kings of Israel NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 16 -- Ahaz Ruler over Judah; Damascus Falls; Ahaz Succeeded by Hezekiah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 17 -- Hoshea Last King of Israel; Northern Tribes Led into Captivity NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 6:1-21 John 6 -- Jesus Feeds Five Thousand, Walks on Water; "I am the Resurrection"; Many Desert Jesus; Peter Confesses Christ NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Rise during the night and cry out.Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger. Insight The people's suffering and sin should have brought them to the Lord, weeping for forgiveness. Only when sin breaks our hearts can God come to our rescue. Challenge Just feeling sorry about experiencing sin's consequences does not bring forgiveness. But if we cry out to God, he will forgive us. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 1 Timothy 6:17 Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As the King can never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There are seven feast-days in his weeks, and as many as are the days, so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever returned from his door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied, or from his bosom un-emparadised? His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening. Who can know the number of his benefits, or recount the list of his bounties? Every sand which drops from the glass of time is but the tardy follower of a myriad of mercies. The wings of our hours are covered with the silver of his kindness, and with the yellow gold of his affection. The river of time bears from the mountains of eternity the golden sands of his favor. The countless stars are but as the standard bearers of a more innumerable host of blessings. Who can count the dust of the benefits which he bestows on Jacob, or tell the number of the fourth part of his mercies towards Israel? How shall my soul extol him who daily loadeth us with benefits, and who crowneth us with loving-kindness? O that my praise could be as ceaseless as his bounty! O miserable tongue, how canst thou be silent? Wake up, I pray thee, lest I call thee no more my glory, but my shame. "Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake right early." Daily Light on the Daily Path Romans 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,John 13:13 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. John 12:26 "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. Matthew 11:29,30 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. • "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Philippians 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. John 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. Galatians 4:7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 5:1,13 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. • For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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