Today, I want to speak to you about the power of agreeing prayer. Jesus speaks of the importance of agreement in verse 19 of our passage. It is interesting to note that the meaning of the word used by our Lord for "agree" literally means to "symphonize." It is the word from which we get our modern word "symphony."
A special speaker was the guest in a church where the pastor announced that their prison quartet would be singing. The speaker wasn’t aware of a prison hi the vicinity, so he was a bit confused. When four members of the church approached the stage, the pastor introduced them. "This is our prison quartet," he said, "they’re behind a few bars and always looking for the key."
Well, in this passage, Jesus tells us that the key to believers working together in harmony is agreeing prayer. Agreeing prayer begins with ...
1. Praying in agreement with God - v. 18
In verse 19, Jesus says, "Again, I tell you." What is Jesus referring to that He says He had already mentioned? He is referring to what He had said inverse 18.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 18:18 (NIV)
Now this translation of this verse makes it sound like God is at our beckon call. That we are to tell Him what to do. But that is a misunder¬standing of the passage. In the NIV, there are footnotes that reveal that another translation is equally possible for this passage. A translation that is used, for example, in the NASB:
"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." - Matthew 18:18 (NASB)
The idea here is that God has issued some heavenly decrees concerning things that are bound and loosed, and He wants His people to take the initiative to enforce those decrees on earth. You see, believers have authority delegated to them by Christ, to enforce on earth that which God has decreed in heaven.
It is by Christ’s authority that we are to carry on the work of the church.
"Jesus came and told his disciples, ’I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’" - Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)
We are to go about the work Christ has commissioned us to perform in His authority. Now, this is significant, as we consider how our Lord says we are to gather together as believers. Verse 20 of our text tells us:
"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
- Matthew 18:20 (NIV)
Jesus said we are to gather for prayer "in His name," which is a reference to appreciating the authority we have been delegated by our Lord.
When Columbus discovered America, he claimed the newly discovered lands in the name of the king and queen of Spain. In doing so, he exercised the authority delegated to him by those he represented.
Likewise, we are called on to operate in prayer on the basis of the authority delegated to us by our Lord. How do we do this? By praying in agreement with God. Exercising our delegated authority through prayer to enforce God’s heavenly decrees concerning what has been bound and loosed in the earth by virtue of the finished work of Christ!
"And I tell you, you are Peter [Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [petra—a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it]. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven." - Matthew 16:18-19 (Amplified)
What is Jesus emphasizing in His play on words in this verse? He is emphasizing the delegated authority by which His church (consisting of all, who like Peter, have confessed that He is their Savior) will over¬come the powers of darkness here on earth. Jesus portrays His church as being a mighty army, overcoming the strongholds of the evil one.
And in speaking of how this mighty army is to move forward against the strongholds of the enemy, Jesus says we must operate in agreement with the heavenly decrees of God.
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." - Ephesians 6:12-13 (NKJV)
The word translated "stand" in verse 13, means "to defend the ground already taken." It speaks of waging war from a position of victory. How was this victory won? How was this ground taken? By the cross of Christ!
In secular warfare, they talk about strategic and tactical victory.
Strategic victory refers to the over all victory they want to achieve, while tactical victory refers to the individual victories that must be achieved in order to accomplish the overall strategic victory. A strategic victory is the winning of the war, while the tactical victories would be the cities that need to be conquered and the territories that must be taken in order to win the war.
Now, we shouldn’t be surprised that spiritual warfare is the opposite of secular warfare. While in secular warfare, it is the tactical victories that make the strategic victory possible, in spiritual warfare, it is the strategic victory of the cross that makes the tactical victories (our individual day to day victories) possible!
But, how do we stand in this victory made possible by the cross of Christ? Where is this warfare waged? Look at what Paul tells us to do once we have taken on the "whole armor of God." In verse Ephesians 6:1 8, he tells us to PRAY! Prayer is the key whereby we apply the stra¬tegic victory of the cross to the situations we encounter in life.
So how do we pray in agreement with God? How do we enforce His heavenly decrees here on earth through prayer? How do we know what God has decreed to be bound and loosed? We begin by being . . .
A. Informed by the Scriptures.
Through the teaching of Scripture, we learn, for example, that by the cross of Christ, God has decreed that the power of Satan has been bound and the power of the Holy Spirit has been loosed! As we grow in our understanding of God’s Word, we learn more and more about the nature of the strategic victory that Christ has won for us! Through the Scripture, we are informed about what authority is ours to exercise in prayer.
But being informed by the Scriptures is not enough. We need to also pray as we are ...
B. Inspired by the Spirit.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." - Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
What does it mean to "pray in the Spirit?" It means the same thing as it means to "or "sing in the Spirit" or to "serve in the Spirit," it means to pray as the Spirit directs.
It seems that Christians pass through different levels of growth in their practice of and appreciation for prayer.
The lowest level is the inconvenienve level. This is when the Christian only thinks of prayer whenever they face a crisis. Otherwise, prayer is not thought of.
The second level is the iniative level. This is when the Christian has come to realize their need to pray daily and begin to take the iniative to meet with God through a daily quiet time.
The third level is the invitation level. This is when the Christian begins to realize that God will sometimes invite them to prayer at times of His choosing. These are times when god lays someone on the Christian’s heart at 2 AM and calls them to intercede.
The fourth level is the level Paul is speaking of here - the interactive level of prayer. This is when the Christian allows God to direct their prayers, allowing the Spirit to not only direct the time of prayer, but also what they should pray for and how they should pray. Allowing the Spirit to guide us in applying the promises of Scripture to any given situation.
As the Spirit leads us to exercise the authority the Scripture informs us is ours, we experience tactical victories!
"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." - Hebrews 7:25 (NIV)
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." - Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
Intercession is offering up requests to God on behalf of another who would make the same request of God if they had enough sense to ask.
This is what the Son and the Spirit do for us with the Father. They pray things for us that are consistent with the will of the Father, who desires to bless us, things which we do not have enough sense to ask for.
Now here is where true growth in the discipline of prayer comes in, when I join the Lord in offering up to the Father the petitions that He is praying on my behalf. Growth in prayer occurs as I learn how to pray in agree¬ment with God, for my self, my family, my friends, my neighbors, my school, my church, my community, and my world.
Now, as powerful as praying in agreement with God is, there is something that will multiply the power released through prayers offered in agreement with God. That’s ...
2. Praying in agreement with one another - v. 19
Praying in agreement starts with our learning how to pray in agreement with God, but it also involves our praying in agreement with one another. We can pray in agreement with God for one another, and together for others. Intercession is most powerful when believers seek to pray in agree¬ment with God together.
The more of us who learn how to pray together in agreement with the Fa¬ther’s will for ourselves and for others, the more we will experience the power and provision of God. And as a result, the more we will know the Lord’s presence "in our midst."
Conclusion:
During Superbowl XXXVII, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a subur¬ban home, package in hand.
When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you."
But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was hi that pack¬age after all?"
She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a com¬pass, a water purifier, and some seeds."
Like the contents in this package, the resources for growth and strength are available for every Christian who will take advantage of them.
Like the man in the commercial, too many churches today are ignorant concerning all that has been provided for them to live victoriously in this world. Together, let us agree to learn how pray in agreement with the Father, so that His will might be done on earth, even as it is done in heaven!
