May 14

Besides the pleasantness of dwelling in harmony with our fellow sojourners on this very small sphere that swirls through space bearing its unique passengers, there is something else that we miss by the distance we allow to separate us from our fellow man in general and from fellow believers in particular.

In Matthew 18:19 it says, ”If two or more agree on earth as touching anything, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven.” The Lord Jesus is here affirming that there is great power in unity. The fact that we so rarely see our prayers answered is a testimony of our unwillingness to bind together in a meaningful way.

We cannot begin to imagine the answers to prayer we would receive if we would appropriate the unity that the Lord says is the key to attaining the things that we desire. We are told that we are to carry the burdens that our brothers bear. We are told that we are to feel into his situation and help him to pray through. We are to help him shoulder his trial.

But our pattern is to be on our own spiritually. We doubt that anyone would desire to help us with our load of cares because we know in the depth of our being we don’t care about theirs. So we perpetuate the robbery against ourselves of knowing the joy and the blessing of binding in love to overcome the tribulations we all face—if we would simply pray in the power of unity.