The first time I saw someone agreeing in prayer, I was younger than ten. I know because my family moved with my dad’s job and I started fifth grade in a new school. Being almost ten and starting over at the end of elementary school was tough but not nearly as difficult as my sister’s first three weeks in third grade when she was supposed to be in second. Transcripts finally caught up with us and she was placed correctly and had a stellar year. If I had to guess, this experience played a role in her decision to work through her masters in elementary education and remediation. I am confident it was all part of God’s grand design but when she was seven, none of us could have imagined how He would use her interests and talents to accomplish His purposes but He was already working all things together for the good.
I remember riding the bus home from school each afternoon together and being let out by the giant oak at the top of our gravel road with some older cousins and some kids from the trailer park across the street. I remember crossing the yard to Granny and Papa Ashley’s white cinder block house where we had snacks before being shuttled home on the monstrous bench seat of Granny’s dad, my great granddad’s tank of a sedan. Papa McCully would already be waiting inside when we arrived. Neighbors back then regularly dropped in on one another and it was not uncommon for Granny to be in the kitchen serving whatever she had on hand to whomever happened by.
I met Ms. King at my Granny’s. When Papa asked God’s blessing over our food, Ms. King nodded vigorously in agreement, voicing her yes and amen to emphasize my great grandfather’s requests. I didn’t realize it then, but she bowed before the throne of her Heavenly Father as my Papa did and though she deferred to him, she did not shy away from making her requests known. God used her example to teach me about boldness and reverence.
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Hebrews 4:16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.4.16.NLT
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/php.4.6-7.NASB1995
Unity can only be ours in Christ. Jesus prayed for us too in his great High Priestly prayer in John chapter seventeen. He prayed that we might be one even as He and the Father are One so that the world may believe God sent Jesus to reconcile all Creation to Himself. (John 17:11, 21-23) When we disagree, there is usually an issue with what motivates us. James describes it this way.
“You do not have because you do not ask God.
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
James 4:2-3 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.4.2-3.NIV
What I want clashes with what you want and what they want and instead of listening, we all talk louder. I noticed when our kids were still in school and doing homework, that although I find numbers fascinating and math comes easily to me, I could not adequately communicate what I understood to our daughter. Her older brother, Aaron, two years ahead of her in school, could often help her make sense of things. Otherwise, I would appeal to my husband when he came home. He could sit down with Caroline for just a few minutes and say what sounded to me like what I had been unsuccessfully trying to communicate all afternoon. I could see in her face that she understood. Paul would look at me and smile, like he does when I ask for his help opening a jar, and say, “You loosened it for me.”
Sometimes what seems like an impasse is actually just a misunderstanding. What I want and what you want may actually be the same thing but we are seeing it from very different perspectives. So we appeal to our highest Authority for help.
We are commanded to pray without ceasing, or as the Amplified Bible has it, “be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/1th.5.17-19.AMP
Jesus, our great high Priest always lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him. He saved us by offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice, once for all time. He will come again to judge the earth and to bring salvation to all who eagerly wait for Him. (Hebrews 7:25, 9:26-28) His sacrifice reconciled us to God and His prayers to the Father on our behalf interpret the longings of our hearts aright, aligning them with the will of God.
“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 through wordless groans.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.26-27.NIV
In Christ, our disparate requests, our rantings, our grieving, our yearnings, our rejoicing and even our tears join with the prayers of the saints across the world and across the ages and they move the heart of God.
“Let my prayer be as the evening sacrifice that burns like fragrant incense, rising as my offering to you as I lift up my hands in surrendered worship!”
Psalms 141:2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/psa.141.2.TPT
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.1.20-22.NIV
“Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— may he equip you with all you need for doing his will.
May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever!
Amen.”
Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT
A Fitting Reply 