Devotional on prayer and unity

Today is an in between devotional as we will be back in the book of Zechariah, chapter 13, on Wednesday.  Let us look at another devotional on prayer and it fits for this Sunday we will look at the Lord's Prayer recorded in Luke chapter 11.  We have looked at praying in regards of the harvest and prayer with the discipline to tarry in it.  Today we will look at prayer and the need for unity and how it brings unity.  Let's look at some related Scriptures to this end.

Matthew 18:19, 20 says,

"Again, truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them."

I have said before that these are two verses that have been overlaid onto many situations but the context of the passage is about when there is not unity.  How do we come to unity?  The instruction from Jesus is all about how to administer spiritual discipline.  In the midst of following His instruction, if two of you on earth gather to agree about following God's way, God is there in the midst.  Jesus is telling us to pray for unity which is the matter that He is speaking about.  There was disunity because some were sinning and others in the family weren't following through with proper spiritual discipline to see restoration.  If there is one thing I have learned over the years is that being divided, even in the church, is easier, than being in unity.  It takes more work to be unified than to be divided.  If we want God's presence among us, then we need to work to be unified in following His words and ways.

Hebrews 10:24, 25 says,

And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

There is so much unity in these two verses.  We watch out for one another.  We provoke love and good works toward each other.  We gather with each other.  We make it a habit of doing so.  We encourage one another.  We keep focus of the day of Christ's return.  There is a unity that comes when we spend time with one another with a purpose and goal to be more like family than we were before.  Our eyes on our Savior help us to see the need to bond with a love to see others grow in their faith as we grow in ours.

Ephesians 4:1-6 says,

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope at your calling--one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Unity starts with you individually committing to live by it as Paul did even in prison.  He says, "Therefore I" and then urges them to do the same.  To make the effort to keep the unity of the Spirit is going to take being people who are humble, gentle, patient, and bearing each other in love.  It takes something to be united to.  We are united in the Spirit.  We are united in being one family of God.  We are united in having a calling from God to present one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all.  Our united is not about just getting along but about being people who all point to God and all that God has provided and especially through His Son Jesus Christ.  Again, be reminded that Paul is calling out to the church to be striving for this even from his prison cell.  

One last Scripture passage this morning is Philippians 2:1-3 which reads,

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

This is a very tough passage because the application of having the same love and united in spirit and intention of one purpose requires us to sacrifice our selfish ambitions and conceit and to be humble to act upon putting others as more important than ourselves.  We live in a world that states "I matter" or "me too."  We are trying to crave a place for ourselves.  The Scriptures says to act a very different way.  The joy of the Apostle Paul is to see the Church in unity looking and acting out rather than focused on the disunity that comes from being selfish and making sure we are on top of the hill.  There is nothing that divides the church faster than when we as members try to assert ourselves as more important than others.  

Unity in Christ requires us to live sacrificially.  The one Body of Christ doing this creates a bond that is difficult to separate.  Seeking God's kingdom before all else results in blessings and fruitfulness for the entire Body.  Are we thinking of the whole church or just one segment of it?  Is there a need to meet like the widows missed in the bread distribution in Acts chapter 6 and a unity to meet it or are we focused on wants and using the world's ways to get it which usually means divide and conquer?  Let us be people who strive for unity who follow the One who is above all, in all, and through all.  Let us pray.

"Lord, have Your own way in Your Church.  Knit our hearts together like Jonathan and David, like Ruth and Naomi.  Make us one, like the Father and the Son.  There are no division in Your love.  Father, make us one even as You are one with Jesus.  Grant us the patience to work together as Your Body.  We desire to be of one mind, loving each other, not returning evil for evil, but blessing instead.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Pastor Adam