Matt. 18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven. (19) Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens.
There are two aspects to this truth [of prayer with harmony] . On the one hand, there is the harmony concerning any matter. On the other hand, there is the prayer concerning any matter. God must bring us to this point. Christian harmony can be found only in the Body of Christ; it cannot be found anywhere else. Harmony is something found in the Body of Christ. Only in the Body of Christ is there no striving, and only in the Body of Christ is there harmony. When our natural life is dealt with by the Lord, and we are brought to the point where we truly know the Body of Christ, we will be in harmony. Then when we come together to pray, our prayer will be in harmony. When we stand on a harmonious ground, the things we do will be in harmony. When we are in harmony in the things we see, we can be the mouthpiece of God's will. The prayer ministry of the church is a prayer on earth that results in a move in heaven. Brothers and sisters, we must remember that the prayer in Matthew 18 can never be covered by prayers that are in the nature of spiritual edification. It can never be covered by personal prayers. We often can ask God for what we lack, and God answers our prayer. There is a place for personal prayers. We often feel that God is near to us. Thank the Lord, He hears prayers that are for spiritual edification. We should not despise this kind of prayer. However, we must also see that prayers are not just for individuals and for spiritual edification. Prayer is for ministry and work. This prayer is the ministry of the church on earth; it is the work of the church. It is the responsibility that the church bears before God. The prayer of the church is the outlet of heaven. The prayer of the church means that when God wants to do something, the church prays about that matter first so that it can be fulfilled and God's goal can be accomplished.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from "The Prayer Ministry of the Church" in the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 22, pp. 148-150. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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