Learning to Pray in Agreement

PRAY IN AGREEMENT

Leviticus 26:8 says, “Five of you will chase a hundred and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.” When believers agree together in prayer the enemies of God’s kingdom are put to flight and there is great power! Prayer is a mighty weapon in the hands of believers “divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses” (2COR 10:4). Like a battery of big guns that have locked in on a target, the prayers of believers brought into agreement by the Spirit can literally level demonic and worldly obstacles to the kingdom of God. In the Book of Acts alone there are eleven instances recorded in which believers prayed together with powerful results, such as, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, miraculous escapes from prison, and the sending of anointed and effective missionary teams.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught about agreement in prayer and used highly descriptive word for agreement that is translated in the Greek as the word suphoneo (MATT 18:19). The word literally means to sound together or harmonize in a musical sense. Our English word symphony is derived from it. It also has the sense of coming into agreement after a discussion or negotiations.

When applied to the practice of praying together, these insights into world meaning are immensely helpful. We should always seek to harmonize our prayers together; to be in the same key. Like different musical instruments in a band, each member of a prayer team has their own unique and personal input to contribute in praying over a particular matter. When prayer is in harmony, each of our prayers will compliment the other tending towards the same goal. Prayer topics will be thoroughly covered in far greater detail than any individual prayer is capable of.

Prayer in agreement is powerful because it is offered with greater faith, and that faith is generated by the encouragement we individually receive when others share the same inner assurance and conviction. To be able to pray effectively in this way, honesty and communication are important. We need to communicate with others and let them know if we are unable to agree with them in prayer. There should be enough freedom and love between us to discuss the matter and to continue in prayer about it until the Spirit enables us to agree. Learning to pray in agreement is another gracious way that the Spirit uses to direct our prayers into the will of God.

I experienced this gracious leading of the Spirit one night in an evening prayer meeting with some young people from our church. I remember praying for our church which was experiencing some difficulties at the time. I prayed with as much positive faith as I could muster. Another man prayed who was discouraged by the situation and not nearly as positive about it as I was. Our prayers were not in agreement and you could feel the spiritual tension in the room. A young woman in our prayer circle was grieved at out disagreement and openly expressed her feelings to us. In her words, I felt the Spirit’s reproof and an urging to come into agreement. I prayed again and incorporated some of the concerns of the man into my prayer. The Spirit enabled me to pray a beautiful prayer that became a synthesis of the input and concerns of myself, the other man and the young woman. Everyone in the group was pleased with the result and we came into harmony again.

We had worked together as a group and ended up praying for our church in a new found agreement that I believe was much closer to the will of God in the matter. Within a short period of time, our church was able to move into an excellent location which gave it an opportunity for rebirth as a fellowship. Honesty with one another and a sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit opened the doors to effective agreement in prayer. We came away from that evening with a new respect and love for each other.