“There is power in praying together. Deuteronomy says of God’s army that ‘one man (could) chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight’ (32:30). There is a multiplied effect in being together before God. It was the corporate prayer of Acts 1:14 that produced the corporate power of Acts 2:42-47. Corporate prayer brings corporate power (Acts 4:14-31).” Steve Meeks

God’s heart is that we have agreement and unity in our prayers. The key to power in praying together is a single focus. Agreement in prayer brings breakthrough. We go to a powerful prayer meeting on Wednesdays. The reason it is so powerful is because we are focused on one thing – praying for America. The entire hour is spent in praying everything about our country. We don’t suddenly launch out into something else but we all come with a determined mindset to pray for one thing – our nation. It’s easy to be divided into a million areas when we pray. The needs are so great. But the most powerful prayer meetings are when everyone is in agreement about one thing at a time. We must learn to pray through a request until God moves us on to something else. We are one body with one voice seeking God together.

Agreement in prayer is not a new thing. It is Biblical! In Acts 1:14 we read “they all joined together constantly in prayer” and in 4:14 we read, “they raised their voices together in prayer”. Together is a key that opens the door to the power of God. The King James Bible in Acts 2:1 says “with one accord”. What were the results? – The filling of the Holy Spirit with boldness and Peter’s miraculous release from prison.

To pray together is to dream the dreams of God together.

I don’t know how you feel, but I want to dream the dreams of God together with other like-minded people. It is a huge encouragement when we don’t have to carry a heavy burden alone. God has great plans and His Kingdom is coming to earth. I want to pray His dream with others regarding His Kingdom. I want to agree with others in alignment with His will. Praying in agreement is harmonizing together like a symphony.

When an orchestra is tuning up, everything can sound like a lot of noise – Every instrument is doing it’s own thing – But when the conductor raises his baton, the instruments come together in harmony. That’s how prayer should be when Jesus is the conductor of the meeting.

On Wednesdays I go to a prayer meeting from 6:30 – 7:30 AM with over 100 people praying together, mainly intercessors. It’s great! And there is a beautiful harmony. Last week one person started a spontaneous song and two others continued the song with new verses and in perfect harmony. Every week a prayer theme is continued through the entire hour with one intercessor adding to the prayers of another. There’s direction as everyone prays with one heart and mind under the direction of Jesus, the conductor. This brings encouragement, builds faith, and helps everyone to concentrate. We are all keenly aware of what the Holy Spirit is doing. The harmony keeps us all awake early in the morning! We are agreeing in prayer. We read in Matthew 18:19 in the Amplified Bible:

“Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever (anything and everything) they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven.”

How to Agree in Prayer

“When you pray in agreement, there is no loophole, no alternate plan, and no changing your mind.”  Elmer Towns

Praying with one another in agreement helps us to bear one another’s burdens. It’s encourages faith and helps us avoid temptation. Here are some ways that will help you to pray in one accord:

• Pray with a clean heart – You must be in harmony. Make sure there is no unconfessed sin or unforgiveness. “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18). See John 9:31.

• Pray with the Holy Spirit’s direction – When you start praying, invite the Holy Spirit to come and direct you in prayer. Look to Him for His guidance, direction, and focus.
• Pray in agreement with honesty and love – “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble” (1 Pet. 3:8).

• Pray God’s will according to Scripture – “And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us” (1 John 5:14, Amplified). Also see James 4:3 and John 15:7.

• Pray one subject at a time – You may want to pray back and forth on one topic until you are finished. Remember to stay focused until you are finished with that topic before you move to something else.

• Pray brief, to-the-point prayers – Long prayers can cause the group to lose focus. You want everyone to participate.

• Pray with faith and confidence – Believe together that God hears and will answer your prayers. God can do anything. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22). See Hebrews 11:6.

• Pray with perseverance and urgency – Don’t give up. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). Also see Matthew15:21-28.

Why is it so hard to start citywide prayer meetings and Houses of Prayer? The answer is simple. Satan knows the power of agreement in prayer. He knows that if the churches came together in united prayer, the city could be reached for Christ. So he fights it in every way he can. He loves disunity and this is one of his greatest tricks. He always wants to bring division, discord, and broken relationships.

But when there is unity in prayer, there is another outcome. Steve Meeks shares about how praying together in agreement affected his church and city. He says:

“Praying together has been like igniting a spiritual boiler room within our church. The temperature of our faith has risen. Answered prayers are an ongoing experience. We have seen the climate of our unity radically changed. We have entered a stream of God’s activity along with a host of other churches and Christians and pastors’ groups across our city. There is a feeling of oneness among the churches, and practical strategies are developing for the church in Houston to stand ‘firm in one spirit, contending as one man fort the faith of the gospel’ (Philippians 1:27).” 

Sometimes one prayer from another perspective can change everything. Occasionally my husband and I go to a Turkey prayer meeting. In one hour we pray a multitude of prayers for that one nation. It’s amazing the variety of prayers there can be prayed for one country. The prayers are direct, to-the-point, and are led by the Holy Spirit. On my own I could never pray from that many perspectives but together there is united wisdom and power.

Perhaps you have heard about the old farmer who drank his first bottle of soda pop while he was heading for the big city on a speeding train. After he took his first sip, the train roared into a dark tunnel. He cried out to his wife, “Don’t drink that soda pop, Martie, it will make you blind as a bat!” The old man had evaluated the situation from his own perspective. He wasn’t really blind. He was in a tunnel and didn’t even know it. We can also have tunnel vision in our prayers. We need one another’s wisdom and perspective.

There was an elderly Midwest couple that apologized to the TV repairman when he came to the door. With red faces they informed him that their TV had no problems at all. “We made a mistake,” they told him. “We put on each other’s eyeglasses.” As Christians, we see the world through our own eyes. We think we see with 20/20 vision but that’s not true. We need one another to see and pray from God’s full perspective. We need one another to pray with the power of God. Snowflakes are very frail all alone, but if enough of them get together they can cause a traffic jam! (http://elbourne.org/sermons)

The Holy Spirit is inviting us to enter into His heart for breakthrough unity. We are living in exciting days. Agreement brings breakthrough. It’s Scriptural and God promises to be present. We read in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” God answers united prayer. As we saw in Matthew 18:19, the Bible says that if two of us agree on earth, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven. That’s a powerful verse. Agreement is the untapped power of believers. Perhaps this is the day we should take hold of God’s untapped formula for breakthrough in prayer! Let’s learn the secret of agreement!

“Agreement is perhaps the untapped power of believers! What would be the results of real agreement among believers? If we will be led into perfect unity with Jesus Christ, having His mind in us so that we think as He would and ask according to his Word (John 15:7), and maintain unobstructed relationships between ourselves, having no resentments or unforgiveness toward others, we would open a channel through which God’s power could flow unobstructed.” Thetus Tenney

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC