POWER IN NUMBERS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 18:19-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There is power in numbers. You’ve heard it said before and you’ll hear it said again because there’s truth in the statement. We see it on display time and time again in different application points in life and as we see in the 18th Chapter of Matthew, Jesus asserts that there is power in numbers as well.

Go back to yesterday’s devotion for example.

The theme was the matter of a sinner within the church needing confronted over their trangressive behavior. You’ll remember that Jesus prescribed approaching the sinner in a tiered approach, first starting with an individual counsel, attempting to handle the matter at the lowest level possible in an attempt to bring the sinner to a place of repentance. However if that didn’t work, then the number of people involved was to be increased.

Power in numbers.

First, the person who attempted to correct the matter solo was to get one or two others to go along with them, the hope being that a group of people would be able to convince the transgressor to turn away from their iniquity.

If that failed to work, then the matter was to be brought before the entire church and all its members. And if that failed to change the ways of the sinner then they were to be considered no better than a pagan, someone who didn’t believe in God at all.

There’s no doubting Jesus’ belief in the power of numbers when it came to dealing with matters. And as we turn to our verses for today, we find this concept on full display in two other ways through the words of Jesus Himself. Look again at His words here:

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them.”  Matthew 18:19-20

Think about the amazing strength found in the first statement.

When two or more Christ followers come together and agree about anything they ask for, that thing will be done by God, the Father of Jesus and us all. This remarkable statement carries with it all kinds of implications, especially in regard to prayer, something I have seen happen over and over again in the Sunday School class I teach, a class with a regular attendance of between 10 and 15 people. Every class, we take time to discuss prayer requests that those present have. Those requests have surrounded many things to include people suffering from health issues to people dealing with the loss of a loved one to people just going through general difficulties and hardships of life. The requests for prayer are varied but the main constant when we are finished is that we become a group of people assembled together in agreement over lifting everyone mentioned up in prayer to the God who can do all things. None of us around the table possess the power to handle the issues we pray for but we believe in the One who does have the power.

And what did Jesus say?

“I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”  

Going back to my class, here’s just a few of the things we have witnessed:

A man gets diagnosed with prostate cancer and makes it through surgery and chemotherapy to full remission.

A woman who was getting constant dialysis and in need of a transplant. A transplant donor was found, the transplant performed, and the woman is living a normal life again, her body completely accepting the organ.

A couple who were in financial hardship because the husband, a Veteran, had been injured on the job and was being stiff-armed in regard to workman’s compensation. Further, the man had a pending disability claim for PTSD that was unduly delayed. I met the couple in my work with Veterans and invited them to church and our class. After they joined us, the disability claim came through as well as the workman’s compensation and the financial burden was removed.

I could go on and on but you get the point.

At least two people here on earth (more in the case of my Sunday School class), agreed about praying for a removal of cancer and remission and it happened. They prayed about a transplant donor coming to light, a successful transplant, and then a recovery that would include no rejection of the transplanted organ, and all happened. Finally, prayers were lifted up for the barriers to be removed for the disability and workman’s compensation so that the Veteran and his family could be delivered from financial hardship and it came to be.

What was asked for was done, not by anyone in the class, but rather God, the heavenly Father of us all.

Power in numbers yes but the real power comes from the one and only God, the Lord God Almighty, the God who sent His only Son to a people in need of salvation.

It’s this second truth that lends us the true power that comes in earthly numbers. For no human holds any real divine power but they are in the company of Jesus, the One who does have it, the One who is one with God the Father and thus possesses the same might.

It is this Jesus who reminds us this:

“For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them.”

Go back to the prayers lifted up by two or more people in my Sunday School class. When we come together to intercede for others through our raised petitions, we don’t do so alone but rather in the company of Jesus who is right there with us. We know this is true because He promised it so. Again, there is power in numbers but only because they are in the company of the One who is Power, the One who is Power personified.

Friends, we should come together, two or more, to lift up needs before God. We should do it out of love for those we lift up in prayer, knowing that there is power in numbers when those prayers are lifted to God, our heavenly Father, in the presence of Jesus, His Son.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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