“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.” (Matthew 18:19)

Something totally unexpected happened during worship at a Baptist Church in Puerto Princesa, Palawan when I was visiting the Philippines.

The commotion started as soon as Pastor Julius Canoy announced that it was now Prayer Time.

In my tradition, Prayer Time and commotion do not go together. If anything, we would bring commotion to an end by announcing that it was now time for prayer!

Instinctively, every head would bow and every eye would close. Many, including the pastor, would immediately drop down on their knees. Everyone would assume the classic “Praying Hands” posture instantaneously.

That is not what happened that morning in May 1997.

Everyone in attendance sprung out of their seats, paired up with another congregant and started chattering away in Tagalog. The din was deafening.

As I stood stunned by this sudden turn of events, a young man approached me and asked if I could be his prayer partner. I nodded in agreement.

He proceeded to tell me prayer requests that were on his heart that day and asked if I would pray in agreement with him.

Next it was my turn to voice my needs, while he prayed in agreement with me.

After about 10 minutes of praying for each other, we returned to our seats along with the other 200 worshipers. The service continued with the pastor talking and the rest of us listening the rest of the way.

At the end of the service, I asked the Pastor if this was a Philippine tradition or perhaps a Baptist tradition with which I was not familiar.

He laughed and replied that it was actually a Biblical tradition.

As I wondered how my denomination could have somehow missed it, he pointed out these words of our Lord from Matthew 18:19:

“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.”

Strangely enough, I had not paid attention to these words that closely before. We were famous for quoting the next verse: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Especially at prayer meetings where the attendance was in single digits 🙂

But somehow we had skipped verse 19 in our haste to get to verse 20…or so it seemed.

It dawned on me that although we may not have quoted this verse, we had actually experienced the power of agreement in prayer over and over again in our lives.

It made me realize why prayer trees, prayer chains, prayer meetings, prayer groups, etc. had such a great track record of answered prayer.

The Lord also impressed upon my spirit the need to pray together with Sulojana, so that we could harness the power of agreement in our marriage.

These days, we quote this verse rather copiously, as we claim the promise of Jesus when we pray corporately in unity with one another.

How about you? Do you pray in agreement with another person? With several others?

If you do, praise God! Keep it up! If not, perhaps it is time to get started, amen?

I pray that you will continue to experience the power of agreement in prayer as you advance toward your destiny.