The Lord also shows us in these verses that individual prayers do not work. There must be at least two persons. If you do not see this point, you will not understand why the Lord says what He says. All the prayers in the Gospel of John are individual prayers. When John 15:16 records, “Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you,” the number of people is not a condition. But in Matthew 18 the number is a condition; there must be at least two persons. The Lord says, “If two of you are in harmony on earth.” There must be at least two because this is a question of fellowship. One person cannot accomplish this. One person cannot be God’s outlet; there must be two. The principle of two is the principle of the church, the principle of the Body of Christ. Although there are only two in this kind of prayer, the “harmony” is indispensable. The two must be in harmony, and they must stand on the ground of the Body. They must know the Body life. There is only one goal with them, which is to tell God, “We want Your will to be done, in heaven and on earth.” When the church prays in this position, whatever it asks will be done for it from the Father who is in the heavens.

Brothers and sisters, when we truly stand on the ground of the church and take up the responsibility of such a ministry of prayer before God, we will see God’s will carried out in the church where we are. Otherwise, everything will be in vain. There can be many prayers or few prayers, but the main thing is to have strong prayers. What God does today is measured by the amount of prayer that the church offers. God’s power cannot exceed the prayer of the church. The power of God today can at most be as great as the prayer of the church. This does not mean that God’s power is limited in heaven. In heaven, God’s power is unlimited. But on earth, God’s power is manifested to the degree that the church prays. The amount that the church prays will be the measure of the amount that God’s power is manifested. Consequently, the church has to learn to pray big prayers and make big requests. The prayer of the church is often very small; it prays only for ordinary problems. This is not enough. The church needs to have big prayers and make big requests. Since the church is coming to such a rich God, there must not be small prayers and small requests. Since the church is coming to such a rich God, there must be great things happening. If the capacity of the church before God is small, it will restrict the power of God from being manifested. We know that the question of the overcomers is not quite resolved, and Satan is not yet thrown into the abyss. God must gain a vessel for His testimony before He can accomplish what He has set out to accomplish. The church must have big prayers to manifest our God. This is the ministry of the church. Brothers and sisters, I do not know whether God can say to us that this church has a ministry of prayer when He passes by our prayer meeting. It is not a question of how often we pray. It is a question of the weight of our prayer. If we see the church’s responsibility of prayer, we will see that our prayers are not big enough; we are limiting God and frustrating His work. The church has forsaken its duty! What a sad situation this is!

The issue at stake is this: Can God gain a church that is faithful to its ministry? This depends on whether we are those destined to be disqualified, or whether we are the real vessels of God who will fulfill God’s goal. Brothers and sisters, we have to cry out loudly that God is watching to see whether the church is faithful to its ministry. The ministry of the church is prayer-not small prayers, but prayers that pioneer the way for God. God is accomplishing His work. But the church first prays and prepares the way before God finds the way. The church must have big prayers, serious prayers, and strong prayers. Prayer cannot be small before God. If prayers are centered around ourselves, our personal difficulties, and our small losses and gains, it will be difficult to open a way for God’s eternal will. Many things should drive us to dig deep. But above all, prayer should drive us to the utmost depth.

For two to be in harmony is not an empty word; it is not a slogan. If we do not know what the Body of Christ is and have not taken this ground, it will be useless even if two hundred people are praying together. If we know the Body of Christ and stand on the proper ground of this Body to deny the flesh, if we do not ask things for ourselves but ask for God’s will to be done on earth, we will see that our prayer is in harmony. When this happens, God in heaven will fulfill our prayer on earth.

Please note the precious word in verse 18, “whatever.” There is also a precious phrase in verse 19, “concerning any matter.” The Lord says, “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.” This means that heaven binds as much as earth binds, and looses as much as earth looses. The capacity in heaven is controlled by the capacity on earth. We should not be afraid that the capacity on earth is too large, because the capacity in heaven is always larger. The capacity on earth can never match the capacity in heaven. Heaven always wants to bind more than the earth binds, and heaven always wants to loose more than the earth looses. The Lord says that whatever we bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatever we loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven. This kind of binding and loosing is not done by individuals; it is done when “two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter.” Any matter that they ask will be done for them from the Father who is in the heavens. Brothers and sisters, God’s power will be forever greater than our power. The water in the reservoir is forever greater than the water in our tap. The water in the well is forever greater than the water in our bucket. The power in heaven can never be measured by one’s view on earth.
Home | First | Prev | Next