Many years ago, when God was first speaking to my husband and I about unity in prayer, we found that many people were resistant to it. Not because they didn't believe in unity, but because they felt that if we called people to pray in unity it meant that each unique prayer group was going to lose something . God gave us a picture of what it means to pray in unity . I'd like to share that picture with you.
If we want to come into a prayer meeting and let every person pray their agenda, or burden it can look like this: picture a room that needs painting. There are four walls, and their need to get done as quickly as possible so you can move on to the next room. Now, 8 people enter the room and are all given paint brushes and told to 'go for it' - for say...30 minutes. Picture what that room will look like in thirty minutes - with 8 people all painting wherever they want in the room. There will be portions of each wall that will be done, but no wall completely done.
NOW..on the other hand...picture those same 8 people coming into a room and being instructed to start painting on one specific wall, and as one wall is completed they can move onto the next. See, once they work as a team..and are focusing all their efforts on one wall - they'll get alot more done..and the work will be completed in a shorter space of time. When the 30 min. is up with this method, there will have been alot of 'coverage' on the walls.
The other method allows people to chose where they want to start..and what wall they want to start on, but the results would be alot of bits and pieces covering the walls, and not actually getting the job done. Do you get the idea??
When we pray in unity, it simply means that we are in a pray meeting that has a focus! We know what we are going after in prayer, and we will pray until we sense that area/topic is covered....and then move onto the next thing. A prayer meeting that works on this principle will get alot done in the spiritual realm and will see mountains move and things shift on behalf of those they are praying for!
All prayer is good, but not all prayer is the same! We need to be willing to set aside our rights to be individualistic in our prayer meetings and instead, work as a united force. Focused prayer at a specific barrier or issue, is like going from prayer being 'wild fire' to a 'flame thrower'! The force behind a flame thrower is based on it's ability to harness and focus the flame collectively, to be a force to be reckoned with! That's the kind of prayers we want to pray!
How can we do that? Simple....Take the time in every prayer meeting to discern what the issue is that God is wanting you to cover that night in prayer! It's that easy! Take the time to ask..and listen : what is God saying tonight? What are each of those present 'hearing' from the Lord about where the need for prayer is? If we do that...we will turn from being doing scatter-gun prayers, to zeroing in, like scud-missiles and drop our prayers right on top of the enemy and his plans!
It's do-able! It just takes being willing to learn to pray corporately ...and hear together what the Spirit is saying! Believe me, it works...and it makes prayer SO much more fun!!
