This week, we continue our nine-week series, 'Praying Together,' exploring the great power of communal prayer. Based on the teachings of Mike Betts and his book and course, 'The Prayers of Many,' our series aims to deepen our understanding and practice of praying together as a community.
In this week's devotionals, we draw upon the powerful analogy of uprooting a tree together to illustrate how praying in larger numbers has great power.
“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 18:20)
Summary: Small prayer meetings have power because Jesus is present
You can watch this devotional at
We can often fall into the trap of believing that more is better. If we have a crowd, we are successful. This is a fallacy. If we believe that gathering a crowd is success, we will put entertaining and attracting people above substance and truth. A successful church in God’s eyes is one that is united in Christ and in love and truth and it’s this unity that gives power to prayer.
The passage from Matthew 18:20 emphasises the power of agreement and unity in prayer. Jesus promises that when two or three people gather in his name and agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by his Father in heaven. This means that the power of prayer is not dependent on the size of the group or the grandeur of the gathering. Instead, it is dependent on the unity and faith of those who are praying.
As today’s reading clearly teaches, Jesus has promised that small groups gathering to pray are very powerful. In fact, it’s our belief in this truth that enables us to grow our prayer meetings from a small to a larger group.
Praying for God's will, united in Christ and united together gives great power to our prayers no matter how many are at the prayer meeting.
RESPONSE
Be encouraged that even if we meet with two or three, Jesus is with us. There is great power no matter how small our current prayer meetings are. While it is true that small prayer meetings have power, we should not be content to stay small. Instead, we should be praying and working to grow our prayer meetings, knowing that it is God's will that we all become devoted to prayer together.
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
1. NOTICES
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. ICEBREAKER
What has God been speaking to you about from His Word this week and how has this helped you / affected your life?
3. STUDY AND PRAY TOGETHER
During this series, we will be using the 'Prayers of Many' course by Mike Betts.
I encourage you to buy a copy of the book from: https://prayersofmany.org/book#buybook
If you need assistance in buying a book please send an email to the church office and we will happily purchase you a copy.
Please download the course handbook from:
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