by Marilynn Chadwick
For where envy and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:16 KJ21).
We’ve seen how unforgiveness and unbelief can thwart our prayer life. Strife is another common hindrance. If we want more power in prayer, we must be unified as believers. Jesus gives us a prayer tip that points to the importance of unity. He promises that “if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19 NIV).
The word for “agree” is symphone, from which we get symphony. It means “together with the same voice.” It can also be translated as “music.” When we harbor ill will toward another believer, we miss the prayer power that comes when we’re in harmony. And instead of music, perhaps our prayers sound like “noise” to our heavenly Father.
Such was the case with two women in the church at Philippi. Paul calls them out by name, pleading with them to get along—to be of one mind. “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. I ask you...to help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel” (Philippians 4:2,3 ESV).
Paul was deeply distressed that these two women were fighting. Their conflict must have been a public one, since Paul had heard about it even while “in chains” in a Roman prison (Philippians 1:13). He encouraged the young church to “make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).
Paul’s challenge to his beloved Philippians can be ours today as well. He tells them how to walk in unity: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3).
Living in this kind of unity requires supernatural help. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of strife that may be hindering our prayer life. Moreover, we can take comfort in this powerful promise: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
One of Jesus’s most beautiful prayers reflects his passion for unity in the body. “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one...so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23).
Yes, God wants us to prevail in prayer. Even more, he longs for us to be unified as members of the Body of Christ. Remember, there’s a world watching us—a world which desperately needs our power-filled prayers. A world which needs Jesus.
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