“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
My comment on this Scripture:
This passage states that if two or more people gather in Christ's name and agree on something, God will grant the request. Clearly there is more involved. Both reason and experience show that two or three Christians, gathered for prayer, cannot ask for something outrageous and expect that God will grant it, like turning the sky orange, making themselves millionaires, or having a political candidate removed or elected. More realistically, Christians gather to pray for miracles that Christ performed on earth, especially physical healing of the sick, and the request is sometimes not granted.
I don't pretend to know an authoritative solution. In my own devotions, I interpret that the line "if two of you agree here on earth" refers to the apostles themselves; the Acts of the Apostles does contain reports of healing by Christ's apostles. It does not appear that Christ gave us the power to make general requests of God, with certainty that He will grant the request. God has not made Himself some sort of "cosmic bellhop".
The second promise, however, does not say "two of you", but indicates that when any two or three people gather together in Christ's name, He will be with them. Most Christians, including me, interpret this to mean that when they gather for communal prayer, Christ is present with them.
My hope is that God will fulfill this promise by allowing us to gather on the Internet, even when we are far apart physically and cannot come together in the same physical space. When I pray or am preparing these devotions, I always have in mind others who may be praying or reading these devotions. God transcends time and space. If it is His will, He will bring us together and Christ will be present with us during our prayers.We may be far apart; we may say our prayers at different times. But I pray, and I believe, that if we ask God to bring us together in our prayers, Christ will be with us.
What thoughts do you have?
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