© 11 Colin Melbourne
Gathering Together… Where?
Reading Matthew 18:20 KJV, many assume it refers to believers meeting in services for praise and worship.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
To most Christians, it means, when two or three believers get together to pray and worship God, He’s there in the midst of them.
Is that how you understand it?
Well, that is certainly true, how could it be otherwise?
For Almighty God is omnipresent, and in every born again believer’s heart by His Spirit. So, of course He’s there, in the midst of them.
Realizing this self-evident fact, it becomes obvious that Christ must have been speaking about something more than merely being present in Spirit in worship meetings.
In fact, the primary meaning of Mtt. 18:20 doesn’t refer to believers gathering for worship.
Christ was not talking about gathering together physically.
Notice He said, “gathered together in my name“.
That is the “gathering”, “meeting”, or “coming together” He meant: Two or three believers joining, or agreeing in faith in His Name on a specific matter.
They don’t even have to be in the same nation, let alone the same building!
This is such a powerful promise, and tool in our prayer-box, you cannot afford to miss it.
Re-read the whole passage, and notice the context is our authority in prayer.
Mtt. 18:18 first grants believers authority to spiritually bind and loosen; meaning, binding Satan’s power and loosing God’s power on Earth. That’s another essential weapon in our spiritual warfare armoury you must know how to use.
He said Anything You Ask
Next, Jesus continues on the theme of believers praying to bring God’s Will to Earth, Mtt. 18:19 KJV;
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Notice, Christ set no limit on what believers can ask for, and promised it will be done.
Your Bible-teachers may set a limit on what you can ask, but Christ didn’t.
Who will you believe?
What did Jesus mean?
He’s talking about two or more believers praying in agreement for any thing in line with God’s word, and therefore Father’s will.
You can see that these are glorious, and mighty, promises to the believer. We ignore them at our peril.
Agreeing Together In His Name
Next we come to the key statement of the whole discourse, Mtt. 18:20 KJV;
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Now you can see the point of the passage.
The believers gathering, meeting, or coming together, is not physical, but spiritually agreeing to ask Father for our request, having full confidence that He will do it, because we have faith in our right to use Jesus’ Name.
When they agree in prayer about a matter, Christ says He is with them, meaning, He endorses the request, because they believe in their power to use His Name.
It is one thing to say you believe in His Name, it is entirely another to believe in your authority to use His Name in faith.
It is the difference between success and failure in both prayer and ministry.
We have come to believe that there’s limitless power in The Name of Jesus, and we have His authority to use it in prayer. So we know that Father will not refuse us.
Jesus gave believers this right, and He promises that Father will always honour it when two or three Christians exercise it in faith.
Now that you’ve got it: Use it!
To exercise this right, simply know you have it, and believe in your authority to use it.
Wonderful things happen when two believers understand their divine rights, and believe in their authority to use His Name in prayer.
© 11 Colin Melbourne