CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE DAILY DEVOTIONAL ON YOUTUBE
Matthew 18:19-20
Matthew 18:19-20 is connected to Matthew 18:16 as it is recorded in the same quote from Jesus. Jesus is reiterating what He has already stated in Matthew 18:16 – this is not a separate piece of information, but is to be part of the teaching of dealing with someone who has sinned against you, and taking the proper measures to a remedy. In Matthew 18:16 (NKJV) as Jesus teaches about how to deal with someone who has sinned against you and yet refuses to seek a remedy, Jesus states, “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ [Deuteronomy 19:15]. In support of this, Jesus gives us His promise in Matthew 18:19-20 to reaffirm our strength in Him as He teaches, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
This is a promise that Jesus is with us in our prayers as we are seeking God’s will for our lives and the lives of others that we support with our prayers.
This is a great example of a passage of Scripture that people pick-and-choose the parts of verses that they want to believe and leave out some very important parts; Matthew 18:20 must be taken with Matthew 18:19; we cannot separate them and then blame God for not answering our prayers. I believe that many people view this passage of Scripture as an individual, separate, all-covering teaching from Jesus, and I will not disagree if the motive and the hearts of all parties are in the right place with humble obedience to God in Christ Jesus. The problem arises when we come together in prayer with others for the wrong reasons which may be selfish, self-centered, or anything else that is not in the will of God for our lives. Jesus did not say that whatever we pray for with others will come true; there is a very important part of this promise that we like to overlook – Jesus said as He gave these instructions in Matthew 18:20 (NKJV), “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Did you catch that? Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” As we gather together in prayer to support one another, we must be aware that we are to do so in humble obedience to God in Christ Jesus as we seek His will for our lives and the lives of others. Sometimes that may not be what we are seeking, but God knows best, and in hindsight we will be praising Him for the work that He does in our lives – in Christ!
Dear LORD,
We know that You are capable of all things, and that You are capable of answering all our prayers in Your awesome majesty. We also know that we are prone to grow weary as the sinful nature attacks us with the cares of this world. Please help us to seek Your will for our lives in all things. Please help us to seek Your will for the lives of others that we support in our prayers. Please help us to live our lives in humble obedience to You in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior of the world. In Jesus name I pray, amen.