The Power of Unity

"I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours....that they may be one as We are...I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." (John 17:9,11b,20-21)

In this passage of scripture, we find Jesus making intercession to God on behalf of His disciples. He was praying that they would be one even as He was one with His Father. In this prayer we see how important the unity of the believers was to Jesus. He repeats this prayer for unity three times. Why was their unity so important? Because through this unity, the world will believe that Jesus was sent by God. Without unity, we are ineffective as a church and ineffective as witnesses for Christ.

"And the Lord said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them." (Genesis 11:6) There is power in unity! God had to change the languages of men because He saw that in their unity, nothing would be impossible that they set out to do. Oh, but if the church would just get a hold of this revelation! Nothing would be impossible for us to accomplish! This is why the enemy works so hard to keep us divided. A house divided cannot stand. The enemy sows seeds of strife and discord and keeps us from walking into our inheritance. We need to begin to tear down the walls that divide us from one another and begin to dwell in unity with each other. It's not about our agenda. It's not even about us. It's about Him. We should have one purpose and goal--to further the kingdom of God and seek that His will would be done on earth even as it is in heaven.

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:1,2) Had they not been in one accord, the believers would have missed out on the "suddenly" moment. Without the power of the Spirit flowing in their lives, the church would have stagnated and died. But because of this encounter, the Word of God spread throughout the entire world.

If we as the body of Christ will come together--laying aside our differences and get in one mind and one accord, we will experience a mighty outpouring of God's Spirit as prophesied in Joel 2. This revival will bring a great harvest of souls into the kingdom of God. Let us begin to pray for unity and to pursue it with all of our hearts. For if we will become united, not even the gates of Hell will prevail against us!