"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." Matthew 18:19, NIV

It may not happen often, but on occasion I experience a bit of parental overwhelm.  It happens when, like a perfect storm, urgent needs swell from all four of my kiddos at once.  One yells for help logging on to their virtual music lesson, another asks for assistance with their math homework, another says they're bored and wants to get their favorite game out, the other just wants up.  In a family, we're going to have a variety of needs, and it's nothing to diminish or fight over.  And in the family of God, it's no different -- individual journeys, individual needs.  Thankfully, our heavenly Father doesn't grow weary with our personal prayers and that His infinite heart of compassion is able to hear the heart cries of each and every one of us (Ps. 22:24).  No parental overwhelm for Him!  Which begs a question: If our Father hears us "in secret" (Mt. 6:6) on an individual level like this, why would Jesus also encourage us to pray in collective agreement with other believers in Mt. 18:19?

It's definitely not because God is overwhelmed by the plentitude of our personal petitions.  Instead, I believe Jesus' instructions to agree together in prayer are primarily for our benefit, not God's.  Yes, the counsel comes with an incredible promise that our Father will actually do what we've asked in agreement.  But the benefit of collectively uniting our prayer requests isn't just for the sake of obtaining the answers we want.  

Uniting our prayers is ultimately for the sake of uniting people.  

Consider this:  The promise of united prayer appears in the context of Jesus' instruction about rebuilding relationships that have been hurt, restoring bridges that have been burned.  If you've ever experienced that in the family of God, you know full well that those are the kinds of dynamics that especially require prayer, united prayer, prayer that invites God's presence (v. 20).  Jesus was pointing us to the fact that praying for one another and with one another has the power to heal relationships, which is what James exhorts believers about in this way:  "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16a).

So when we read about the early church continuing "together with one mind in prayer" (Acts 1:14, NET), we can read between the lines and imagine the deep healing God worked out through uniting in prayer.  Failures owned, sins confessed, betrayed loyalties renewed, mutual purpose recaptured.  All that happened not just because they were physically together in one place, but because they were willing to pray with each other in agreement.  

But what does it really mean to "agree together in prayer" (Mt. 18:19)? I've been in prayer circles where each participant takes a turn talking with God -- each one's prayer having little connection to what others in the circle are praying about.  Please understand me, there's nothing wrong with that dynamic of group prayer, but it's not quite what Jesus is encouraging in Matthew 18:19.  

He's talking about not just praying in the same place but with the same mind.  

1) Praying in agreement involves listening when it's not my turn to pray so we understand the heart longings of the person who is praying at the moment. 2) Then it involves chiming in along those same lines, not just to repeat verbatim what others have said, but to pray in a way that sympathizes with them, resonates with their need.  Doing so lets God know (and the friend you're agreeing with) that you feel it too.  

Praying in agreement is like adding harmony to your friend's melody of prayer.

In this way, our group prayers sound more like a united chorus rather than a shuffled playlist of disjointed petitions.  (Interestingly, the Greek word for “agree” in Matthew 18:19 is "sumphoneo" a cognate of our English word "symphony"!)  

So how about it?  The next time you have opportunity to huddle for prayer at family worship, or the next time your friend invites you to pray, don't just pray AFTER each other; pray WITH each other. Praying with one mind requires humility and compassion, even extra patience and willingness to wait.  Those are the qualities that help us listen, understand, and respond to one another.  Additionally, agreeing in prayer involves courage and vulnerability to give voice to our own melody of prayer that others can harmonize with.  That is an incredibly uplifting experience -- when someone else expresses sympathy with your own need and presses it to God's throne with you, for you, alongside you.  It's the kind of prayer circle where God's presence is undeniably felt (Mt. 18:20).