[They] lifted their voices together with one united mind to God. Acts 4:24 (AMP)
Over the past few days, we’ve been learning about different types of prayer so we can become more effective when we pray. Today let’s talk about united prayer. United prayer is very similar to the prayer of agreement; however, it involves a larger number of people agreeing in prayer.
Acts 4:23–31 gives a great example of this type of prayer. After being released from prison, Peter and John and a group of other believers joined together to pray. When they finished praying, the building they were in began to shake. They were all filled with the Spirit and were empowered to speak boldly about Jesus.
Great power is made available when people pray together, which is why the Bible has a lot to say about unity among believers.
Paul pleaded with the Corinthian church to be in unity, “Now I appeal to you…to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.” (1 Corinthians 1:10). He also told the Ephesians to “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3), the Philippians to be “like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2) and the Colossians to put on love, “which binds us all together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14, NLT).
Many things can threaten unity—offenses, our egos, differing perspectives—but it is vital that we fight to stay in unity. Why is unity so important? Because tremendous power is made available to our families, churches and ministries when we stand on God’s promises together and believe for the miraculous to happen.