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.
— Matthew 18:19
In the early 1990s, I was on a plane that was horribly overloaded with people, luggage, and boxes. So many air-safety rules were being violated on this particular flight! Pieces of luggage and boxes were strapped into the seats where people should have been sitting — and people were sitting on top of the boxes in the main aisle of the cabin. From my vantage point, I could see most of the plane’s interior. As I watched the debacle, I saw people literally pushing luggage and garment bags away because they were hanging in their faces from the overhead compartments. Yet even with all the excess bags, boxes, and luggage already on the plane, the crew just kept loading more and more into the airplane bay. In fact, it came to the point where they were filling the bathrooms with luggage and boxes, and there were even suitcases stacked in the cockpit! I had never seen anything like it.
I happened to be seated toward the front of the plane near the flight attendants, and I actually heard one flight attendant tell her colleague, “This plane is dangerously overloaded. I’m afraid that we are going to fall from the sky.” As I continued to listen, I heard one say that the pilot had taken a bribe from a company to transport a gigantic shipment of items to the destination city. He knew he was taking a risk, but he had already been paid and needed the money, so he chose to risk the lives of his passengers. It was all about a bribe to get as much freight on that plane as possible!
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People on the plane reeked of fear because it was blatantly obvious that this plane was loaded beyond its weight limitations, and its maximum capacity was far exceeded. I could tell my traveling companion was also very uneasy about the situation. I turned to him and asked, “Do you think this plane is going to crash because it’s overloaded?” He answered, “Yes, seems to me that we’re headed for a crisis.”
I quietly asked my traveling companion to join hands with me and pray. We acknowledged that wherever two or three were gathered in Jesus’ name, He was there and that He would answer our prayers. So we prayed in the Spirit peacefully and confidently. We harmonized our hearts and spirits together — believing that if we were in any type of danger, God would do something to change the situation and protect us. We prayed according to Matthew 18:19, saying, “Lord, You say that if two or three of us would agree on earth as touching anything, you would hear us, and our Heavenly Father would do it. So Father, if this plane is in danger in any way, as I have heard this flight attendant say, then we ask You to please do something to change this situation and protect us from harm.”
Within minutes after our prayer, a flight attendant abruptly came on the sound system and hysterically announced the plane would be evacuated due to a phone call that said there was a bomb on board. She said, “There has been a phone call indicating that there is a bomb on this plane. So please… quietly, orderly…begin disembarking this airplane as quickly as possible. EVERYONE GET OFF THIS PLANE!”
The panic in her voice caused panic to hit the whole plane. Suddenly everyone was standing up in front of their seats, fighting, screaming, and trying to force their way to the airplane’s sole open exit. It was mass confusion! Because the plane was overloaded with luggage that was choking up the main aisle, people were jumping and leaping over boxes and bags as they fought each other to make their way toward the exit. Because of where I was seated, I couldn’t move — there were too many boxes stacked around me — so I decided to just sit back and watch the people wage war with each other to try to get off the plane quicker than all the others. The sight was like none I had ever seen. It was anything but quiet and orderly! In fact, people were actually injured as they fought with each other to be the first off the plane!
When everyone was finally off the plane and transported inside the terminal, an airline official met us and said we were to wait for directions regarding what we should do next. Hours passed, and as I looked out the terminal windows toward our evacuated plane, I could see people completely emptying the plane of all boxes and luggage that had been recklessly packed into every available space. Finally, the plane was completely emptied, and officials and bomb-searching dogs thoroughly searched it from top to bottom. However, when they had finished, an announcement was made in the terminal that said, “No bomb has been found, so we are now reboarding the aircraft. But this time, we have decided that no excess luggage will be allowed. Please use your same ticket and take your same seat.”
About an hour later, we were seated back in our same seats, and when the door closed for that flight to take off, it was a completely different scene. People were all seated in their ticketed seats; no luggage or boxes were in the aisles; and no excess bags or garments were dangling from the overhead compartments. It was like a totally different aircraft. The passengers on board were now quiet and peaceful because they, too, knew it was a safer situation than what had existed only a few hours prior to our reboarding. Decades have passed since this event occurred, but I still remember it as though it happened yesterday because events like that are not easily forgotten!
That day, my traveling companion and I prayed according to Matthew 18:19, which says, “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.” According to this verse, all that is required is two or three people who “agree” as touching anything that they ask, and it shall be done for them of our Heavenly Father.
Let’s take a closer look at this word “agree” to see exactly what Jesus meant when He made this declaration. The word “agree” is the Greek word sumphoneo, and it is a compound of sum and phoneo. The word sum means with, and the word phoneo means to make a sound. As you can imagine by simply looking at its two parts, this Greek word is where we get the word symphony. Thus, when we describe agreement in prayer, it is good to first think of a symphony, which is a musical piece made of different movements, instruments, and parts. The use of this word sumphoneo in the context of prayer is revealing, for it shows that when two or more believers get into agreement — each of them praying and adding their parts — it creates a supernatural movement that deeply touches the heart of the Father. This action is so powerful, in fact, that Jesus said it would result in the Father fulfilling any issue they addressed through prayer.
This is precisely what happened on the airplane that afternoon. In a moment of urgency, my traveling companion and I got into high-level spiritual agreement and prayed with such power and faith that a movement of prayer ascended from our seats to the Father’s ears. When God heard our unified prayer, He was blessed by our faith and genuine agreement, and He literally swung into action to evacuate an entire airplane in response.
When you find yourself in a dilemma and need help from Heaven, find another believer who can get into agreement with you. Take turns praying, and pray together in the Spirit, letting your spirits mix and mingle and harmonize as they ascend to the throne of God to produce a symphony of prayer. When God hears this, it’s only a matter of time until He begins to move Heaven and earth to answer your prayers!
MY PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the tremendous power You have enabled us to tap into through unified prayer. When we come together in agreement with faith in Your Word, I am grateful that You not only hear us when we pray in accordance with Your will, but You also answer to perform Your will and purposes in our lives. It pleases and honors You when Your people take advantage of this powerful type of prayer that enables our spirits to harmonize in faith as we come before Your throne of grace (Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 18:19) with each one of us adding our parts. Father, You have instructed us to pray with all manner of prayer (Ephesians 6:18). I will, therefore, pay attention to engage this type of prayer with another believer when dilemmas arise so that Your power can be released.
I pray this in Jesus’ name!
MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY
I confess that I deeply touch the heart of my Heavenly Father when I create a harmonious sound of faith by entering into faith-filled agreement with another believer in prayer. I do not fear when difficulties suddenly appear. Instead, I tap the power of agreement in prayer! As each of us add our part in a harmonious symphony of unified prayer, our agreement with God’s Word and with one another releases the supernatural power of God in our behalf.
I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!
QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER
- Have you ever been in a desperate situation where you and a friend lifted your voices in powerful prayer and you saw almost immediate results? When was that experience? Is it something you could share with someone today to encourage someone else in his or her own experience with the Lord?
- Can you think of an emergency situation from your past in which your life was in danger, but you cried out in faith and God heard your prayer and rescued you?
- Have you ever experienced a moment of symphonized prayer — a supernatural moment when your voice was mixed and mingled together with another believer’s voice, and it released currents of power from Heaven?
