Two or Three

Read‍

Matthew 18:19-20 "'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. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.'"

Think

There is a group chat for a class you are in that exists for one purpose. Nobody talks in it for eleven days. Then the night before a test somebody sends, “Does anyone actually know what is on this?” and within four minutes there are thirty messages, a picture of somebody’s notes, and two people arguing about whether chapter 6 is included.

Nobody organized that. It exists because everybody in it knows one thing. This is easier when we are not doing it alone.

Acts 1:14 says, “They all joined together constantly in prayer.” Joined together. Constantly. Not one person having a great quiet time by themselves and reporting back.

And Jesus made a promise about that specific thing. “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Be careful how you read that, because it is easy to hear it as a math equation, like God is more present in bigger groups or your prayers only count if somebody else signs off on them. That is not it. Jesus is teaching about the church here, and the point is that he shows up in a particular way when his people come together and agree in prayer.

Something is different when it is not just you.

You already know that in every other area of your life.

You will skip a workout alone. You will not skip it when somebody is waiting on you. You will let a homework assignment go until midnight by yourself and get it done at four with a friend across the table. Nothing about the task changed. The other person changed.

Prayer is not different. It is the first thing you drop when you are alone and the last thing you drop when you are not.

So here is what I want you to do with this week, and I mean actually do, not think about doing.

Find one person.

Not a group. Not a movement. One. A friend from The Mix. A teammate who believes. Somebody in your grade you know loves Jesus. Your brother or sister. One person who will pray with you about your school.

Then make it stupidly simple, because complicated things die. Same time every day, or three times a week, five minutes, on the phone or over text or in the twenty minutes before first period. Two names each. One thing you are asking God for at your school.

That is it. That is a prayer meeting. Jesus said two or three, and he did not put an age limit on it or require an adult to be present.

Now think about what that could actually turn into.

Two students praying at a school is not much. But two students at every school in this city, praying by name for their friends, showing up whether or not it feels like anything is happening, is exactly what Acts 1 looked like before Acts 2 happened.

And be honest about the other reason you need this. The private things, the ones you keep hidden and the areas of your life you would rather not hand over, none of that gets dealt with on your own. Nobody stays honest in private forever. You need somebody who knows the truth about you and asks.

The people in that upper room were not just praying together. They were staying in the same room together for ten days, which is a lot harder and does a lot more to a person.

Send the text today. Ask one person. That is the whole assignment.

Apply

Text one person – Ask one specific friend today to pray with you for your school for the next month. Name the time and the length in the message so there is nothing left to figure out later.

Pray

Jesus, thank you that you promised to be with us when we gather in your name. I do not want to do this alone, and I am usually too proud or too awkward to ask. Give me one person, and give me the guts to send the message today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.