Does the Prayer of Agreement Prove That God Responds More Readily If More People Pray About the Same Thing?
Most Christians believe that the more people they get praying about something, the more readily God will respond. So they call their prayer chain to “gang up on God” to get what they want.
Proper prayer does not attempt to move God, but we can still intercede for other people. We can ask God to enlighten them to what is already theirs and ask Him to send laborers who really know the gospel to them. It’s not wrong to have a number of people praying in agreement about such things. We can pray mysteries in the Spirit when we don’t know exactly how to pray, which is often!
However, if your idea of God responding to prayer means that He will heal someone in response to your prayer, you have missed it to begin with. “God do something” prayers about healing are a complete waste of time. You could get 10 million people agreeing for God to heal you and the only result would be 10 million people wasting their breath. God already HAS healed everyone as far as He is concerned. You need to receive that healing. Knowledge of the Word will get everyone farther than simply zeal in prayer and getting large numbers of people to pray in a way that contradicts the Bible.
But now comes the issue of the prayer of agreement, which takes two or three people at a minimum. What is special about having more than one person agree instead of just one person praying? Does that mean that numbers “move God” after all? And why is Jesus “in the midst” of the agreeing people (to make it happen) when He doesn’t say that about praying by yourself?
For starters, we can see that there is a special blessing when we gather together in unity.
Psalm 133:
(A Song of degrees of David.)
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
The prayer of agreement by its very definition involves believers coming together in unity. The result is a corporate anointing that is greater than any individual’s anointing. When the disciples prayed in one accord in Acts 4:29-33, the building shook! When Paul and Silas prayed and praised loudly together in Acts 16:25-26, the building shook! We have no New Testament account of a building shaking when only one person prayed by himself.
So there IS something special about people coming together in agreement. While Jesus is present if even one Christian is present, He has promised to manifest Himself in a way He never mentioned with a single person if two or three people agree on something. Jesus never explained or elaborated on this, so we just have to believe it.
However, we don’t want to get carried away and think that God just goes with the majority. Notice that Jesus’ standard for the “prayer of agreement” was two people, not a church full of people. While it would be nice to have a whole church in agreement, you only need two people to pray “the prayer of agreement.”
Matthew 18:19-20:
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.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
There have to be at least two people, they have to be on the earth, they have to be in agreement, they have to ask, and what they’re agreeing for has to be supportable with Scripture!
This is very useful when young believers are around. An older believer who knows the Word better can pray in agreement with a younger believer.
In verse 19, Jesus said “two” people and in verse 20, Jesus said “two or three.” It is interesting that Jesus didn’t even consider a case where more than three people were involved with this. I don’t think it’s wrong to get more than three people in agreement, but I think we can conclude that the effectiveness of the prayer of agreement does not increase if you get four or more people involved.
So no, prayer effectiveness does not increase just because you call the prayer chain.
Actually, prayer chains can be dangerous to your health. If you share your current dire physical issue with the panicking parishioners at Flock of Fear Fellowship, you may end up with dozens of people agreeing that you have a major problem! That won’t make God give you a problem, but the community unbelief can be difficult to overcome. If you’re going to get people to agree with you, make sure they’re ones who will actually stand in faith with you!
Perhaps the only thing one could say in favor of large church prayer chains is that if you contact enough people, maybe you’ll actually get two or three who will really be in faith and agreement for the desired result!