During my Bible devotional this afternoon, I read another first-century writing, Ignatius’ letter to the Ephesians (probably from around 95 A.D.). Ignatius led the Church of Antioch, in Syria, as a Bishop. Tradition is that he likely wrote the letter while in custody, awaiting execution in Rome.
Ignatius covered a lot of powerful spiritual truths in his letter, but one that caught my attention focuses on the power of fellowship, unity, and praying together:
“Make every effort to come together frequently to give thanks to God [through prayer]– for when you meet together frequently, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his destructiveness is nullified by the unanimity of your faith.”
I particularly appreciate the power that Ignatius attributes to joining hands in unity and prayer – that when we make this a regular practice, it nullifies Satan’s destructive agenda.
The Apostle Paul, in his 2nd letter to the Thessalonians, also emphasized the power that is inherent, through God, when we pray together:
“We keep on praying for you – asking God to: enable you to enable you to live a life worthy of His call; that He give you the power…so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored by the way you live.”
Sometimes prayer is improperly viewed as a mere sentimental act, with no real substantive power (and therefore meaningless). This flawed line of thinking fails to recognize what Ignatius and the Apostle Paul knew by experience – prayer is literally a means by which we connect with the power of God; accessing the throne of grace, where we’re able to directly ask for God’s supernatural intervention. And – God acts!
Today’s devotional has encouraged me, even more, to want to make a regular practice of experiencing the power of prayer within my life.
-Brandon (March 12, 2024)