“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”
Matthew 18:19 – 20
The 10 Days preceding the Global Day of Prayer create an excellent opportunity to unite in prayer with millions around the globe based on Acts 1 & 2.
“The bond that unites a man with his fellow men is no less real and close than that which
unites him to God: He one with them. Grace renews not only our relationship with God, but our
relationships with our fellow human beings, too. We not only learn to say "My Father." It
would be unnatural for the children of family to always meet their father separately, never
expressing their desires or their love jointly.
Believers are not only members of one family, but of one Body.”
- Andrew Murray
INTRODUCTION
Prayer Focus on the Person and work of Jesus Christ
The deepest desire of Paul’s heart was to know Jesus Christ as Lord. He had met the risen Christ en route to Damascus. Paul spoke of having the experience of being allowed to enter the third heaven. He also revealed that a messenger of Satan had been sent by God to humble him and to prevent him from becoming proud of the many revelations he had received from God (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). He wrote of his insight into the mystery of God, kept hidden from previous generations, concerning “Christ in you, the hope of glory!” Yet, even in his last letter that he wrote his desire was still “to know Him”. (Philippians 3:10)
Knowledge of Christ should not be confused with knowledge about Christ. Knowing Christ is experiencing an intimate revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ; receiving insight into His manifold grace, and whilst beholding His glory being transformed into His image.
This very intimate and personal experience of knowing Christ is what is meant by the phrase “to seek Christ’s face”. (2 Chronicles 4:14). Seeking His face is a precondition to Him answering our prayers and healing our country.
In Hosea 4:1, God gives a reason why the spirit of lawlessness had been able to invade the land: there was no truth, or mercy, or knowledge of God in the land. In John 17:3, Jesus said that eternal life is to know the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. As it was in the days of Israel, so it is in our days. We need to know Christ Jesus, and through Him, the One who sits on the throne of heaven.
As we set ourselves to seek His face, let the prayer of our hearts be for Him to make Himself known to us, and to a broken and lost world. Let us draw near to Him, with hearts filled with faith that, if we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him. May the knowledge of Christ Jesus also become for us “a surpassing worth”!
