15 “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. 16 But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector.
18 “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.
19 “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.
23 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. 25 But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.
28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.
32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. 33 You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’ 34 The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Read Matthew 18:15-35 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While Jesus was teaching the disciples about prayer, forgiveness, and conflict resolution, He shares a powerful promise that relates directly to prayer. However, I believe this promise has been pulled out of context in many situations, and because of this, it might appear as though God does not answer us as quickly. But when we claim the promise Jesus shares with the disciples in our prayer experience, there is no telling how many answers we will discover.
Matthew’s gospel shares Jesus’ promise to His followers: “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.” (v. 19-20)
These two verses contain what might appear like a blank check from God. Jesus’ promise sounds like all we must do is find one other person who agrees with us that something must happen, and then pray with them for God to step into the situation in a specific way. But in many cases I can think of, it seems as though all the steps have been followed and an answer does not come – and it may be because we are missing the context and details of this promise.
First, verse 19 begins with the word “Also”. This means that the message/promise Jesus is about to share hinges on what He had just finished saying. Jesus’ earlier statement focuses on God letting His followers determine where they will stand in what we could call “the gray areas of faith”.
This detail is important because it is unlikely that a prayer going to God that contradicts His character or plan will be answered according to our wishes. But this does mean that in the gray areas of His plan and history, our prayers will make a huge difference in directing God and inviting Him into the situations we have on our hearts.
Next, within these two verses is the secondary promise that if two or three (or more) people come together in Jesus’ name, Jesus will be there with them. The second big detail to remember is that the purpose of the group we form to pray must be unified under Jesus’ name, and we should invite Jesus to pray with us (however odd this might sound). If Jesus says He is with us when we gather together in His name, perhaps we should invite Him to pray with us.
The third detail for us to pay attention to is the focus and context of the verses that immediately follow this. While it might appear like this is a transition in Matthew’s narrative where he finishes one event and then begins another, what follows next is Peter asking Jesus about forgiveness, and even if this is a completely separate event, Matthew intentionally places it right next to Jesus’ promise to be with us when we gather in His name.
This third detail is important because if we are holding pain in our hearts with an unforgiving spirit, then our hearts are closed off to God and it may keep our prayers from being heard or answered. God wants our hearts above everything else, and forgiveness is the key to freeing our hearts in preparation for our gift to Him.
Together, these details form the best context we can for claiming Jesus’ promise. We must be asking for things within God’s will and plan – and/or within that gray area of faith; we must be united with Jesus while praying together; and we must have a forgiving heart and a humble spirit when we pray together. When we have done all these things, we can pray together in confidence that God will answer our prayers – even if His answer is “wait and see” or “no, but here is something better for you.”
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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