Hammer on Anvil '

"I will be in them and You will be in Me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that You sent Me..." (John 17:23, NCV).

Generally when we talk about unity in the Body of Christ, Ephesians 4:3 is the Scripture cited: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." But as I read this passage from John last week in my devotions, the second part of this verse grabbed me: "THEN the world will know that You sent Me."

When will the world know that God sent Jesus? When His followers are "completely one." Gulp.

If you have been part of a body of believers for any length of time, you are well aware of the fact that sometimes unity seems hard to come by. We seem to forget that we are not our own, that we were purchased with the precious blood of Jesus. We push and shove and gossip and try to cause dissension when we don't get our own way.

Just last week, I heard another sad story of a church about to implode due to lack of unity. The youth group was given permission to do a worship service. When they began to play and sing, the adults promptly sat down, rather than standing for worship as they would normally do. The message they sent to the youth was, "If you're not going to do things OUR way, we're opting out." How tragic!

First Peter 2:9 says we are "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a  holy nation." Our mission is to "declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness." The knowledge of who we are in Christ Jesus should bond us together in holy, brotherly love. What can be done to foster unity of the Spirit?

Nothing is more vital in this endeavor than to commit ourselves to lives of prayer. Remember the Upper Room? Christ's followers stayed there for ten days and "joined together constantly in prayer" (Acts 1:14). Jesus had exhorted them to not leave Jerusalem, but to "wait for the gift My Father promised" (Acts 1:4). I sense that in those ten days of united prayer, the disciples' hearts were knit together as one. Today, it's like pulling teeth to get God's people to come together for a prayer meeting.

I recently read an Andrew Murray devotional that painted a vivid picture of the importance of unity:

Because of the many mountains in Natal (a region in South Africa), the streams often flow down with great force. The Zulus join hands when they want to pass through a stream. The leader has a strong stick in the right hand, and gives his left hand to some strong man who comes behind him. And so they form a chain and help each other cross the current. When God's people reach out their hands to each other in the spirit of prayer, there will be power to resist the terrible influence that the world can exert. In that unity, God's children will have power to triumph with God.

Wow. What a lovely illustration of unity in the Body of Christ! Joining hands in a spirit of prayer, realizing that we CANNOT do life alone!

Are you forming a chain today in your relationships with other believers? Or are you yanking and pulling and stubbornly trying to go your own way? My friends, the world will not know we are believers in Jesus when all they see is bickering and jealousy. John 13:35 says, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples."

Let's try to do what the disciples did as they waited for the Holy Spirit. In the communion of loving, believing, faithful prayer, our hearts can be united for the one purpose of living for and glorifying God.