Matthew 18:19, commentary and pictures

If two on earth truly agree about anything they ask, it will be done for them by the Father in heaven, and this assurance stands with authority to bind and loose and with Christ's presence where two or three are gathered in his name. United prayer in such agreement carries special power beyond private prayer, in proportion to unity and love, because the petition must be the earnest desire of several minds centered on the same point and not merely the thought of one mind liable to deception. The promise in its fullness belongs only when the church's voice is Christ's voice, through confessing and forsaking sin, putting away what grieves him, and cleansing the soul temple from self, pride, strife for supremacy, and disunity that grieve the Spirit. Asking must be in Christ's name with humble, persistent faith as a little child, emptied of self to receive the Holy Spirit, with coldness, lukewarmness, and cherished sin shutting out the blessing. Such agreement is real unity of thought and action in love — counseling and praying together, forgiving and blending gifts and plans — and it is given for restoring the erring, seeking the lost, carrying mission, meeting difficulties, praying for the sick, and seeking wisdom and the Spirit together.

Wording and Chapter Setting

Again it is promised that if two agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by the Father in heaven. The agreement is agreement in prayer about a definite purpose, presenting the petition to God in trust in His word, asking for help in difficulties and expecting light and blessing rather than dwelling on discouragement. Those who have settled a difficulty are to pray together, and their unity in prayer is honored by God and brings heaven's blessing and strength to His work, joined with unity of thought and action and love for fellow workers. The promise stands together with authority to bind and loose on earth and in heaven, and with the assurance that where two or three are gathered in Christ's name He is in their midst. These words are to be believed and put into practical life.

The verse is part of the entire lesson of Matthew 18 on discipleship, conduct, humility, and working together, which must be read and practiced, especially by teachers, and hung in the chambers of the mind, kept in memory, often read and pondered, obeyed, and woven into Christian experience and daily practical life in family, school, and church. It lays down principles for conduct in every circumstance and under all circumstances for all who claim discipleship, calling followers to work together in service including helping people come to repentance. The instruction forbids striving for supremacy and teaches that in Christ's spiritual kingdom greatness is not position, outward splendor, or authority but inward excellence and spiritual excellence shown in true conversion, submission and obedience to His easy yoke, ever learning from Christ, and loving God with all heart and soul and mind and strength and loving neighbor as self as the only terms for securing eternal life. Practicing it means each person cultivating the garden of his own soul under his own stewardship, removing every weed and tare sown through neglect while occupied with finding weeds in a neighbor's garden, purifying thoughts by bringing them into captivity to Christ, not scattering words recklessly without careful consideration of where they lodge and what result they produce, and living in humility with unselfish concern and personal effort to help those outside Christ.

In its setting the verse supports Christ's procedure for gaining a trespassing brother privately, then with witnesses, then through the church, showing the church is to be thoroughly organized with responsibility to address wrongdoing. It encourages praying with and for a brother who has done wrong and kindly pointing out the wrong with hearts softened by grace, praying for fellow believers rather than accusing them or hastily separating them from the church and leaving them exposed to temptation, seeking to save and restore the erring. This applies even to physicians serving among the churches, who are subject to church supervision, with the church to work with them when they fail to maintain integrity. The chapter teaches not to despise one of the little ones, reveals it is the will of the Father in heaven that not one perish, shows Christ meeting humanity to uplift the degraded and fallen and outcast, and condemns the masterly spirit to lord it over God's heritage that closes the gates of heaven. Calling the One who answers the Father in heaven reminds disciples that Jesus shares their trials through His humanity while remaining connected to the throne through His divinity.

Promise of United Prayer

When two agree together in asking, the answer may carry greater power than private prayer, and that power is measured by their unity and by their love for God and for one another. The agreement required is union even in desire for the object asked, so that the petition is the earnest desire of several minds centered on the same point and not merely the thoughts and exercises of one mind, which is liable to deception. God hears the prayers of individuals, yet this promise was given as a special lesson with a special bearing upon the newly organized church on earth, setting great importance on united prayer and on union of purpose and of effort.

Those who so unite do not carry the work alone, for heavenly beings join them in sympathy and work, and heaven's power combines with human effort to draw the lost to Christ. Jesus himself receives their united prayers and presents them to his Father, knowing believers by name and keeping them in his care. Because where two or three are gathered in his name he is in their midst, their thoughts, words, spirit, and actions in united prayer and in decisions are witnessed and recorded in heaven.

Therefore prayer and decision must be free from malice, prejudice, and selfish motives, with none affording to be careless and inattentive. Jesus is present as a witness who knows whether thoughts are holy, kind, tender and Christlike or hard, unkind and satanic, and a record of words and spirit and of the result of the course pursued goes up to heaven.

Conditions for Answered Prayer

The promise does not belong to mere profession without practice, but is received in its fullness only when the united voice asking is Christ's own voice. When members agree in asking, the Father's answer is pledged to his church, and with the assurance of Christ's presence where two or three gather in his name, that united voice must reflect his own.

Fulfillment depends on living so that God can consistently bless, by confessing and forsaking sin, searching the heart, putting away whatever grieves Christ, and coming to Jesus in humble faith. No cherished envy, malice, or other sin is excused, and only as believers do their part and show transforming grace may they trust the pledged word that Jesus will hear. This holds for small prayer meetings as well as larger gatherings, making the hour of prayer a source of assurance and spiritual benefit.

Agreement means real unity and cooperation, with evil thoughts and imaginings cast out of heart and mind, for divine power is not sent to work with human agencies at variance with one another. Variance among laborers grieves the Spirit more than anything else, because the same spirit spreads to the churches and, once sown, is hard to root out and takes time, labor, and distress of soul to restore to harmony and peace. All heaven labors for unity, while those bringing dissension work at cross purposes by refusing instruction. Self-sufficiency in planning, standing back on dignity when not specially requested, taking satisfaction in brethren's deficiencies, letting self interpose between the soul and God, misusing words that should build up the kingdom, cherishing perversity of spirit, feeling one's judgment and capabilities unappreciated, and both concealed inward strife for supremacy and open striving to be first grieve the Saviour's Spirit and hinder the work until every unsanctified element is cleansed from the soul temple.

Entering the promise requires conversion and becoming as a little child in humility, emptying self of pride to seek God's help, and then God gives the Holy Spirit. It stands with authority to bind and loose on earth and in heaven, with Christ in the midst of those gathered in his name, with the procedure for gaining a trespassing brother privately, with witnesses, and through the church, as part of the whole lesson to be read and practiced. Asking is to be in Christ's name, in faith and persistent trust that God gives the blessings asked for and what serves eternal good. Believers are to make requests known to God, seek him urgently for immediate help from the source of all grace and power, and ask for help against sin and Satan's snares rather than rely on their own strength. Coldness, lukewarmness, and faithlessness hinder fulfillment, while steady faith claims the promise for particular people needing salvation and for Christ to act for those who ask.

The required agreement does not exist where one joined on earth seeks glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life in devotion while the other refuses to stand with Christ and walks carelessly in darkness toward death. One is then engaged in seeking the way to everlasting life while the other is indifferent in the broad road to death, so the condition of agreeing together about what is asked cannot be met. The blessed promise joined to Christ in the midst of two or three gathered in his name is to be worked intelligently upon by those who are his purchased possession, and where sin is between the soul and God alone it is to be confessed to God alone without publicity before human beings.

Unity Agreement Requires

Agreement in this promise means real unity and cooperation, not merely asking at the same time, including unity of thought and action and love for fellow workers. Workers with different minds, different gifts, and different plans and methods of labor must make it a point to counsel together and pray together, comparing plans and blending their efforts rather than claiming separate fields or insisting on their own methods. No one worker has all the wisdom needed and no one alone is sufficient to manage an interest in any place without helpers, for one may have tact in one direction yet be a decided failure on essential points, making his work imperfect and defective without the tact of another mind and gift blended with his own. All must be perfectly harmonious, not working only with those who see just as they do, but constantly improving and laying hold of every opportunity and privilege until better fitted to present every person perfect in Christ, casting evil thoughts and imaginings out of heart and mind and acting in harmony while carrying different tasks.

Variance among laborers grieves the Spirit more than anything else, and divine power will not be sent to work with human agencies at variance with one another. The same spirit spreads to the churches, and once sown is hard to root out, taking time and labor and distress of soul to bring back harmony and peace. All heaven labors for the unity of the church, while those who bring in dissension work at cross purposes with God by refusing His instruction. Dissension, self-esteem, self-exaltation, and strife to be highly esteemed are expressly the work of the devil, to be met by the plain, decided, clear-cut written word poured out upon workers at variance and read to anyone who begins criticism and faultfinding.

That evil work began in the heavenly courts when Satan suggested a change in God's government, obtained sympathy and assent by deception while covering his tracks, put his own thoughts into angels' minds and then repeated them to the highest Authority as theirs, and thus brought in suspicion and distrust of God and distrust of one another until rebellion had to be met by God alone and the disloyal were expelled with the instigator of evil for the good of the loyal and true. God's ordained plan for settling disagreement requires that if one errs or variance arises, time must not pass but those involved must go to work at once without delay to settle it between themselves and come into unity. They are to pray and converse with one another, and in place of recrimination break down existing barriers until heart is cemented to heart and self-will and selfishness die, which belongs to all working in church capacity with the grace of the ministry of reconciliation in beseeching men and women to be reconciled to God and acting in concert in union of action.

Unity includes putting away pride and bitterness and uniting heart to heart, so that believers may pray in sincere agreement asking the Father for Christ to reveal Himself, with power in continual united prayer and with God's light and glory resting upon them. Hearts filled with Jesus' love can trust the promise as they pray together, and shared prayer trains them to overcome division and become united, disciplining hearts to blend together. That harmony requires seeking forgiveness, forgiving one another, and laying aside grievances so prayer can be offered with hearts softened by grace and filled with love. Praying together binds heart to heart and soul to soul and strengthens fellowship, giving unity, peace, comfort, courage, strength, and mutual encouragement, with holy angels present.

Such help in strong struggle, when one joins one or two fellow believers to seek the Lord, also prepares the person to meet responsibilities at home. A critical, disrespectful spirit and resentment toward a fellow worker are wrong, while firm unity in the work would bring blessing. Harshness, lack of courtesy, and severe dictatorial treatment of God's children in sacred work and business meetings, which wounds and bruises souls and destroys confidence, are forbidden and must be replaced by transformation in spirit, love of neighbor as self, and Christlike kindness, without which a person cannot represent Christ or safely handle sacred things. More and better understanding of the Scriptures together brings more unity and love, because truth binds heart to heart, so teachers must not stand alone as independent atoms but help one another, harmonize in teaching, manifest Christ's love, and pray and talk together over the lessons of the Word with the whole heart. Where this unity exists there is no dissension but an atmosphere of heavenly love, with courage and strength and victory, as those who study truth together and unite in prayer together receive the blessing together.

Applications to Church Mission

The promise strengthens the church's work of reconciliation, for after a difficulty is settled those involved are to pray together, and their unity brings heaven's blessing in answer to their united request. It supports prayer for success in that ministry, with power greater than private prayer in proportion to unity and love for God and one another. It directs believers to pray for a brother who has done wrong and labor to restore him by Christ's directions, rather than accusing him, hastily separating him, or treating him as an enemy. Dissension and alienation are healed when reproof is accepted with repentance and the erring turn from the wrong course, and workers are to draw together in agreement as they ask God for what is needed for united labor.

When church assemblies meet to decide cases, Jesus is present as witness who discerns whether thoughts are holy, kind, tender and Christlike or hard, unkind and satanic, and a record of words, spirit, and results goes up to heaven, so none can afford carelessness or inattention. In that setting of discipline, agreement and harmony preserve the church's unity as members live in union with Christ.

Two or three may unite to pray in Christ's name for particular persons needing salvation, and small groups can work and pray together for those outside the church, with their unity, love, and mutual encouragement strengthening service. Such shared labor and prayer for others outside the faith brings more people into the group, so their numbers increase.

Fellow workers, though different in temperament and methods, are to unite in labor and meet for prayer and counsel, claiming together the Father's answer when they agree in faith and purpose. That cooperation includes helping people come to repentance and beseeching men and women to be reconciled to God, while acting in harmony in different tasks and responsibilities. In every place where truth is introduced, workers of different minds, gifts, plans, and methods must counsel and pray together, compare plans, and blend efforts, since no one has all needed wisdom and no one can manage an interest alone without helpers. One may have tact in one direction yet fail on essential points, leaving work imperfect and defective without another mind's gift, so all must be harmonious, not working only with those who see as they do, but improving and laying hold of every opportunity until fitted to present every person perfect in Christ, without claiming separate fields or insisting on personal methods.

Even a small beginning by few workers need not be intimidated by appearances, for joined with the assurance that where two or three gather in Christ's name He is in their midst, the promise guarantees Christ's presence and answered united prayer. Thus in entering unworked, forbidding places to lay solid permanent foundations by medical missionary work, preaching the Word, and house-to-house Bible readings, workers can expect the Lord by His Holy Spirit to send conviction to hearers and to work with them. The same promise applies to united prayer for unreached peoples to receive the warning message, as for England and the continent, trusting God to work wonderfully, with Jesus receiving such prayers and presenting them to His Father, knowing believers by name and keeping them in care. It also covers agreement about specific things asked for God's people and His cause, trusting the Father to do them.

The promise belongs to small prayer meetings as well as larger gatherings, making the hour of prayer a source of assurance and spiritual benefit. It applies to small groups gathering in a quiet place to seek the Lord and make requests known to God, calling for urgent seeking of immediate help from the source of all grace and power. Claiming it means being much in prayer, frequently spending hours together in earnest intercession with weeping followed by thanksgiving and praise in chamber, barn, orchard, grove, or any private place, to progress in the divine life and be imbued with Christ's spirit. This was the practice when the message of truth was first proclaimed, and it is required now with greater earnestness, zeal, and fervor because the day of God is nearer, perils greater, and souls more hardened, until the Spirit is received. It supports praying together in worship as the disciples did after Jesus' death, while private prayer remains important, since Christ's teaching about praying in secret warns against praying to be seen, not against public prayer. Its fulfillment is joined to living so God can consistently bless, by confessing and forsaking sin, putting away what grieves Christ, and coming in humble faith.

The promise gives courage to bring personal cases to Jesus, trusting His word, asking help in difficulties, and expecting light and blessing rather than dwelling on discouragement. Unity in prayer honored by God brings strength to His work and belongs with unity of thought and action and love for fellow workers, while the appeal for pardon is accompanied by confession, repentance, and humble obedience. It supports humble prayer for a purified heart and noble character bringing the Holy Spirit's aid, and for divine help against sin and Satan's snares rather than relying on personal strength.

Leaders and workers, including those in distant countries, should consult, pray, and ask together in Jesus' name and trust God to answer, seeking wisdom through prayer and the Word rather than depending on distant human authorities for direction. They are to humble themselves, put away self-reliance and desire for supremacy, pray together, and turn to Scripture for counsel, trusting God rather than human authority.

Teachers must not stand alone as independent atoms but help one another, harmonize teaching ideas, manifest Christ's love, and pray and talk together over lessons of the Word, with those who study truth wholeheartedly together and unite in prayer receiving blessing together. More and better understanding of Scripture brings more unity and love because truth binds heart to heart, leaving no dissension but an atmosphere of heavenly love with courage, strength, and victory. The words spoken to disciples in Matthew 18 give high and holy lessons for daily practical life, meaning workers must be united as brethren and as branches in the same vine under Christ the head, first reforming themselves and then showing perfect love, compassion, tenderness, and deeds of kindness in reforming and training youth, remembering in united earnest prayer that youth are Christ's property.

Students may meet to ask God for help to become missionaries and a blessing to fellow students, and lives shaped by that shared prayer can influence for good even those who scoff at religion. Two missionaries working together may pray in agreement and claim the Father's promise that shared petitions will be answered.

In perplexing, trying situations and church difficulties, God's people should agree about what they seek, unite in persistent prayer, persevere in asking, and trust and believe they receive the blessings asked. They are to seek God for deliverance from trouble rather than rely on unbelieving lawyers to settle disputes among members. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask, giving devoted workers a vision of Jesus and strength for conflict and service. Claiming the promise in united earnest prayer brings progress in the divine life and imbues with Christ's spirit.

Praying for the sick is too important for carelessness, and God respects and answers united petitions of two or three accustomed to pray. When in sorrow and uncertain what course to pursue, two or three should unite to ask the Lord to let light shine and impart special grace, and under bodily infirmity personal supplication may rightly be joined with trusted others uniting in prayer to Jesus the mighty Healer, with help surely coming if asked in faith. Coldness, lukewarmness, and faithlessness hinder fulfillment. The promise was experienced when earnest prayer for a helpless arm was followed by regaining movement and speech with praise to God, and when earnest prayers in Jesus' name for a sick, deeply discouraged father were held fast in faith and brought relief and renewed joy, assuring repeated experience that God hears and answers.

In marriage, the precious promise calls husband and wife to change conduct, show deference and respect, and unite hearts in love, with agreement in prayer accompanying effort to preserve love between them. The agreement belongs with humbling self and turning from self toward love and sympathy for others, including personal effort to help those outside Christ. It belongs to Christ's instruction on how His work is to be done, calling workers to keep self under the great Teacher and follow the Bible's teachings, with God not desiring anyone to draw apart and with divisive plans opposed to His will.

The direction shows the church to be thoroughly organized with responsibility to address wrongdoing, so physicians serving among churches are subject to church supervision, and the church must work with them when they fail to maintain integrity. Prayer agreeing in Jesus' name may also ask healing and increased faith together, asking God to act where people cannot.