Unity | Prayer of Unity

Have you ever prayed for something so fervently that you could not think of anything else? Something that consumed you? Think back to that thing.

Did you ever attain it? How did it feel if you did?

For me the thing I prayed for and longed for was a husband. Two years ago, I pursued that with all I had. That was all I wanted. I prayed for it daily. I made a list of all the things I wanted in a husband and sought long and hard after that. Little did I know that my future husband was also praying to find someone. He got down on his knees every night and prayed to find a wife.

What if we as the church were united in our prayers? What if we longed to be one and prayed for it daily? What if we valued unity as much as Christ does? How would this change our lives and prayer habits?

Christ wanted something so much that when he prayed for it he sweated blood. His desire was unity for believers. In John 17:20-23 it says,

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them, you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

He desired for us to be one as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one. They are in perfect unity.

One always pursues the best for the other. They are never seeking their own interests because they trust that the other will take care of them. This is how it should be with the church.

The bible describes the church as a body. The body needs every part to function properly. Each piece cannot be of any good on its own. It requires the whole body to achieve its purpose. In the same way, the church needs every member to fulfill its purpose. Unity is an act of worship and it is spiritual warfare. Satan wants us divided – he wants us to argue about small disagreements in theology. He wants division in the Church, while Christ wants fellowship.

I’d like to share my prayer for unity to inspire more prayer amongst us and bring us closer together as the body of Christ.

Dear Lord,
I lift up the church as a whole to you. You see the cracks amongst us. I pray that you will mend us and make us whole. Bring us together Father. As you are one in the trinity, I pray that we would be one with you and with each other. Give us eyes to see one another and look for each other’s needs. Let nothing divide us. Let us look past our differences but instead look at each other in love. Unite us as one body of believers. Give us vision for your church. Let us be united in our passion. Give us grace that abounds. Lord, we desire what you desire. Show us your heart for unity and let us pursue that and pray for that as you did.
Amen

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About the Author

Mollie is recently married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Oneness | Coming Together to Be Something

Disclaimer: I had to research and reflect and check myself a lot for this topic because I really didn’t know much about it, and have strong feelings about what little I did know, so please bear with me. I’m about to throw a lot of Scripture references at you because I read as many as I could in order to get a better picture of what oneness looks like. Any Bible verses I write are in NIV translation.

The Bible shows the importance of unity in God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments.

Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.

2 Timothy 2:23
Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.

Matthew 12:25 is a response by Jesus to refute the idea that he was doing the devil’s work, but I think His words show the need for unity as well:
“...Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”

Matthew 5:9
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Now I don’t think that these verses mean that we have to passively agree with everything that every Christian does. There are times to stand up for what is right when a person or group of believers is in the wrong. But there are also times to focus more on what we have in common, what is important in our faith, than being divided over small differences. There is a lot that can be done when we work together. And even more so, God’s love and power to change lives and the world is at its fullest when we come together in not just unity but in oneness.

With careful study of scripture, we can see that there is a distinction between the concept of unity versus oneness.

Ephesians 4:2-6, we see both mentioned:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all in all.

With further digging into the difference between unity and oneness, I came across the idea that unity is the coming together of different people to do something, while oneness is the coming together of people to be something.*

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 shows us a picture of coming together to be, as we all have different purposes and gifts but we can still act with one spirit:
Just as a body, though one, has many parts [like a hand or foot or eye], but all its parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body…

Acts 4:32-35 shows a practical example, one that I struggle with.
All the believers were one in heart and mind… No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

When I was teaching overseas at my second school, the foreign staff was made up of believers, most of who lived on a compound together. We did each have our own space (our own bedroom with stuff we brought or bought). But there was a strong spirit of unity and even a bit of oneness there. We were there for the same reasons, and prayed together a lot. We shared almost all our meals and free time together. We also shared many of our belongings, not really worrying about what was “ours.” And we had different talents and skills and personalities that came together to function as one body and have an effect on our little world there. That time in my life is very precious to me. Even times of great stress and fear due to living in a conflict zone were sweet times that we came together in one heart and mind. We grieved together and celebrated together and loved each other deeply, despite our differences.

My hope is that the church everywhere gets to experience this unity and oneness. Where we are of one heart and mind and body, as God the Father, Son, and Spirit are. And where we are one with God as well.

*http://richardfbolaji.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-difference-between-unity-and-oneness_59.html

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About the Author

Jessie is an educator, she currently teaches teens and has taught overseas. She is also a novice writer, with several books in various stages and a (long-neglected) blog about the journeys of women. She is very excited to be a part of the CitySalt blog team. She has been blessed by a few communities of Christian writers that have encouraged her dream. She lives with her trusty sidekick cat, Arwen in the foothills of South Eugene, where she can go hiking within minutes of the sun coming out from behind the clouds.