We can apply all sorts of leadership skills to coordinate our efforts as a Body. Yet, Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5)
Certainly prayer qualifies as a major factor in how we abide in, or remain in, Him. We must therefore see prayer as essential to coordination.
We Follow Jesus’ Example When We Pray for Unity
Jesus prayed for our unity.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will 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 have sent me I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and 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. (Jn. 17:20-23)
Notice how Jesus likened the unity He prayed for to the oneness of the Godhead. Each has a different role in fulfilling God’s purposes and mission. Also note the purpose of us maintaining that kind of unity. When we function together in unity despite our differences, as a coordinated whole, we testify to the world around us of the kind of God we have.
This points to the critical need for us to function as a coordinated whole rather than ministries splintered from one another. As with the unity of the Godhead, the various ministries and programs will have unique functions but all with the same purpose, all a part of a bigger picture.
If Jesus sensed the need to pray for His disciples to experience such unity, certainly we too ought to be praying, in dependence on Him, rather than relying on our leadership skills. Remember, apart from His we can do nothing of eternal value.
We Make Prayer Essential to Coordination by Praying Together
Disagreements, often a fight for personal agendas, tend to be the big obstacle to coordination. We need to make striving together in prayer the first line of defense rather than debating and quarreling with one another. Otherwise, we’re coming at it from a worldly position (1 Cor. 3:3).
Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. (1 Tim. 2:8)
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)
We must be careful in praying together, not to use how we pray as a means of pushing our own agendas. That’s praying with selfish, or wrong, motives. Praying together truly needs to be about getting on page with God.
For More: Resources about Prayer
All Posts about Coordination:
- Motivation for Coordination
- Means of Coordination
- Coordination Integral to God’s Design
- Coordination Governed by the Great Commission
- Coordination Showcases Christ
- Coordination in Submission to Christ
- Coordination in the Church is Possible
- Coordination Founded Upon the Gospel
- Grace to Hurdle Obstacles to Coordination
- Holy Spirit Essential to Coordination
- Spiritual Gifts Useful to Coordination
- Motivational Effect of His Name to Coordination
- Does Your Church Function as a Coordinated Whole?
- Jesus’ Resurrection Takes Coordination to New Heights
- Jesus’ Resurrection Provides the Keys to Coordination
- Coordinating with One Another, Not Outwitted by the Enemy
- God’s Word Gets Us Singing the Same Song
- Guide the Body to the Source That Holds Us Together
- Prayer Essential to Coordination