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This page was last updated on May 14, 2000
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, below is an excerpt from a Christian unity prayer. Please give it prayerful consideration and, if the Spirit leads, please pray this yourself and let us agree together in it, in prayer before the Lord.
CHRISTIAN UNITY PRAYER, PART 14 OF 25: “We Receive the Holy Spirit in One Another in the Name of God’s Love for All His Children, and We Unite in Obedience to the Most Important Commandments in God’s Kingdom”
We hear, with ears to hear, the commands of our friend, King Jesus. One throne stands in our hearts, Father, elevated above all, where you and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, can sit as the one Spirit of God, in which the three are one, and remain with us to show us the understanding of your commandments and teach us all things concerning your word. In obedience to your commandments which you speak in our hearts, including the new commandment of Jesus, we come together as one people to give all praise, honor, and obedience forever, to you and to your words for Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:15-17); and Jesus, said “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever, I have said unto you” (John 14:26); and again, Jesus said “…The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).
Your kingdom is within us, Father, for in our hearts we keep your commandments. First in importance, we love God with all our heart, mind, strength, and soul. Second, we love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves, loving any neighbor in need, and even loving our enemies who are yet in the world. We know, Father, that our neighbor may not be our brother, but may be a heathen “Samaritan”, and not a child of God. Yet, by your second commandment, we love all neighbors, even sinners and enemies, as ourselves. These two commandments are the old treasure of our hearts, the treasure that was given to those who were God’s children long ago, and which we will now keep forever, for Jesus said, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). And the new treasure of our hearts is the new commandment of Jesus wherein we are made one in His name, for we love each other, all of us who claim Jesus, and seek to come together in our hearts in the love of God for all His children.
Your first most important law, Father, is to love God totally; and your second law is to love our neighbors as each of us loves himself. And the new commandment of Jesus is not third, but fulfills the old law as part of the first one, because Jesus told us to love our brother more than ourselves, not the same as ourselves, but enough to give our lives for each other, the way Jesus loved us, for the Bible says “…That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:21), and again, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20), and again “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another…” (Romans 12:10), and again, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
When we seek to love you, Father, you tell us that we can only serve you by serving your Son, Jesus, eldest and firstborn among many brethren to eternal life. And when we seek to love your Son, Jesus, He tells us that we can only serve Him by serving all our sisters and brothers in Him. Our love for our own brethren comes before our love for those of some other household, though we also do love any other neighbor in need as each of us loves his or her own self.
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Love in Jesus to All!
We cordially invite any interested Christian to read and pray the rest of this prayer, or just to come and talk with Christians of all backgrounds, on a Christian unity email discussion mailing list. We’d love to hear from you about any Christian topic at all, and especially to discuss any topic related to unity of all Christians, of all Christian denominations and groups. (Btw, non-Christian visitors are welcome too!) You can find info on the email discussion mailing list, which is called the “Christian Unity Conference” (CUC), or info about a combined effort on a larger prayer for Christian unity, part of which is shown above, called the “Christian Unity Prayer Project” (CUPP), by going to the following URL:
http://www.superior.net/~pjrcmr/prayerparts.html