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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 7 OF 25: “We Pray Seeking Accord with One Another, Only in Accordance with the Words of the Bible”
When we seek to serve and follow Jesus into another man’s heart, to abide with Jesus there with His word and in His love for all His brethren, we come to that man in the spirit bearing only the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for we ask our brother to open the door of his heart to allow entrance only to God’s words, in accordance with the Bible, which words are the spirit and life in us all. We seek to find and share all those of God’s words which we may be given to hold in a common understanding, and be always, as the Bible says, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3), while we expect the unity of the faith; “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ…”(Ephesians 4:13).
We unite in Jesus, for He is the Spirit of the only king in our hearts who commands our lives, and the words He speaks through the Bible are the only truth our hearts know to be certain, for He said “…Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37). Father, we read your word, we listen for your voice to give us understanding of the Bible by the Spirit of Truth in our hearts, and we want your words to be our law and to rule our lives, Lord, for we have tried before living by our own words, and we have seen only defeat. When, in the past, we tried to live by the words of men, we found ourselves, time and time again in the ditch, blind and led by the blind.
By your mercy our eyes are now opened, and we see clearly the truth of the Bible, where it is written “The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Psalms 33:10-11). We recognize the Bible as your words, God, given to man by the Holy Spirit. We see the Bible as the only final authority on this earth for your will, for the thoughts of God’s heart.
We don’t let our lives be guided by words that aren’t in accordance with the Bible, Father. We don’t want the words of men to live by anymore. We see that our own words are a heavy burden and that your words are no burden at all, for the Bible says “…for every man’s word shall be his burden…” (Jeremiah 23:36), and Jesus said “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30). Give us your words, Lord, the words of the Bible to understand, to live by, and to speak to each other, for all wisdom is yours alone and Jesus said “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:37) and again He said “But wisdom is justified of her children” (Matthew 11:19).
We are your children, Father, and we know each other by the wisdom of the words of the Bible which your Holy Spirit in the heart of each of us gives us to speak with understanding to one another. We follow the example of Jesus, and judge no man’s heart, but rather give your words to all so that each may choose for himself the Bible, to be either his salvation or his judge, for Jesus said “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judge him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:47-48).
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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