"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." (John 17:20-21)
Do we
truly believe in the Kingdom of God? Are we willing to sacrifice for the
sake of this Kingdom? Are we completely geared for victory?
I
wonder if we are willing at all. After all, those of us who believe in
the Most High, are we truly willing to be united in proclaiming God's
message of love? Setting aside any of our denominational differences? By
our example the world will know if we are real or not. Division is a
sign that we are not taking God seriously. We are either of God's family
or we are not. United we stand, divided we fall.
When Russia was
invaded by 3.2 million Nazis on June 22, 1941, the Russians had to make
some real sacrifices to safe their nation. On July 3rd, Stalin ordered
everyone to burn all crops and dwellings from the imminent threat of the
invading army. The Russians were going to suffer, for they truly
depended on that food. Still, any food left for the enemy would give the
enemy the upper hand. Better suffer than be defeated! The Russians had
to be united in this or face the stark reality of defeat. The rest,
however, is history.
Is unity even plausible in our day and age?
Humanly speaking, no! After all, everyone think about themselves
first!
However if we were to start hungering for God and depend
on Him solely, it is absolutely, definitively possible.
Take this
ministry for example. Answers2Prayer began amidst stark adversity. No
one I ever encountered, believers or non, believed that this ministry
would stand. To many, an army of prayer warriors was completely
ridiculous. It would never work.
It was a discouraging time of
my life as I tried to hang on to what God urged me to start. But I
needed a kick in the backside to take the first steps, for it is hard to
do something that makes your fellow believers think you have gone mad!
God shone through. He filled my heart with His love. I finally took
a step in faith, His faith, and I have never been the same since. Wow!
His grace is really out of this world!
So Answers2Prayer came
into existence. In the beginning, it was just a one man show. Six months
later, my Heavenly Father began trying to convince me that it was time
to raise up an army of prayer warriors, and He urged me to take on
volunteers. This was a hard concept for me. How would this even be
possible? I didn't know anyone who was eager to become a prayer warrior,
and even if I did, how could this be organized over the Internet? It was
truly impossible!
God's answer?
Trust me!
Eighteen
years later, we now officially have sixty-four volunteers, belonging to
different denominations and living in different corners of this world.
We are culturally different as well as denominational different. Still
we are united in our mission. After all, we all serve the same God. He
is our passion and His message of love is what motivates us. It is the
indwelling of His Holy Spirit that unites us. Anything else is
secondary!
His message now reaches countries where no
missionaries are allowed, for how can one stop the Internet?
If
a simple ministry like this one could live in unity, so could the large,
mainline ones! After all, our Father will unite us as a powerful prayer
warrior army, if we will just let Him. Victory or defeat is truly in our
hands, and just like the people in Russia during World War II, it's up
to us to make that choice.
Rob Chaffart