Lord, Teach Me To Pray: Prayers of Agreement
Matthew 18: 19 tells us, “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.” This Scripture is often called the “prayer of agreement.”
Now I had heard teaching about the prayer of agreement from several people and I even listened to sermons on the subject. I understood the principle, but I had not had any actual experience with this form of prayer until 1986 when we were in Hawaii on a vacation.
One afternoon an announcement came over the loudspeaker at our hotel and we heard from other people at the resort that we all needed to evacuate and head up into the hills to higher ground because a tsunami was coming. Interestingly, we did not even know what a tsunami was, but someone in a merchandise shop told us that it was a huge tidal wave!
Not having any idea what this all meant, we went back to our hotel, got our car, and started driving to higher ground. As we were passing cars parked along the roadside, people were pulling beer and liquor out of their trunks to party. Lawn chairs were set up and it looked like people were at a picnic or tailgating! It made me think of the Scriptures where it talks about the last days being as those of Noah’s time. People will be partying when danger is just around the corner.
We kept passing cars as we headed to higher ground. The whole time our children and I were praying as my husband was driving. Finally we reached the highest point that we could get to by car. As we got out of our vehicle to watch the wave come in, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Go up higher to pray.” I walked up to almost the top of the hill that was about another eighth of a mile from where our car was parked.
When I looked back, I saw another car coming up the hill and headed toward ours. Not thinking much about this, I began to ask God how I should pray. He said, “Tell the tidal wave to dissipate.” Now that was not my idea of what to pray, but it was God’s Word to me. So I turned to face the ocean and extended my arm out. I began to pray, “Father, in the Name of Jesus, I command this tsunami to dissipate.”
Just as I finished praying, I looked down and saw a woman with her arm outstretched toward me. It felt like we touched, yet we were many yards apart. As I walked back down to where the cars were, I met the lady and her son. I asked her why she had extended her arm toward me earlier. She said, “Oh, I believe in the power of agreement in prayer!” I then thanked her for agreeing with me and explained to her that the Lord had instructed me to command the wave to dissipate.
Just as I spoke those words to the woman, the announcer on the radio station playing in our car started speaking a count down. Now they had evacuated all the islands, expecting this to be a major disaster. As I listened, the announcer continued his countdown, “…7…6…5…4…It’s coming folks…3…2…1…Oh my God! The water has dissipated! What has happened? There is no wave! Folks, it has dissipated. It is gone!”
We were so excited and relieved to hear the wave was gone. But I was overwhelmed to hear the announcer use the specific word “dissipated!” Now, I will never know until I get to heaven if our prayer actually worked or if it was a major coincidence. But I choose to believe that our faith and our prayer of agreement spared us and the islands of this disaster.
That woman and I were agreeing on earth as two people, asking God for this miracle. God says in His Word that is all that is needed for the Father to do it. We were in accordance with His Word and standing in faith. Had the announcer used any other word such as disappeared, dissolved, or receded, I would not say what I am saying here. But his announcement used the exact word God had given me to pray dissipate! Our God is an awesome God.
There were apologies and investigations for weeks after this event, trying to figure out what had happened with that tidal wave. No one was able to explain why the wave never crashed against the islands.
Since then, I have learned and studied more about the power of tidal waves. Why this tidal wave never came across those islands I cannot prove. But I do know about the power of agreement, and I believe this power was in effect that day in Hawaii! It was a day I learned another valuable lesson from the Lord about prayer.
Dr. Sharon Predovich
