Because prayer is the strategy of Pioneer Bible Translators, our worldwide team intentionally sets aside a day of fasting and prayer every month. This month, instead of offering up praises and petitions collected from some of our teammates, we are taking time to reflect on the unity that God desires for His people.
Each section below focuses on a specific aspect of unity. Each one contains Scripture followed by a few prayer prompts. Read the Scripture and prayerfully reflect on it, drawing on the prompts if you find them helpful. We invite you to pray not only for Pioneer Bible Translators but also for yourself and your church.
Why God desires unity
“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 NRSVUE)
- Give thanks to God for the benefits/blessings of unity.
- Pray that God would give us a better understanding of why unity is so important to Him.
- Ask God to align our hearts more fully with His.
How unity strengthens the Church
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. … But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:12, 24b-25 NRSVUE)
- Give thanks to God for the Church and the diversity of spiritual gifts.
- Ask God to help His people use their spiritual gifts more effectively to build up the Church.
- Pray for the Church to become more unified.
Obstacles to unity
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose. (1 Corinthians 1:10 NRSVUE)
- Ask God to reveal obstacles to unity in the Church today.
- Pray against these obstacles as God makes them known.
- Ask God to bring resolution and peace to division and disagreement in the Church.
Ways we can cultivate unity
Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:3-6 NRSVUE)
- Ask God how He is calling you to cultivate unity.
- Ask God to reveal practical things you can do to accomplish this.
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to be one with others in your Body, united in your love. Show me ways that I might be hindering unity in your Church, and lead me to repent from these things. Open my eyes to ways I can build up your body so that the world will see your love. I pray the same for Pioneer Bible Translators. Amen.
