21 Days of Fasting and Prayer Devotional: Send RevivalEsimerkki

Day 9: United in Christ The ancient city of Corinth was a melting pot of different people groups, religious ideals, and socioeconomic levels. Corinth was also a wealthy seaport city filled with idolatry because of the vast diversity of its population that came and went. Things were always changing in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul addresses a big change in the church’s former life of idolatry to its new life empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is here that he points out the diversity of gifts that all believers have been given. He also emphasizes the strength that comes when those gifts are brought together. “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. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 Though we have all been given unique and individually assigned gifts, we are a part of a much bigger purpose. Our prayers then should go beyond our individual needs and to what God would have for His Church. As theologian and author Richard Foster wrote, “The power of Christ in a gathered community can be an awesome thing. A quickening presence somehow breaks down the isolation of our individual lives and unites us in ways we could never imagine nor create on our own.” To be gathered or united means to look beyond our own agendas and recognize that God has brought us together for a far greater impact; that there is a miraculous power that comes from a unity of faith and spirit. Like never before, we are living in a time when the world needs to see and encounter this power. Many are experiencing defeat, suffering from hopelessness, and divided by politics, race, and religious beliefs. What the world needs is a praying and united people who are filled with the Spirit and demonstrating the love of God in a powerful way.