There is one body, and one Spirit.
—Ephesians 4:4
Our own bodies teach us how essential it is for every member to seek the welfare of the whole. It is the same in the body of Christ. There are, unfortunately, too many who look upon salvation only in connection with their own happiness. There are also those who know that they do not live for themselves, and they truly seek to bring others to share in their happiness; but they do not yet understand that, in addition to their personal circle or church, they have a calling to include the whole body of Christ Jesus in their love and their intercession.
Yet this is what the Spirit and the love of Christ will enable them to do. Only when intercession for the whole church, by the whole church, ascends to God’s throne, can the Spirit of unity and of power have His full influence. The desire that has been awakened for closer union among the different branches of the church of Christ is cause for thanksgiving. And yet the difficulties are so great and, in the case of different nationalities of the world, so apparently insurmountable, that the thought of a united church on earth appears beyond reach.
Let us bless God that there is unity in Christ Jesus, deeper and stronger than any visible manifestation could make it. Let us thank Him that there is a way in which, even now, amid the diversity of denominations, the unity can be practically exemplified and utilized in order to access previously unknown divine strength and blessings in the work of the kingdom. Only in the cultivation and increase of intercession can true unity be realized. As believers are taught the meaning of their calling as “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), they are led to see that God’s love and promises are not confined to their limited spheres of labor. Rather, He invites them to enlarge their hearts, and like Christ—and also like Paul, I might say—to pray for all who believe, or who may still be brought to believe, that this earth and the church of Christ in it will by intercession be bound to the throne of heaven, as it has never been before.
Christians and ministers must bind themselves together for this worldwide intercession. This unity will strengthen the confidence that prayer will be heard and that their prayers will become indispensable for the coming of the kingdom.