They were all with one accord in one place…And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
—Acts 2:1, 4
Several of the previous chapters have opened to us wonderful thoughts of the unity of the whole body of Christ, and the need for deliberately cultivating the slumbering or buried talents of intercession. We may indeed thank God, for we know of the tens of thousands of His children who in daily prayer are pleading for some portion of the work of God’s kingdom in which they are personally interested. But in many cases in which they take an interest, there is a lack of the large-hearted and universal love that embraces all the children of God and their service. The people do not have the boldness and strength that come from the consciousness of being part of a large and conquering army under the leadership of our conquering King.
I have said that a wrestler must gather up all his strength and depend on every member of his body to do its very utmost. In an army with millions of soldiers at war, each detachment not only throws its whole heart into the work that it has to do, but it is also ready to rejoice and take new courage from every report of bravery and enthusiasm of the far‑distant members of the same army. Is this not what we need in the church of Christ—such an enthusiasm for the King and His kingdom that His name will be made known to every human being? Do we not need such a faith in His purpose that our prayers will rise up every day with a large-hearted love that grasps the whole body of Christ and pleads daily for the power of the Holy Spirit on all its members, even to the very weakest?
The strength that unity gives is something inconceivable. The power of each individual member is increased greatly by the inspiration of fellowshipping with a large and conquering multitude. Nothing can so help believers to an ever larger faith as the consciousness of being one body and one spirit in Christ Jesus. Only as the disciples were all “with one accord in one place” on the Day of Pentecost “were [they] all filled with the Holy Ghost.” United prayer brings the answer to prayer.