A PRAYER FOR UNITY

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6

Our two sons, Curt and Andy, twenty-one months apart in age, were not born with a natural affinity for each other. I guess you could say they were wired differently. They had different kinds of friends and listened to different kinds of music, and by the time they had reached high school, the differences had begun to create a serious rift in what had always been a pretty rocky relationship.I tried to encourage them to be kind to each other, but you can imagine how much difference a mother’s interference made: little to none. So they basically agreed to disagree and our family bumped along like a car with sand in its gas tank. And it broke my heart.The longer we lived like that, the more I understood how the Father must feel as he looks down on his world and sees our inability to mend our fences and love one another.

I suddenly noticed how many brother relationships were in the Bible—from Cain and Abel, who got it all wrong, to Peter and Andrew, who got it all right. And I intensified my prayers for Curt and Andy, that they would eventually learn to love one another.

God did not answer those prayers in a day or an hour. But I can tell you about the breakthrough moment when I first felt hope. I was in the back of our house in my bedroom, alone for all I knew. Suddenly I heard men’s voices coming from the den. I remember thinking that Spike must have brought home some of the men with whom he was working. I walked to the den to say hello and there sat my sons conversing with one another in the most civilized way.I backed out as quietly as I could, hoping that they had not seen me or the stunned look on my face.

Returning to my room, I sat on my bed in a state of mild shock and wept with joy. I really did.Years have passed since that pivotal moment. My sons are still unique people. But they love each other now. They are friends. And they have a Friend in common who has made all the difference.

Father, thank you for giving us the endurance and encouragement we need to love one another as brothers and sisters in the truest sense.

Knit our hearts together in the bonds of your Son, Jesus.

Give us one mind to know him, one heart to love him, and one Spirit to praise him forever and ever.

Amen.

#pray