Marked for God

~~~ Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22 ~~~ Psalm 113 ~~~ Matthew 18:15-20 ~~~

 ...if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.

We are invited today to join with others...to come
 together with our prayer intentions.
It only takes one other person joining you
 to insure that God is also with you.

It truly does not matter if those others are physically with you
what matters most is if you are joined with others in common prayer.

It is possible to join with others in prayer all around the world.
This is possible because we are all part of the Body of Christ.
Many times I have joined my prayers at a specified time for a specific
 intention even though I am separated by distance.
For God there is no such thing as distance.
Joining together in prayer is about stating your intentions.
I am joined in prayer currently with a dear friend
who is with her sick infant granddaughter.
We are many hundred miles apart but our prayers
 rise up together to God.

Once a week we come together for worship
 in a common house we call church.
We collectively call upon God to hear our prayers.
We call upon God to hear the prayers of the person beside us,
behind us, in front of us, and across the aisle from us.
We believe God is with us, because he tells so.
If he is with only two or three who gather in his name to pray
surely he is with us in our community prayer.

In the reading from the prophet Ezekiel today the people
are gather together but they come to worship idols.

God comes into their midst with instructions to mark some with an X.
Marked with an X is to mean that you will be spared
from destruction...death.

We still use the phrase 'X marks the spot'.

In the book of Exodus the doorposts were marked with an X
 to show which houses were to be spared...
those belonging to the Lord.

When you are praying together with one other person,
face each other and join your hands together between you.
Notice that your arms are forming the lines of an X as you
join your hands together in the middle.

Make the X and know that you are marking yourselves before God.
You are praying in his presence with another person.

Jesus had to die in order for it to be possible for him
 to be with all of us each and every time we come together in prayer.

When he walked among us he was restricted by conventional time,
but now he has no such limits.

We come together in prayer because God has marked us...
claimed us for his own.

He desires to be with us when we come together in prayer...
when we call upon his name to hear  our petitions.

Blessed to be among those marked by God.
We come together in prayer knowing that God is there beside us.
~~~ Peace ~~~