The words of my morning devotional stood bold before me: “Unity doesn’t depend on outward conformity, but understanding hearts.” It was an apt description of my Tuesday morning prayer group.  Outwardly, we are quite different: different personalities, different backgrounds, different in many ways. But there is commonality that unifies us, and that is love for the Lord and belief in the power of prayer.

This is a ladies intercessory prayer group, about 24 strong most Tuesdays. Room 144 of my church is the designated prayer room.  This sanctuary for devoted prayer is a place saturated with worship and faith and there we find the sure presence of the Holy Spirit. We pray for one another, but our primary reason for gathering is to pray for others. As we feel prompted to pray, we approach the throne of grace with that petition. We try never to forget to pray for our nation and its healing. We anoint with oil and lay hands on any who comes to us struggling with a heavy load. If there is a special need from one who cannot be there, one of us will stand in for that person while the group forms a circle round about.

The uniqueness of our group is that most of us share no quantity of time outside the prayer room and some never see another member outside Tuesday morning. Yet, when we meet in Room 144, we are family. We care about one another and the need for concentrated prayer. As my morning devotional said, we join together with understanding hearts. It is this that makes us a solid unit.

 “Have fervent love for one another.” 1 Peter 4:8 NKJV