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In Matthew, chapter 18, verse 20, Jesus said, where two or three are gathered in my name,

there am I among them. Now, does that mean that Jesus isn't present with you if you're praying by yourself?

What exactly takes place when we gather in the name of Jesus?

So the first thing is, it's important to note that the context of this verse isn't about prayer,

generally speaking, but prayer in the context of church conflicts.

We know from scripture that God is near to all those who pray to him sincerely.

You think of how God heard Hagar's prayer in the wilderness or Hannah's prayer for a child. Those prayers were whispered or uttered in isolation, but God in His mercy heard them. It's important for you to know that when you cry out to God, he hears you. So if you show up to the church prayer meeting and you're the only one there, as tragic as that would be, you don't need to get another body in the room before you can have a quorum for prayer and proceed. You can come to God directly through Jesus

even when you're all by yourself. So then what is Jesus getting at when he said where two or three

are gathered in his name, he was there present among them? In the days of Jesus, in order to

establish a synagogue, you needed to have 10 adult males.

According to New Testament scholar Craig Keener, there was an ancient Jewish saying that promised

that the presence of God wouldn't just show up for 10 males, but even for two or three who

had gathered to study the Torah, or God's law. Among the things happening with Jesus's statement here, one you don't want to

miss is this. Jesus is saying, I am the one present with my people when they are officially gathered,

...