“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:19&20 [ESV]
Standing together in prayer is something close to my heart, to stand shoulder to shoulder with friends and family petitioning and intercessing about things that are close to our hearts. I listened to a very inspiring podcast from Bill Johnson at Bethel about it some time ago – he was talking all about standing with one another as we petition God for things, he encouraged the congregation to tell people that they were standing with, that they were them in situations and to do things to demonstrate this. Listening to this podcast led to the quilt sewn in faith full of love prayers. I would really like to encourage you in this also, not necessarily making a quilt for someone, but tell the people you are praying for that you are standing with them and praying for them and think about doing something solid as a sign of you standing with them in prayer. Maybe take some time out to ask God what he would have you do and wait quietly for the Holy Spirit to prompt you in the right direction.
Last week I ‘accidentally’ came across a jeweller on Instagram called Amy Cornwell who makes some really beautiful things. [I say ‘accidentally‘ as I often seem to ‘stumble across’ things, which end up really blessing me – like how I ‘accidentally stumbled across’ journaling Bibles which have radically transformed my ‘quiet time’ and fanned into flame such passion for the Lord it’s… okay, okay I’m getting off point!] One of the beautiful things she makes are “teeny stamped band” rings, silver rings which you can stamp messages on, up to 20 characters. I had been praying for both of my sisters that morning, one knows I pray daily for her and the other I don’t think I have ever really talked to her about it. But that morning I had felt really compelled to take up praying for her daily about this particular area of her life and was reminded of the Bill Johnson talk about making sure we tell those we are praying for that we are standing together with them in prayer to encourage them. I had planned to call her or write to her that afternoon, but then as soon as I saw the teeny stamped bands I knew I had to get one for each sister with a message to encourage them, that would let them know that I’m praying for them. So I chose a word and a Bible verse for each of them and ordered a ring each – in the hope that, when they feel overwhelmed or fed up by the situation, hopefully they will have a quick glance at the ring and know they are not alone in the situation, I am standing with them [along with others] praying for breakthrough.
Having ordered theirs, I felt maybe there were things I could do with being reminded of too! So I ordered two for myself, one of which says “set free” and the reference “Gal 5v1” Because that verse brought real revelation to me last year, real breakthrough and healing in fact, but every now and then I need to be reminded again that “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” [Galatians 5:1 ESV]
But please note – It does not have to cost anything financially to show you are standing together with someone in prayer – these are just two ways I have found to demonstrate that I am standing together with people I love in prayer, which probably found their inspiration in the fact one of my top love languages is gifts. You could do all sorts of things that do not involve you spending any money. For example, if you are praying for a friend’s marriage – maybe babysit for them one night so they can go out on a date night to invest in their relationship. The first step, is to tell them that you are standing with them – not in a quick throw away comment, but sit them down and seriously tell them and explain why you want to stand with them and pray about things for them. Why not give it a go and let me know the different ways you have found to demonstrate you are standing together in prayer.
Grace & Salt ink 
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