Having the collective believing of others can be a genuine source of inspiration and can help fortify our believing. At times our own individual efforts are not enough to break through challenging situations, and fellow believers can encourage and inspire us to continue claiming God’s promises until we receive the results.
When someone confesses with their mouth that Jesus is lord and believes in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, that person becomes born again and a member in particular in the Body of Christ. In this one Body, God desires that the members function together and draw upon each other’s strengths and abilities.
Romans 12:5:
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Here is this same verse in The Amplified Bible (1987):
So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another].
God has designed for this Body to work together; therefore, we mutually rely on each other for support. We look for ways to encourage, exhort, and uplift each other.
Romans 14:19:
Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
When we have the collective believing of other believers, our results and blessings are magnified. Not only is God at work within us as we believe, but He is also at work in the hearts and lives of those who believe with us. In teaming up with like-minded believers, we help to elevate one another’s believing. As a result, the believing is multiplied in intensity and quality, and we can have tremendous impact.
In chapter 9 of the Book of Acts, we see an example of the believing energy of the disciples in Joppa in the record of Peter raising Dorcas from the dead. Dorcas, who was also called Tabitha, was a wonderful disciple who lived in Joppa and abundantly shared of her time and resources with the believers in her local area.
It came to pass in those days that Dorcas became sick and died. However, the believers loved Dorcas and believed she should live. They took action by sending for Peter, a leader and minister in the first-century Church, who happened to be nearby in Lydda, about ten miles away. While in Lydda, Peter had healed a man named Aeneas, and perhaps the believers in Joppa had heard about this.
The disciples at Joppa agreed together to send two men to Peter with the urgent request for him to come to them without delay. Peter arose and went with them.
Acts 9:38-40:
And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.
Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
The collective believing of the disciples in Joppa initiated this deliverance, and God worked in Peter to minister and bring about this miraculous deliverance! The disciples could have accepted the circumstances, but instead they believed together for a solution, and they took action.
What a joy and privilege it is to be edified and fortified by the collective believing of fellow believers in the Body of Christ. Let’s reach out and lend our believing support to others so that they too can be a part of believing together!