Jesus is speaking to us today from his Jewish tradition that had a similar statement, that if two were sitting together and the words of the Torah were between them, there was also the presence of God. I have usually heard these words in the context of group prayer. This indicates the belief that when two or more are praying for the same thing, there is a greater strength.
I'm sure you have all heard of prayer groups and prayer lines. In times of difficulty or stress, we often turn to others and ask them to pray for us or for our intention. When tragedies happen, communities gather together to pray for those affected.
There are groups of people who live in monasteries and abbeys whose sole purpose is to pray for peace, to pray for the needs of the world, etc. There are men and women in church communities who keep track of the sick or the homebound and pray for them and when they become aware of someone in the community who is in the hospital or has died, they call one another and put them on the prayer list.
Today, with the computer age, there are online groups that solicit prayer intentions and then all those who are connected to the online group pray for the intentions that are listed.
Jesus is not telling his disciples that God is not present to us all the time, or that God doesn't answer our prayers unless we're in a group, but that we can feel his presence more when we are with others. After all, we are all made in God's image and so we should be more aware that we are in God's presence when we are with another, and they should feel the same when they are with us. We should look for God in others and allow them to see him in us and we can always reach out in times of trouble and invite others to join us in prayer.
