Harvest time!
The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few
Matthew 9
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Did you see what I did? Jesus instructed the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest, to send out more laborers. But, Jesus was right there, so, why didn't he just say " I’m your man, so, let’s huddle up, I a have a plan to get us some more workers". Nope! He said PRAY and not only pray but pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest, and then Jesus ends it by saying that the harvest belonged to His Father. The Lord of the Harvest is God, Himself, and we have access to Him through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s kinda like putting a letter (my request) in an envelope (Jesus) and then sealing it (Holy Spirit) and mailing it (to God our Father). I know its kinda a funny analogy, but I think it can help us understand how our prayers may travel.
What do you think about prayer? it might seem uncomfortable for me to ask you this, but, I know for me, it was something I grew up around and it wasn't weird to talk into the air and think I was being heard. I remember having some very specific prayers answered in my young life, meaning, what I asked for, came about. At the age of 5 I remember praying earnestly for a very specific miracle and it was answered. But, as I began to grow up, I started becoming very self-concious and had thoughts that brought a wandering or questioning if my prayers were really making any sense or having any impact. I may have thought about God as a “magic eight ball” experience, where I shared my request in prayer and I'd get a yes, no or try again later response. I remember when I read the book Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalotos, he shared this illustration as one of the imaginary Jesus’ we can have in our thought process, as we approach prayer, which helped me to see that I had this going on in my prayer time, all the time.
Since we’re looking at a mailing example, I think it quite helpful to think about how the Post Master (God our Father) is always open and available. He doesn’t close for a holiday! He loves getting our mail and he looks forward to reading each letter with love and intention. I think sometimes we think He’s kinda like a board room experience, where we have to sell him on an idea or hype up our request. But that is not our Father. He is ready for our earnest prayer and his heart is involved with every word. He’s a responder, he’s a giver, he’s everything we will ever need, no matter what the answer is. God is so merciful and gracious and patient with us in this area of prayer, because he knows, for us, what it takes to actually sit down and become less self focused and more God conscious. Jesus, shows us this in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he goes to a specific place, to pray and he prays earnestly. In the process of his prayer, he asks and understands that his earnest prayer is being answered in His Father’s plan (will) and he agrees to the answer.
I love this excerpt from Oswald Chambers.…
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest….” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
https://utmost.org/modern-classic/the-key-to-the-masters-orders/ For the full devotional.
Oswald Chambers devotionals have been a go to for me for years and one I highly recommend.
One thing that stands out to me in Matthew 9:37 is that Jesus tells us that the harvest is PLENTIFUL!. This is very encouraging, as we can see that people ARE turning from the world system and wanting something different.
My life is a simple one, as I am trusting Jesus to be himself in me and then through me each and every day, I listen to his instruction in his Word, seek him earnestly, and come into agreement with him that… what matters to him, matters to me. It's his harvest, he wants me to talk with him in earnest about it THEN he will send the laborors.
What does earnestly mean? seriously, sincerely, soberly, thoughtfully
Have you ever needed to have a talk with someone that you knew needed special attention given to it? I recently had one of these and I tell you, it wasn't for the faint of heart. It required setting up a meeting time, clearing my schedule, looking at what the desired outcome was and then showing up diliberately, focused and ready to hear and then speak. Hear, and then speak. What am I hearing? I think a better question could be, am I hearing? Sometimes, I can launch into all my thoughts, before even setting my mind or attitude into a posture of listening. I've learned and continue to learn that it's best to just sit for a few minutes, listen, ponder and then respond….or not.
In our Matthew passage, Jesus invited us to pray, which causes us to listen to his heart in the matter, and then we can our share our heart's desire with him. Then we know we've heard him and he has heard us and then we move together into the future with an expectant hope. Just to be clear, I didn't say an answered prayer, I said an expectant hope. Holding our requests in an open hand with no clear answer in view, is FAITH. Now, I trust that he, our Father, is sending the workers to his harvest. I believe this has been prayed ahead of my own life. I'm apart of the harvest team here in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve also been apart of the harvest team in the Midwest and in the Rockies. I've had many people pray for me over the years, some I knew about and some I didn't. But, I know without a doubt that He sent me as a laborer and I’m in partnership with The Harvester.
So, when we pray, let's pray intentionally to the Lord of the harvest that he may send many laborers out. You may be one of them and it could be your next introduction to someone. We have this gift, his name is Jesus, and he wants his family to grow and growup.
Plentiful in Him, the Lord of the Harvest!
Your sister ~
Dayna
Photo by: Photo by Matthias Mitterlehner on Unsplash