Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
11 29 2024
“Jesus in Matthew 9:37–8 said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he will send Forth laborers into his harvest.”
Jesus frequently taught his disciples that they must pray and how to pray, but seldom what to pray.
He seemed to leave that to our sense of need in the leading of the spirit. But this one time, he called them out to remember that in view of the coming huge harvest and the need for reapers, they must cry out to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers.
Hasn’t he always told us that prayer is not to be selfish? Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. When we pray for the Holy Spirit, we must pray for him to prepare and send the laborers to do His work.
Have you ever wondered if one prayer of his could bring in all the laborers he needed why would he ask thousands of our prayers? It’s foolish to think he did not see the need. And wouldn’t he, in his own good time, send forth laborers without our prayer? Those types of questions lead us to the deepest mysteries of prayer, and their power in the kingdom of God. And I am sure that the answer is in convincing us that prayer is indeed a power, and that God has included it for
the ingathering of the harvest and the coming of his kingdom.
In Matt 9: 36 “he saw the multitude and was moved with compassion for them because they were scattered abroad, as sheep having no Shepard.”
And it is here that he calls the disciples to pray for laborers to be sent among them.
Obviously, Jesus did this because he believed that their prayer was needed and would help.
The veil that hides the invisible world from us, was wonderfully transparent
to the holy human soul of Jesus. He had marked in his word when God called men like Abraham,
Moses, and Joshua when he gave them authority over men in his name. At the same time, he gave them authority to call on the powers of heaven as they needed them.
They understood that the work of God had been entrusted to them.
And now it was about to pass over into the hands of his disciples, which includes you and me.
He wanted to impart that this was not a form or a show, but their faithfulness or unfaithfulness
in this matter would hold the success of the work he spoke of.
Jesus saw around him the wandering of the sheep, and he longed for the help to have
them properly cared for. So, he tells his disciples to begin and to pray,
and when they’ve taken over the work from him on earth, to make this one of the chief petitions in their prayer. That the Lord of the harvest himself, on the wings of our prayers,
would send forth laborers into his harvest.
But sadly, how little we Christians really feel and mourn the need of laborers in the fields of the world that are so white to the harvest. And how little we must believe that this labor depends on our prayers and financial support, and that our prayers will really provide “as many as he needs”.
I look around and I see how little the burden of the sheep wandering without a shepherd is really
borne in the faith of his disciples today.
I even struggle sometimes to believe that these fields ready for reaping will be left to perish if we do not pray as he has asked. But his word says it is true.
We are all contemplating Thanksgiving. We are thinking about what we are thankful for and realigning the will, the path and the passion of our lives to the Lord of the harvest. (At least I hope we are) So why is it that we do not obey this injunction of the master more heartily and cry more earnestly for laborers?
There are two reasons. One, we are missing inside, the compassion of Jesus, which gives rise to his request for prayer. When will we learn to love our neighbors as ourselves? When will we accept the responsibility for these that are perishing, as the charge that was entrusted to us by our Lord? And then accepting them not only as a field of labor, but his objects of loving care and interest? When we are obedient to his call, and before very long, the compassion of the Lord towards these that are hopelessly perishing will touch our hearts, and our prayers will become a cry of earnestness rising to the Lord of the harvest.
These two mission trips that are coming up have gotten me to think about what God is saying about missions and the laborers he calls and on that same front line he calls the prayer warriors to interceed for the workers who are few and for the funding to send them. God never ordains what he does not fund.
🙏 Pray: For for these workers of His harvest. Pray for their safety, and opportunities to share the gospel, and open hearts in the communities God is sending them to..
💌 Donate: Your financial support will directly fund these mission trips and allow us to bring resources and hope to those in need. Every dollar brings us closer to changing a life. There are three legs to these missionary trips. The workers being call to be obedient to His calling. The intercessors who pray them in to accepting and the cover of protection. 3rd. The providers who provide the finances to minister. Each of these plays an intregal part of being obedient to God’s calling in that quiet still voice of his. People can rush to a Black Friday sale and that can be a blessing but these are eternal gifts that will reap a reward for all eternity. All your love is tax deductible.
NEXT Part Two The Lord of the Harvest: The Lost are being Lost. Part 2 of 2
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My website to view past devotions is https://fearlesslycourageous.com
Excerpts are taken from Andrew Murrays book With Christ in the School of Prayer
Andy Grammer – “Don’t Give Up On Me”
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