1 Samuel 13-14 Luke 10:1-24

“He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest.” (Luke 10:2 NCV)

Jesus didn’t ask people to pray often. He commanded people to pray. He prayed Himself. We don’t see many instances of Jesus saying, “Would you pray about this?” When He makes that kind of request, that must be an important concern. As Jesus got ready to send seventy-two evangelists out as advance teams to prepare the way for His ministry He realized that so many more workers were needed. His request came as He prepared them for the work ahead. These were the first to go out, and they began being an answer to His prayer. Jesus knew that He had a world to reach and these seventy-two weren’t enough to change Jerusalem. More were needed.

Times haven’t changed. There are still people ready to hear the good news about Jesus. They don’t realize what they need, or else they’d seek Jesus out. It’s not that the message of Jesus doesn’t speak to people in the world today. The message of grace, of forgiveness, of hope is always relevant to those who are wandering in the darkness of their own minds thinking that there’s no hope for them. Jesus bring peace to those who are troubled. How can you look at the world and not recognize that people need the love, the forgiveness, the peace that Jesus brings? Jesus calls us to go out with the same message that He sent the seventy-two out with: “The Kingdom of God is near you.” His prayer request hasn’t changed either. The harvest is plentiful. There are many people ready to hear the good news about the Kingdom of God. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest, God, will send more workers out into the harvest. Unless your church is different, I don’t know about any church that wouldn’t say “Amen” to that prayer. We need more workers sharing the good news of Jesus. The fun thing about this is that when we respond to Jesus’s call, we’re an answer to His prayer. It’s a nice turn around from always asking Him to answer our prayers. Make today a day you share the love of Jesus with someone else; make today the day you’re an answer to Jesus’s prayer.

Oh Lord, the harvest before us is still overwhelming. We have a whole world that needs to know Your love and grace, and so few workers to share it. Let me be an answer to Your prayer. Let me encourage others to be an answer to Your prayer also.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.