What Jesus Said About Following HimSample

Pray to the Lord of the Harvest

Prayerfully consider the following Scripture passages.

Matthew 9:35-38 – Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He told His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.'

Luke 10:1-2 – After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit. And He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.

Jesus gave the same command to the Twelve (Matthew 9:35-38) and the Seventy-Two (Luke 10:1-2) before He sent them out: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers…

Here, we have a clear command to pray for the harvest. The harvest is the world that lies in sin, people who are not saved, and people who need Jesus. The command is very specific: pray for more labourers. The Greek word translated as send out workers is ekballo, which means to press out, like in an olive press, force out, or throw out into the harvest. It is a strong word.

The question is – Are you praying for the harvest? If the ingathering of the harvest would depend on your prayers, would there be a harvest?