During this prayer series, we have prayed in widening circles from our own hearts to our homes, streets, relational networks, and cities. Along the way, we have asked God to help us pay attention, pray specifically, and recognize where he is already at work.
This week, we lift our eyes to the harvest.
The Harvest: Ask the Lord
Throughout this journey, we have been practicing how to see. We have paid attention to what God is doing in us, among the people closest to us, in the places immediately around us, throughout our relational networks, and across our cities. We have tried to slow down long enough to notice people and places we might otherwise overlook.
In Matthew 9, Jesus looks at the people around him and sees something his disciples may not have seen. He sees people who are harassed and helpless, and he is moved with compassion for them. But he also sees something else. He sees a harvest.
Where others might have seen crowds, problems, needs, or interruptions, Jesus saw people in whom God was already at work. And his response was to tell his disciples to pray.
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
As we come to the end of this prayer journey, we are going to look again at all the places we have been praying for and ask Jesus to help us see what he sees.
Where is the harvest? Where are people hungry, searching, hurting, curious, or open to God?
Where might God already be at work in ways we haven’t recognized?
And as we pray for God to send workers into his harvest, we will also make ourselves available to whatever part he may invite us to play.
Read: Matthew 9:35-38
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Notice
Read Matthew 9:35–38 again and pay attention to what Jesus sees. He notices the condition of the people around him. He is moved with compassion. And where others might simply see need, Jesus sees a plentiful harvest.
Now think back over the places and people you have prayed for throughout this journey: your own heart, your home, your street, your relational networks, and your city.
Who has continued to come to mind? Where have you noticed spiritual curiosity, hunger, openness, or need? Where have you seen signs that God may already be at work? Is there a person or place you are seeing differently now than you did six weeks ago?
Ask God: Jesus, help me see the harvest the way you see it.
Take some time to listen. Bring back to mind the names, faces, places, and situations that have drawn your attention throughout these weeks. Pay attention to what seems especially significant now.
Pray for the Harvest
Jesus’ response to the harvest is clear: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Begin by praying for the people and places God has brought to mind. Ask him to continue what he is already doing in their lives. Pray for those who are searching, curious, hurting, or hungry for something more. Ask God to reveal himself, draw people toward Jesus, and open doors for the good news of his kingdom.
Then do what Jesus tells his disciples to do: ask for workers.
Pray that God would send people who will love well, listen carefully, share Jesus naturally, make disciples, and faithfully join what he is already doing. Pray for workers in your home, on your street, throughout your relational networks, and across your city.
Ask God: Where is the harvest already becoming visible? Who are the workers you are preparing and sending? Where do we need you to raise up more workers?
Stay with the people and places God has put on your heart and ask the Lord of the harvest to move.
Consider
There is an interesting turn immediately after Jesus tells his disciples to pray for workers. Matthew 10 begins with Jesus calling those same disciples to himself and sending them out. The people who prayed for workers became part of the answer to their own prayer.
As you think back over this journey, consider whether God has been doing something similar in you. Has a particular person or place continued to draw your attention? Has your compassion grown? Is there somewhere you sense God inviting you to become more present, more prayerful, or more available?
Ask God: As I pray for the harvest, where are you inviting me to join you?
Don’t rush to manufacture an assignment. Simply make yourself available. The invitation may be to keep praying, begin a conversation, deepen a relationship, share what Jesus has done in your life, or take a step you have already sensed God asking you to take.
Listen for what God brings to mind, and talk with him about your willingness to respond.
Pray for the Network
Now widen your prayer one final time. Pray for the Kansas City Underground and for the harvest God has placed all around us.
Ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up and send workers. Pray for more ordinary people who will follow Jesus into their homes, streets, relational networks, and communities with love, courage, and dependence on the Spirit.
Pray for people across our city who are hungry, searching, hurting, or open to God. Ask Jesus to draw them toward himself and to place disciple-makers in their lives who will notice them, love them, and help them discover what it means to follow him.
Pray that we would never become so busy building our own things that we fail to see the harvest around us. Ask God to keep our hearts soft, our eyes open, and our lives available to him.And ask the Lord of the harvest to send us wherever he chooses, trusting that he is already there and already at work.