Matthew 9:36-38 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on 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 workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

In this passage we have a window into how Jesus viewed His world. He never hardened His heart, as we so often do, but saw each person around Him. His compassion caused Him to put His needs below the needs of the crowd.  He saw the people and saw clearly into their hearts.  His response was compassion and purpose.  He wanted these lost sheep to know God’s love and be saved from the terrible consequences of sin and death.  This provoked Him to give us one of His most specific commands in Scripture.

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I want to encourage you to join with me in praying this prayer on a daily basis.  I have several reasons for asking this.  The first one is the most obvious; Jesus commanded us to do this!  But, why did He want us to join Him in the harvest in this way?

That leads us to these key supporting reasons.  Jesus is always looking for partners in His ministry.  He does not want just servants, but friends. He loves to share in love with those around Him. This brings to light a very positive reason for us as well.  If we join Jesus in asking for the Father to send out laborers into the harvest, this is going to affect us greatly.  God will begin to answer our prayers by filling us with the same compassion that motivated Jesus to “see” those around Him and do something about it.  The direct consequences of obeying this command is that we will invite the Lord of the harvest to sweep us up into partnership with heaven and all that heaven is doing. That sounds really good to me.

The next reason is the wonderful power of prayer to bring awakening and revival.  The heavens are stirring greatly in this current season and God is eager for His power to be released into the earth to bring a great awakening.  Our prayers are key to releasing this great work of God.  Jesus now stands at the right hand of the Father interceding for us to know and experience all that the Father has planned. We have the privilege of joining Him in releasing the power of God for the harvest now by coming boldly into the throne room of heaven, by the blood of Jesus and asking:  Lord send out your laborers into this harvest field.

So, let’s obey Jesus and do the best possible thing for ourselves and those around us.  Let’s be intelligent and deliberate about inviting the compassion of God to flow in us, and through us, to the world around us.

Let’s pray:  Oh, powerful and loving Father, Lord of the harvest, send out Your laborers into this great harvest in our land. May You be greatly glorified by our obedience to Your loving and powerful will.  Fill us, use us, to fulfill Your great work.  In Jesus name.