Earnestly Pray

December 11, 2023.

Nearly two millennia ago, our Lord exhorted His followers to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt 9:38, ESV). Jesus uttered these words while looking at the crowds of people who had come to encounter Him—to hear a word, to be healed, to catch a glimpse of Him. They came eager and full of anticipation of this “One like Moses.”

The only problem was that they did not understand the significance of the era they were in. Looking at the crowds, Jesus saw multitudes of people who did not know their salvation was right in front of their eyes. He saw dozens of people who needed to be told of the truth, because, like white wheat, they were ready to be harvested into the Kingdom of God. Much longer on the stock and the harvest would rot. Much longer in darkness and they may die without knowing.

The Father’s solution to their ignorance was to lead the Son to itinerantly teach about and demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Jesus, laboring fiercely in obedience to His Father, acknowledged He needed a work force to labor alongside Him and to continue the harvest beyond His ascension. There needed to be more people teaching about the Kingdom. There needed to be more people demonstrating what the Kingdom was like.

In chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew, before sending out His disciples to the masses to proclaim the Kingdom of God and do miracles (Matt 10:7-8), Jesus first told them to pray. Pray that the Father would send people to the lost who were ripe for harvest. Jesus then sent these disciples out as the answer to their own prayer.

Pastor K. in South Asia took personally our Lord’s Matthew 10 command and began praying in earnest that the Lord would provide him an opportunity to train and send out laborers into the harvest field of his home country. The country where Pastor K. lives and ministers in is hostile toward the gospel and highly restricted for foreigners; but like Jesus, Pastor K. looked at his country and believed there was a harvest ready to be gathered. God graciously answered Pastor K.’s prayer with a recent invitation to begin a new Acts Training Center. With twelve students in his care, he is raising zealous laborers who seek to contribute to Jesus receiving the fulfillment of His longing— people from every nation, tribe, and tongue.