“Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest’” (Matt 9:37-38).
How often do you pray this prayer? When was the last time that you asked God to send more laborers into His vineyard? Is this a request you make of Him on a regular basis?
I would guess most of us would have to confess this is not something that we frequently include in our prayers. And yet, Jesus urged His disciples to make this petition. Should it not be something heard as often as “ready recollection,” “guide, guard, and direct,” or “next appointed time”? This petition as well should be thoroughly entrenched in the language of our prayers.
Why is it that we don’t regularly ask God to send out workers into His harvest?
Maybe we do not see the world as Jesus sees it: “distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:36). Maybe if we shared His perspective of the lost souls around us day by day, we would be more fervent to ask God for workers to help reach them.
Maybe we don’t have our priorities straight. Our provisions, health, and happiness are more often at the forefront of our prayers than God’s will being done on earth. The Lord’s work and our work are operating in two different planes. We have our own goals and aspirations irrespective of any of God’s plans for our life. Maybe if seeking and saving the lost were as important to us as it is to God, it would be a more regular focus in our prayers.
Maybe it would be hypocritical for us to make such a request. We know that we cannot sit idly on the sidelines and ask God to send others out into the fields of evangelism. If we are to make such a request, it means we must be willing to get up and labor for the Lord’s harvest ourselves.
Maybe if we prayed this prayer more often, we would be reminded of the work God has called us to. We each have a responsibility to sow, water, and reap in the fields of evangelism. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Are you among their number?