Labour

 Matthew 9:37-38 ESV

 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”


Be careful what you pray for! Immediately after these verses, Jesus sent his followers out to fulfil this prayer. If we ask God to bring in a harvest of souls into his Kingdom, we're probably going to be the answer to our own prayers.

One of the main reasons God doesn't translate us immediately to glory the moment we come to faith in him is because he wants us to call others to put their trust in him. The one good thing we won't do in glory that we can do now is to witness to unbelievers of the goodness of God. God doesn't want anyone to perish, neither should we.

I'm not a Greek scholar, but I'm sure it's not coincidental that Jesus calls for labourers, not just workers. Evangelism is laborious. It's not easy work.

God wants earnest prayer. He doesn't just want platitudinous mantras. He wants us to sincerely desire to be the answers to our own prayers.

'Lord of the harvest, please send out labourers into the harvest field of this world. Help us be prepared to be the answers to our own prayers. For the honour of your name we ask this, amen'.

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