Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer echoes the heart of Jesus Himself when He looked at the crowds and said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. That burden is from the Lord, and it is right to plead with Him as the Lord of the harvest to call, prepare and send workers, because He is the one who sends and He is the one who draws people to Christ.
There is an urgency in your prayer that Scripture affirms. The harvest does not wait forever. Now is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation, and Jesus said we must do the works of Him who sent us while it is day, for night is coming when no one can work. To pray for laborers now is to pray in line with the will of God who desires that none should perish but that all should come to repentance.
You also pray rightly for power. When a person trusts in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within that person. He is the one who makes it possible to call Jesus Lord, He makes your body His temple, and He works within you to conform you to the image of Christ and to give you victory over the flesh. Without Him we cannot truly love, forgive, or live as Jesus did.
Yet Scripture also shows a distinct empowering for service, when the Holy Spirit comes upon a life to anoint and enable for witness. Jesus Himself, though He was the Son of God, lived and ministered full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and in the power of the Spirit. If He depended on the Spirit for ministry and for standing against temptation, how much more do we. This is the promise Jesus gave, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
That power is not human energy or emotional excitement, and it is not achieved by our own organization or planning. It is the Spirit Himself speaking, guiding and sending, as He did when He set apart Paul and Barnabas and sent them out. Since the day of Pentecost that gift has been given and remains available to all who belong to Christ and are open to receive what God desires to impart. It is the only hope for an effective witness, to be strengthened with power for patience, endurance, love, and boldness, and to be led daily as sons and daughters of God.
So we join you in asking the Lord of the harvest to do what only He can do. We ask Him to raise up laborers with a deep intimacy with Jesus and love in their hearts, with power to know His Word and to hear and obey His voice. We ask Him to provide in practical ways, for calling and training, for passports and tickets and housing and daily bread, and for financial provision. We ask Him to keep these workers and their families in unity and with clear consciences before Him, so the gospel goes forth under open heavens. And we ask for protection, that He would keep them from sin and from the evil one, and guard them in the spiritual realm where the enemy cannot ultimately harm those who walk in the power of the Spirit.
May the Lord answer this prayer abundantly, and may He use even your own life as a witness where He has placed you, filled and led and empowered by His Spirit, until the harvest is gathered in. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
There is an urgency in your prayer that Scripture affirms. The harvest does not wait forever. Now is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation, and Jesus said we must do the works of Him who sent us while it is day, for night is coming when no one can work. To pray for laborers now is to pray in line with the will of God who desires that none should perish but that all should come to repentance.
You also pray rightly for power. When a person trusts in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within that person. He is the one who makes it possible to call Jesus Lord, He makes your body His temple, and He works within you to conform you to the image of Christ and to give you victory over the flesh. Without Him we cannot truly love, forgive, or live as Jesus did.
Yet Scripture also shows a distinct empowering for service, when the Holy Spirit comes upon a life to anoint and enable for witness. Jesus Himself, though He was the Son of God, lived and ministered full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and in the power of the Spirit. If He depended on the Spirit for ministry and for standing against temptation, how much more do we. This is the promise Jesus gave, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
That power is not human energy or emotional excitement, and it is not achieved by our own organization or planning. It is the Spirit Himself speaking, guiding and sending, as He did when He set apart Paul and Barnabas and sent them out. Since the day of Pentecost that gift has been given and remains available to all who belong to Christ and are open to receive what God desires to impart. It is the only hope for an effective witness, to be strengthened with power for patience, endurance, love, and boldness, and to be led daily as sons and daughters of God.
So we join you in asking the Lord of the harvest to do what only He can do. We ask Him to raise up laborers with a deep intimacy with Jesus and love in their hearts, with power to know His Word and to hear and obey His voice. We ask Him to provide in practical ways, for calling and training, for passports and tickets and housing and daily bread, and for financial provision. We ask Him to keep these workers and their families in unity and with clear consciences before Him, so the gospel goes forth under open heavens. And we ask for protection, that He would keep them from sin and from the evil one, and guard them in the spiritual realm where the enemy cannot ultimately harm those who walk in the power of the Spirit.
May the Lord answer this prayer abundantly, and may He use even your own life as a witness where He has placed you, filled and led and empowered by His Spirit, until the harvest is gathered in. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
