prayer

This morning when I awoke the Lord told me that a friend of mine was praying for me. He went on to tell me that prayer was necessary for the work ahead of my husband and I, and because the work was imminent, He moved on my friend to begin praying. Though I thought all this was touching, the Lord had me get up and really listen to what He was saying; prayer is necessary for the work of God to be accomplished. And agreement on the part of others is more important that solitary prayer.

Because God is sovereign, sometimes we wonder what our role is in prayer. I often hear that well-meaning Christians believe God will have His way, and His will stands alone, to be accomplished without our input. But Jesus gives us a glimpse into our input concerning the timing and the will of God. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” (Mt 9:37-38). The Lord’s harvest was important to Him, yet He didn’t accomplish the task alone. God designed it so that the harvest took the participation of Christian laborers to accomplish. And, Christian believers needed to pray for the laborers.

There is another place where Jesus tells a parable about needing laborers for the harvest. Men were standing around in the marketplace, waiting for their calling to serve. Yet no man would “hire” them to labor in the harvest (Mt 20:7). So the Lord Himself brought them in to help bring in the harvest.

The difference between the two harvests is that Jesus asked His disciples to pray and ask for laborers in the first one, and Jesus found He still did not have enough laborers during the 11th hour in the second one. If we take a look at history, we see that there were many brethren during the beginning of the Christian movement, ready to give their entire life to labor in the harvest. Whether they planted, weeded, watered, or reaped, the brothers and sisters of Christ moved across their lands and into others to labor for the Lord. I believe the movement of God during their time was related to the obedience of the disciples; they prayed for laborers.

Many of us believe we are living in the end times. This is the 11th hour and the harvest is ripe, needing to be brought in. We hear the message from ministers and evangelists, pastors and teachers. Yet there is little movement amongst the church. Though we are not all called out into the mission field, we are all called to prayer. Prayer about what is on God’s heart is a partnership with Him on what He is about to do.

Jesus taught His disciples that prayer moved the hand of the Father. “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Mt 18:19). When we agree together concerning God’s will, and pray, powerful things will happen. And, if we do not pray, there will be lack. When we feel that we are enough for the work of God, we will find the heat of the day tiresome, and though we do not want to “hire” anyone else to help with the labor, Jesus will step in to do so, for the Father’s business is important to Him.

Peter admonishes us to “be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” (1 Pet 4:7). If our mind is sound, and our thoughts concerned with the matters of the Kingdom, we will want to pray. Because we care about what God cares about, and agree with others concerning what God reveals that He is doing, His movement will begin. Today, let us be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, listening to whom He would have us pray for. We need to “hire” our brethren with our prayers, desiring them to enter into the labor of the Lord. God has some exciting things ahead of us and needs many laborers. Amen.