Matthew 9:37-38

[Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

This is a fascinating statement from Jesus. He was seeing a huge reaction to his ministry with crowds of people responding to both his teaching and his healing. The harvest was clearly enormous, and so he reflected on the need for more workers. The obvious question to ask is this: if it was so clear that more workers were needed, why was it necessary for the disciples to pray about it? Why didn’t God recruit more helpers automatically?

This is a really important question. And the answer helps us to understand the nature of prayer. Because God is all powerful the answer has to be that he could have instantly enlisted more workers. But God has chosen to work in partnership with us. He wants us to be involved in his work of mission - and the most intimate way in which we can join in partnership with him is through prayer.

We know that God longs to establish his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. So, as we pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), what we are declaring is our willingness to cooperate with God in what he is seeking to do in our homes, churches, communities and places of work and leisure. We are offering our minds, hands and feet so that his perfect will can be accomplished. Yes, God could establish his kingdom by himself without our help, but he chose to send his son Jesus into the world so that we could be intimately involved in his kingdom-building business.

Jesus’ statement makes it clear why we need to place prayer at the centre of our lives. It really is the oxygen of the Christian life. As we pray, we invite the Holy Spirit to guide our thinking and actions, and we declare our willingness to go wherever he directs. What an incredible privilege that Jesus has asked us to share so fully in what he is doing in the world!

Question

Are you willing to pray for more workers today?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you that you have invited us to be a part of your mission to the world. Amen