Pray to the Lord of the Harvest

02 Jun 2009

Have you ever heard anyone pray addressing God as ‘Lord of the harvest’? Jesus, almost without exception, used the name ‘Father’ when talking about God, but when he talked to his disciples about the harvest he said: ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field’ (Matthew 9:38).

‘The Lord of the harvest’: what does this mean? The world is God’s harvest field. He is its owner. He expects a great harvest. What a revolutionary way to look at the world!

Jesus saw crowds of people harassed and helpless without him as their shepherd and his heart broke for them. He saw a plentiful harvest and few workers. So he said ‘ask’—or plead—that the Lord of the harvest will thrust out workers into his harvest field.

Do we do what Jesus asks here? I have often heard people pray for individuals who need God, ‘the lost’, but have hardly ever heard anyone pray this prayer: ‘Lord of the harvest, thrust out workers into your harvest field.’ Perhaps we could even call this Jesus’ forgotten prayer request.

In Matthew 10, after he asked them to pray this prayer, Jesus sent the 12 disciples out into the harvest field with instructions and warnings about how they will be treated. A modern paraphrase warns, ‘On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.’ I wonder, is it dangerous to pray this prayer, because we might be the ones ‘compelled out’ into the harvest field?

'Give me the compassion of Jesus!'

We need a glimpse of the heart of Jesus in order to pray to the Lord of the harvest. We need to see the world as God’s harvest field rather than the devil’s playground.

The harvest is ready all around us—in our street, in our workplace, among our family, among our friends and acquaintances. What if we kept saying to the Holy Spirit: ‘Open my eyes; show me the ripened harvest around me. Give me the compassion of Jesus for these harried and helpless ones’? What would begin to happen—in our hearts and in our surroundings?

No harvest without faith

Do we have eyes to ‘see’ the fields that are ripe for harvesting? Or are we saying, ‘It is too hard. People are too resistant’? There will be no harvesting without faith, for this work is a supernatural work. The Lord is turning hearts towards him, and directing us to share the good news with them is the work of the Spirit. Of course, we cannot do it ourselves. But the first step into faith is ‘seeing’ the unseen. And only an ‘eye-opening’ by Jesus will bring that ability.

When that vision comes we will walk in our streets or sit at our workplace with a burning heart, alert to any direction of the Spirit to pray or care or speak for him whenever he prompts. We will be saying inside: ‘Where are you at work, Lord? What can I do to bring in the harvest?’ The adventure of the Kingdom has begun!

By Kath Wells (from War Cry magazine)