”Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Matthew 9:38
This week’s movement principal is: Send Laborers into the Harvest. Matthew 9:38 commands us to ask God to send forth laborers into the harvest. The original language uses the word “ekballo” for ‘send out’ which means “to cast or drive out, to expel or thrust forth.” It is the same word used for casting out demons. As Lord of the Harvest, God is passionate to gather in the full measure of His harvest. As we pray, we often become some of the answer to our own prayers as He uses us to share the gospel. When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, He was preparing her to be a laborer in Samaria. Jesus knew that by revealing who He was to this one woman, she would go into the whole city and share Him with everyone. And she did. She was an outspoken witness to who He was because of the great degree to which Jesus’ love impacted her. Ask God as the Lord of the Harvest to thrust forth well-trained laborers into every unengaged, unreached area. Pray for Him to raise up harvesters from within the harvest such as the Samaritan woman, Cornelius and Lydia. Pray for Him to stir the hearts of near-neighbor disciples to cross bridges of friendship with good news of Jesus’ love.
Ask God this week to give everyone involved in church planting movements a sense of their connectedness to the family of Christ as children of God. Practice listening to Holy Spirit daily for where He is sending you to prepare His way.
Listen to the companion Podcast here.