John 4:35 “ . . .I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”
Something has really stirred in me concerning the kinds of prayers we are praying for the harvest of souls in these last days compared to what Jesus said. Maybe you’ve heard these phrases prayed, or even prayed something similar yourself. “God, bring in the harvest!” “We call for the harvest to come in.” “God, make them ready.” While these prayers come from the sincere hearts of those who want people to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are unscriptural – do not agree with what the Word says – so they are ineffective.
The harvest is ready already. If it was true when Jesus walked the earth, it is still true today. Let’s think about it. When a natural field is ready for harvest, does the farmer – even the most God-fearing among them – stand in his barn and beg God to bring in the harvest for him? No. Neither does he command the harvest to pull itself up and come into the barn. The farmer, along with others who help, goes out with the proper equipment and harvests those crops, bringing them into the barn.
Matthew 9:37-38 “37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
This is a prayer we can pray concerning the harvest that will definitely be answered. Jesus made it very clear that we are to ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers into His harvest field. He didn’t say to ask Him to ripen the crops, or bring them into our churches so our pastors can lead them in the sinner’s prayer. He didn’t even say to call for the evangelists to go. He said to ask the Lord to send workers. It’s very simple, but when you pray this prayer, remember that you might be one of the workers you’re praying for.
Mark 16:15-16 “15 He (Jesus) said to them (disciples), “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Words in parentheses are inserted for clarification and underlined for emphasis.)
Jesus told us, those who follow Him, to go into all the world – where the harvest is. He’s given us all the tools we need (His Word and the Holy Spirit), but He will not do it for us, nor will He have the harvest come to us. Those who believe the gospel we share, when we go, will be harvested for eternal life. Jesus wants passionately for the lost to hear and believe, and He wants passionately for us to be the ones who take the gospel to them. He said, “Go!” And He said, “Pray for more to go.” It’s harvest time!
To Make Christ Known 