This is the third article in a four-part series that emphasizes the need to pray each day in the month of May for our churches that are preparing to go to some of the hardest to reach peoples and places in the world.
Article 1 emphasized the urgent need for prayer.
Article 2 encouraged us to pray for the promised harvest.
This article challenges us to pray for laborers. Simply put, the mission field is larger than the mission force.
The need is obvious for those who will “lift their eyes.” (John 4:35)
We need laborers around the world. Wycliffe Bible Translators tell us that more than 6,000 language groups only have a portion of the Bible in their language while almost 2,000 still have no portion of the Bible at all. And according to the International Mission Board, 3,150 people groups remain unreached. We need more laborers around the world.
But it might surprise you to learn that we need laborers across the street, too. Large metro areas like Houston have gospel deserts—places with concentrated pockets of lost people where we need to intentionally focus our church planting and replanting efforts.
Some of these areas are large, like areas of East Houston. Other areas are as small as an apartment complexes where up to 95% of residents are unchurched. Houston welcomes large numbers of immigrants and refugees, many with no gospel witness. We need laborers who will take back these deserts.
And the chances are good that you live in an area where church attendance is trending downward. Local church attendance peaked in the 1970s, and it’s been declining ever since. We need believers who will live on mission in their neighborhoods, at work, at school, and at play.
Simply put, the lost aren’t coming to us; we’re going to have to go to them.
The promise is obvious for those who will listen to Jesus. (Matthew 9:37a).
Look closely. There’s no overt command to pray for a harvest. It’s promised. It’s a done deal. If the workers will pray, till, sow, and tend the fields, God will provide the harvest. Jesus basically says, “You do the work. I’ll work the miracle. Bury the seed of the gospel in fertile soil, and I’ll raise to life a harvest of 30-, 60-, even 100-fold.”
The harvest is promised. Laborers are not.
The command is to pray for laborers (Matthew 9:37b).
The miracle of the harvest is matched only by the need for laborers who will go. God doesn’t have to change the nature of the harvest, but he does have to change the will of the laborers. That’s why Jesus implores us to pray for laborers.
Pray for those who are going this summer. Learn how you can pray for those going from your church. Learn how you can pray for those going from sister churches. Contact Mission Centers of Houston (info@missioncenters.org) to learn how to pray for their youth and summer interns. Pray for boldness, protection, endurance, and fruitfulness.
You can also sign up to provide food for Mission Centers of Houston's summer missionary interns.
Pray for those who need to go. Is God calling you? Do you see potential in other believers? Pastors, do you regularly preach about the need to go? Are you providing opportunities and extending the invitation? Pray, preach, and invite. And remember, UBA can help you explore the possibilities (info@ubahouston.org).
Pray for laborers from the harvest itself. New believers make great laborers. Typically, they know a lot of lost people; their changed lives make a dramatic witness, and they present the gospel in familiar language. One of the most important kingdom contributions we can make lies in helping new believers pray for and share the gospel with those who live close to them but far from God. We find nearly unlimited resources for the harvest in the harvest itself.
Jesus pulls no punches when he calls for laborers. Praying, tilling, sowing, and tending areis hard work. Added to that, all the easy places are taken. Pray for God to call out those who will go across the street with the same dedication that our missionaries show as they go around the world.
As the Senior Consultant for Sending Pathways, Cris Alley helps support the local church in thinking and acting like missionaries.
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