By this point, Jesus has determined the crowd is harassed and helpless. He’s acknowledged they’re a harvest ready to bear fruit. He’s identified the lack of workers to bring in this great harvest. Now, he’s drawn a conclusion and issued a command. Pray with urgency. The word means to plead and beg with the Lord.
In this verse, Lord refers to one who owns and controls both property and servants. God owns the fields. So the harvest belongs to him, as do the workers. This means that God’s responsibility is to send out laborers, and our responsibility is to plead for Him to do it. As the Lord of the fields, he has chosen prayer to be the mechanism for launching laborers.
Matthew 9:38 forms the core of the modern missions movements. Generations have prayed this prayer, and it’s needed now more than ever to reach the unreached. We must pray for a massive workforce to meet the urgent need.
This week, let’s pray:
Lord, you are the master of the harvest. You own the harvest fields. Please send out more laborers to meet the demands of the harvest.
