The Fields Are White Unto Harvest

Here I am, wholly available
As for me, I will serve the Lord

The fields are white unto harvest
But oh, the labourers are so few
So Lord, I give myself to help the reaping
To gather precious souls unto You

The time is right in the nation
For words of power and authority
God’s looking for a people who are willing
To be counted in His glorious victory

As salt are we ready to savour
In darkness are we ready to be light?
God’s seeking out a very special people
To manifest His truth and His might

(Chris Bowater)

The headline scripture for our time of prayer and fasting is Luke 10:2 - And He [Jesus] was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.

Let’s give thanks to God that we are in a time of reaping - that there are many people ready to be brought into His Kingdom.

Let’s submit ourselves afresh to God, making ourselves available to be used as workers to reap the harvest (that is, to make disciples of those who are ready to come to faith).

Let’s recognise that God has given us His Spirit so that we can advance His Kingdom by bringing healing, deliverance and salvation to those who need Jesus. After all, the Kingdom of God is not just a matter of talk, but also of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).

Matthew 9:35-38 tells us that, when people were flocking to Jesus to be healed, He had compassion on the crowds, and that compassion prompted Him to announce to His disciples that the harvest was plentiful but the workers were few.

It was Theodore Roosevelt who said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Do we care about those who don’t yet know Jesus? Jesus was motivated by His compassion for the lost, so much so that He was called the Friend of sinners (Luke 7:34). We shouldn’t ever despise sinners. All of us were in a sinful state before Jesus saved us (Romans 5:8), and most of us still need to be forgiven every day for our sinful thoughts, attitudes and deeds. We should understand that those who don’t yet know Jesus are not the enemy; Satan is the enemy, and those who are yet to come to faith are held captive by him (2 Timothy 2:26).

Lost souls are of the greatest value to Jesus. He left the splendour of Glory to die for them. As Christians, we can tend to see the lost as ‘miserable sinners’, but God sees them, first and foremost, as people who are made in His image. The image is undoubtedly tainted, but not altogether obliterated.

Jesus compared the multitudes to a crop which needs to be harvested. Each stalk of wheat or ear of corn is valuable; it all needs to be gathered in so that it is not wasted. Maybe we place more value on some people than on others. We may identify people whom we would like to see saved because we have a connection with them or because we admire them in some way, but God doesn’t respect one person above another (Acts 10:34). He wants everyone to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), including the one whose life is messed up, those whom we might find it difficult to love, and people who have done terrible things.

If crops are not harvested, they will rot away. God places great value on the crop; He places great value on people. Maybe the reason why we might lack zeal to win the lost is not because of our lack of skill, or our inability to communicate, or our lack of evangelistic gifting, but simply that we don’t share God’s heart of love for them.

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

(Brooke Fraser, Hillsong United)

Prayer: Lord God, we worship You as King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank You for this opportunity to pray and fast. As we seek to subdue the flesh-life, may we be more open to Your Spirit. Thank You for bringing us into a season of reaping. Enable us to see the vast crop that is ready to be harvested, and may we be willing to labour in Your harvest field, using the authority You have given us to bring healing, deliverance and salvation to people’s lives. Please forgive us for our lack of care for the lost. We also repent on behalf of our city and nation, which have turned away from You. Thank You for the hope of the gospel. May people be touched by the power of that gospel, and may we be ready and willing to usher them into Your Kingdom and to disciple them in the faith. In Jesus’ name and for His eternal glory and honour we pray. Amen!