Harvest-Field Praying

I’ve often wondered what prompted the disciples of Jesus to ask Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Many things happened between their call to follow Him and their request to be taught prayer. According to Luke, just one chapter prior to their request, Jesus described the harvest as “great” and the laborers as “few” and then told them to pray (Luke 10:2). Since He was sending seventy of them into the harvest, two-by-two, they might have been surprised that prayer was included in His outreach strategy. They obviously understood the commands to go, to serve, to share, to minister, to teach, to preach, etc.? But the command to pray? This may have been the most confusing command of Jesus. Today, in many circles, it is the forgotten command of Jesus. I have heard, read and been a part of the planning of more outreach strategies than I can remember. Those saturated with prayer were in the minority. It must have thrilled Jesus to be asked about prayer, on the heels of His command to go to the harvest field. It would no doubt, thrill Him today, if we made prayer more a part of our harvest-field strategy.

So join me this week in praying for the following harvest-field requests:
• Pray for dozens of mission teams from the U.S. who are serving this week all over the world.
• Pray for the uncertain housing situation for Larry & Sarah in Macau.
• Pray for Peter & Olga as they conclude their ministry in Russia and prepare to move to Germany to start a new church.
• Pray for this week’s Vancouver Vision Tour.