Deciding to See the Harvest

Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.     John 4:35  NIV

     

    This whole month we have been working at opening our eyes to see the harvest of people that God wants to bring into his family.  There are billions of lost people all over the world who need to hear and believe the message of Christ or else they will spend eternity away from God and separated from all goodness.  It is typical for all of us to keep our eyes looking down on our situation.  It takes an intentional decision to lift up our eyes and see the harvest before us.

   What intentional step can you take this week to see the  potential harvest of lost people near you or far away from you?  Could you pause to pray for people who do not trust God who live in nations which make the news this coming week?  Could you pause each day to look at a world map and pray for another country?  Could you memorize this verse above so that you have a frequent reminder to see the lost people around you?  Set aside a few moments this week to ask God to help you take a practical step see the harvest of people who need Christ.

Connecting with God's Global Mission

Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.  For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord  endures forever.  Praise the Lord.        

Psalm 117 NIV

    

    

   We usually think about God’s love in personal terms.  What slips out of  our minds is that God loves every single person in the world as much as he loves us.  Every American.  Every Arab.  Every Russian.  Every Indian. Every man, woman and child. 

    

   It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that God so loves the WORLD.  What can we do to keep God’s love for every person in the world in the forefront of our minds and in the center of our hearts? 

    

   One simple step we can take is to pray while looking at a map of the world.  This week, take a few minutes each day to pray in front of a map of the world.  Pick any one of the almost 200 countries in the world and then pray for it’s people.   Use the Lord’s Prayer to guide your prayer for this country.

• Pray for people to come to peace with their Heavenly father through Christ.

• Pray for people to see the unique greatness (hallowedness) of God.

• Pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done in this country as it is in heaven. 

• Pray for believers to have the daily bread they need to do God’s will

• Pray for believers to confess their sin and to forgive others.

• Pray that believers would not be led into temptation

• Pray for believers to be delivered from the evil one. 

    

   After you have done this for a week, make a plan for how you will regularly pray for people in the rest of the world to know and trust God’s love.

Praying for the world is good for us, too!

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.   

                                                            - The Apostle Paul in Romans 15:20  NIV

    

   Our church is part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance and that gives us the opportunity to partner with over 2000 other churches in the United States and over 600 international workers around the globe in bringing the good news of Christ to people who would never hear it if it were not for our passion for praying, giving and going.  The legacy of Alliance missions is to plant the gospel in unreached places, establish a national church that can grow on its own and then reach out to new unreached people.  It is a tremendous privilege for us to give to and pray for God's work through the Alliance around the world.

  What we often forget is that praying for missions benefits us, too.  When we pray for God's work around the world, we  are reminded that the world is bigger than us and this, in turn, reminds us that our problems are smaller than they sometimes feel.  It's also encouraging to remember that God is sovereignly working in other places around the world even when it is hard to see him working in our own little spot of the world.

  Let a passion for God's Kingdom work throughout the world bloom in your heart by watering and feeding it with prayer.  This week, pray for missionaries you know and the work they are currently seeking to accomplish.  If you do not personally know any missionaries, visit  www.cmalliance.org and click on the word “Pray” in the middle of the page for more information on how you can pray for the work of the Christian and Missionary Alliance around the world.