30 Days of Prayer: Day 1

I’m brave enough to try and create a prayer guide for personal evangelism over the next 30 days.

This will give you insight into how I am praying this month for the work of evangelism in my life.

Am I too busy to see?

Day 1: Matthew 9:35-36

Jesus and his disciples were busy doing ministry, organizing events, and serving the people. Matthew gives us a summary in verse 35.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Imagine the task orientated focus of ministry:

• Finding a place to stay
• crowd control
• finding rabbis to open up their synagogue
• the mass of humanity coming for healing.

Focusing on the details of endless ministry often takes our eyes off the ultimate goal — helping people find faith in Christ.

Many of us practically live in full time ministry today, even if we are just volunteers.

We are task oriented to keep the church running, the sheep fed, and hoping to make a difference in our corner of the world.

• Calling parishioners.
• Hospital visits, weddings and funerals
• Small groups
• Sending mission teams to foreign countries
• Youth groups
• Children’s Ministries
• Street reaches
• Worship services
• Greeting church visitors
• Preparing the coffee.

With church life sometimes bordering between burn out or the joy of hyper activity, we sometimes forget the people without Christ who are around us.

In the midst of all the activity of ministry, Jesus saw the crowds.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Do I see?

Do we see the crowds?  Do we see the people around us without Christ?

Let me give you an example:

Is there a place where you live where you can see the landscape of your town?

Maybe a tall building, maybe a mountain.

Where I live, there is a mountain nearby.

I can climb it and from it’s vantage point, see a city of 1.3 million people, laid out on the flat plain.  I see the sky scrapers that house the propserous, and I see the slums where gangs are killing each other.

I have a picture of it on my computer.  It’s a reminder of the crowds.

It’s a reminder to pray for my city and it’s leadership, to pray for the people in my city, to pray for my neighbors.

Today’s Prayer:

Lord, give me the eyes to see the crowds around me.

Give me the eyes to see the people who our ministry is not yet reaching.

Give me the eyes to see above the business of ministry and see the people who are not yet following you.

I pray for the city in which I live.

Use me to reach some of them.

Use your church in this city to make a difference for the kingdom.

Amen.

Today’s Action:

Take 5 minutes and pray for your city.  Ask God to give you His eyes to see the crowds.

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