Lord, Give me the Eyes to see

This entry is part 1 of 23 in the series 30 Days of Prayer

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 35-36.

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

Imagine the task orientated focus of the ministry of Jesus as he and his disciples travelled around

Find places to stay
Control crowds
Find rabbis to open up their synagogue
Minister to the mass of humanity coming for healing.

If the disciples were task oriented people, they could easily have been overwhelmed with the details and logistics of ministering with Jesus. It can take their eyes off the goal, and ours as well.

Lost in details

Focusing on the details of endless ministry often takes our eyes off the ultimate goal of personal evangelism— 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.

Call parishioners.
Make hospital visits
Conduct weddings and funerals
Lead Small groups
Send mission teams to foreign countries
Pray for youth groups
Direct Children’s Ministries
Organize Street reaches
Plan and produce worship services
Greet church visitors
Prepare the coffee.

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

We lose the eyes to see.

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 of how I keep my eyes on the crowd:

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 prosperous, and I see the slums where gangs are killing each other.