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.
When Jesus saw the crowds, his heart broke. Matthew 9:36 reads
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
He had compassion on them.
To put it another way, he felt compassion for them.
I can imagine the heart of Christ that day on that hillside – pondering the injustice, the poverty, the lostness, the brokenness, the misery of human need, and their separation from God.
But also seeing not just a plural collective “them” but individuals with names, dreams, and families. [Read more…]
Jesus saw the crowds.
Jesus felt compassion for the crowds.
Matthew explains why. Chapter 9 verse 36:
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Sometimes I wonder how I see people who are without Christ. I wonder if I truly see them as God sees them.
I wonder if it’s possible to see their spiritual condition in the same that Jesus saw that of those crowds.
He saw their spiritual condition.
Harassed, helpless, without a shepherd.
As a Christian, I know the Good Shepherd. He’s been leading my life since I was 15. I’ve known the blessing of His care, the provision from His supply, and the bountiful forgiveness of my sin.
Think of your friends who are without Christ, who don’t know Christ as the Good Shepherd.
Do you see their spiritual condition?
I wonder if it’s possible to cultivate the heart of God by learning to see people as God sees them.
I believe it is.
Sitting in prayer, or walking in prayer, or standing in prayer, the form doesn’t matter.
It’s connecting with the heart of God in prayer that I begin to grow the spiritual vision to see what God sees.
Christ for the world we sing,
the world to Christ we bring,
with fervent prayer;
the wayward and the lost,
by restless passions tossed,
redeemed at countless cost,
from dark despair.
— Christ for the World We Sing, Samuel Wolcott
This is the heart we need to cultivate.
Lord, I want to see people as you see them, harrassed and helpless, without a shepherd. I want to see them without judgment, without writing them off, but only as you see them.
I’ve got friends that I love deeply. Friends who don’t know you, who don’t follow you, who don’t know you as the Good Shepherd.
Give me the spiritual eyes to see their condition and allow that to drive me further into prayer that they may come to know you, one by one, and use me to reach them.
Read Make a Prayer list of friends.
Create a list of names of people that you want to pray for their salvation during this 30 days of prayer.
If you haven’t yet gotten a prayer journal to write down what you think the Lord shares with you, do so today.
Jesus saw the crowds.
He felt compassion for them.
Because they were as sheep without a shepherd.
Then Matthew adds:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest,” (Matt. 9:37-38).
Jesus saw the harvest.
For the last few days, I’ve been encouraging you to look out at your city or place in which you live. Find a vantage point or maybe a photograph that you have found on line. Look at the harvest that is before you. If you can’t see it, as the Lord to open your eyes.
Pastor, you’ve been planted in the church you serve in the town in which you live. Can you see the harvest?
Church member, you’ve been part of a church for a while. Can you see the harvest of people around you who do not know the Lord?
Today, ask the Lord to give you clear vision of the harvest field.
There is mountain near my city that allows me to see it on the plain, almost from one side to another. As I look out over the city of 1.3 million people in which I live, I see the harvest. That’s huge, and overwhelming.
I live in an apartment building. From it’s rooftop, I’m able to see the various other buildings, homes and businesses in my district. I see the harvest
In that district, we are currently planting a church in a .2 sq mile area that is packed with 50,000 people. There are only 7 Christian churches, 6 of which are under 100 members in size. This suggests a huge population that is unchurched and likely doesn’t know Christ as the shepherd. It’s huge and overwhelming.
That is my harvest field that the Lord has placed our family in.
When I think about the harvest field as I see it, God needs to send more workers. I can’t do it all. At times, I feel a compassion for the harvest that causes me to weep for my city.
Jesus saw that the level of human need was great, too big for the disciples. My field is too big for me. It’s even too big for my church.
I’m regularly asking the Lord
At times, the task of evangelism seems so huge, my prayers feel desperate.
When you glimpse the harvest field through the eyes of Jesus, perhaps you too will find yourself desperate for more workers, and desperate to be involved yourself.
Lord, help me to see the harvest.
Give me the spiritual eyes to see the harvest that is around me, not just overseas, or in some other country that one of our missionaries serve, but here in my little corner of the world.
Give my local church the eyes to see the harvest field around it, and to get out of our comfort zone and into the harvest field.
Give me confidence to share my faith that I may bring more workers into the harvest field.
Lord, raise up more workers who will labor along side of me in the harvest field. I ask your blessing upon the churches that are laboring in this field. May they work together in Christian love and unity to help bring more people to faith in Christ.
Send me today.
Prayer sensitizes us to subtle changes in the landscape of our circumstances. – Andy Stanley, Visioneering.
A few nights ago, I took a flight home, back to the city where I live. The flight path of our final descent runs us parallel to the city. I got to sit in the “A” seat, window, left side. It was dark outside and the cabin lights were dim (as it was very late).
I could see the city lights off to the near left as our plane continued it’s descent and final approach.
I could see all the skyscrapers by the waterfront, with some of the windows lit by their occupants, whether the building was a hotel or apartment.
I could see the millions of street / house lights that laid out the city on the plain.
Looking out of my plane window that night, I simply prayed:
Lord use me. Use our family to make a difference.
Help us train pastors, help us train leaders.
Let us bring Your word to this place where we have been called.
Lord, send workers to this harvest field.
We’ve been doing some devotionals as a family after dinner, and it’s been a joy to hear our kids take on praying for this city, our work, and “the saints” they know around world.
Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’” ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “
Jesus is clear: The field is the world (v. 38).
As I prayed again this morning about the spiritual harvest I saw out my airplane window, my heart pondered the amazing patience of the parable’s.
“Let them grow together until the harvest.”
Out of this common grace of a divine delay, I have been given another day
Lord, you’ve placed me in this harvest field.
You’ve given me the eyes to see it. You’ve been patient in delaying your judgment, giving me time to work in the harvest field. The harvest is too big for me alone. Send more workers to this field to join me in this task.
Lord, You know the names I have on my list of friends who need you and your grace.
Use me today to have a conversation about you with one of them, or put me in a place today that they start a conversation with me.
If you haven’t done so already, read how to Make a Prayer list of friends. Then make one.
You’ll need this list through these 30 days.
Take 10 of those names and spend several minutes praying for their salvation. As we’ve been praying this week, as the Lord to give you His heart for them.
What is it about your relationship with Jesus that you wish they knew?
Start asking God for an opportunity where your friend asks you about your relationship with God.
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