For many months, I have been seeking to exhort ANiC parish members and, indeed, myself to take seriously the desperate need for us to pray for revival – a Great Awakening in our day. We have shared together on the plight of our North American culture that seems bent on self-destruction like so many civilizations of the past. Sinful humanity, driven by greed and fear, refuses to learn from history and rebels against any restraints whatsoever. At one level, it has always been thus, but this is our generation, our responsibility, and the Lord has placed His church in the midst of it all for His mighty and redemptive purpose.
As we struggled to know exactly how to pray for revival, the simple Scriptural prayer, “Rise Up, O God” provided us with an easily-remembered means of intercession on behalf of our church, our country, and the world. It reminds us that it is only God Himself, by sending a sovereign outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us, that any lasting change will occur. There just isn’t any Plan B!
Revival in the 21st Century
But it’s tough, isn’t it! It’s hard to be giving ourselves to prayer over such a vague and nebulous concept as “revival”. If we’re honest, we really have no clue what that might look like in the 21st century. And there are so many things right before us that require our prayers: our parish ministries, our families, our unsaved loved ones, illness and disease in our midst, decisions being made by governments at every level that are clearly unscriptural – there’s just so much that it’s overwhelming!
Recently, while attending the ordination of a friend, I was struck by a familiar and yet perhaps overlooked passage that is frequently read on such occasions. Let me share it with you:
Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38 ESV
With the obvious exception of His teaching on the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gave very few specific instructions about what to pray, but in this passage He is very clear. It springs from His heart of compassion for the people He saw who were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Is it any different today? Does this description not fit our society, and, indeed, those in the church who do not as yet put their faith in Jesus?
The Lord of the Harvest
Christ is the Lord of the harvest. Let us pray that many may be raised up and sent forth, who will labour in bringing souls to Christ. It is a sign that God is about to bestow some special mercy upon a people, when he stirs them up to pray for it. And commissions given to labourers in answer to prayer, are most likely to be successful.
The commentator in the ESV Study Bible on this passage came to the same conclusion: “The leaders (or shepherds) have failed in their responsibility, but Micah 5:4 predicted that the Messiah would “shepherd” his people. Given the helplessness and the need of the crowds, Jesus’ disciples are urged to pray earnestly that the Lord would send out labourers into His harvest, since many are ready to receive the good news of the kingdom—a prayer that is as urgent today as it was when Jesus’ original disciples heard His words.” Surely it is absolutely paramount that we obey this command of our Lord!
Quite frankly, I was deeply convicted as I pondered this imperative from our Lord. As someone committed to praying for revival, how could I have overlooked this? Why was it not a regular part of my intercession when it seems so strategically vital to Jesus? I’ve read it many times and reflected with joy on the coming harvest of many entering into the Kingdom, but neglected to see my privilege and responsibility of being a part of the harvest process by specifically asking the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers. Maybe I’m the only one who’s a little slow on picking up on this, but somehow I doubt it.
Pray for Labourers
So, as we seek to grow in our commitment to pray for revival, here’s another important weapon in our arsenal that the Lord has given us. If you keep a prayer journal or a prayer list to which you can add new prayer initiatives, let’s all add prayer for labourers for the harvest. It is important to note that this does not just include overseas missionaries (although that has been a traditional interpretation). It includes your parish neighbourhood and the mission field that the Lord has given your church.
At St George’s, Burlington, we’ve been seeking to really engage Alton Village, the new community into which the Lord instructed us to build our new church. Recently, we had a series of evening meetings to pray specifically for the needs of our new neighbourhood. It has really helped us to be able to visualize our mission field in a very specific way. Each evening, we stood in the window that faces the village, praying for families as they strolled or biked by, perhaps walking the dog or pushing a stroller. We prayed for children as they played on the swings at the park across the street. Some of our neighbours saw us standing in the window and, without any awareness of what we were doing, waved enthusiastically.
Amongst other things, we were asking the Lord of the harvest to give us His heart of compassion for these people and the rest of the inhabitants, so many of which are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”!
I have found it so helpful personally to be able to “see” our mission field, and so it is into this field that we can and must ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers, knowing that His answer to our request may well include us. I am also aware that not every ANiC church can easily identify the mission field to which the Lord has called you. But, if you haven’t done so, please make it a matter of prayer. Do ask Him to show you the geographical area or demographic that has been given to your parish. I have every confidence that He will gladly answer this prayer.
I will close with this quote from the classic bible commentator, Matthew Henry. Expounding on this passage, Henry said:
Christ is the Lord of the harvest. Let us pray that many may be raised up and sent forth, who will labour in bringing souls to Christ. It is a sign that God is about to bestow some special mercy upon a people, when he stirs them up to pray for it. And commissions given to labourers in answer to prayer, are most likely to be successful.
