John 4:35–38
John 4:35–38 (see also Matt 9:35–38)
35“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36“Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37“For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38“I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
My priority time went in a different direction today. Here is the result. I will pick back up tomorrow with Matthew 13:24–30.
Focused Thinking:
35“Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”
In September we will teach our people to “Love People,” to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The fields are white for harvest WHEN we love our neighbor.
The fields are white for harvest WHEN LOVE WORKS.
What could we believe the Lord for in the month of September?
What does it look like for us to pray to the Lord of the Harvest?
What does it look like for us to recruit and send out laborers in the Harvest?
What does it look like for us to reap and receive the wages and gather the fruit for life eternal?
What does it look like for the one who sows and the one who reaps to rejoice together?
37“For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38“I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
- How many seeds have we sown over the last eight years?
- How many prayers have we prayed over the last eight years?
- How many seeds have others sown in Memphis?
- How many prayers have others prayed for Memphis?
- We have been sent to reap some seeds that we have not labored.
- We have entered into their labor, into the spiritual history of this city and of families, to reap a harvest of seeds that we have not sown.
Stop and think about this for a moment; how many seeds have been scattered in this city throughout the years? How many seeds have been planted by others? How many seeds have been prayed for by others? How many seeds have been watered by others? What does it look like for us to believe God for a harvest? What does it look like for us to reap the harvest of seeds that we haven’t sown as well as seeds that we have sown?
Personal Application:
Why can’t September be a month of harvest? Why can’t we plant more seeds in September about loving our neighbors and October be another month of harvest? What does it look like for us to believe God for a harvest? Are we going to believe God for a harvest that can’t be explained by man’s efforts? Are we going to believe God for a harvest that be explained by programs and events? Are we going to believe God for a harvest that can’t be explained? Are we going to believe God for a harvest that can only be explained by prayer and fasting?
What is the risk of believing?
What is the reward of believing?
What am I asking you to do?
I am going to set aside next Friday morning, Sept 3rd to pray and fast.
- I’m going to set aside one morning, one afternoon, or one evening for prayer and fasting for the month of September.
- Will you join me? Make it flexible to your schedule.
I don’t have any specifics from the Lord yet, regarding the harvest. I don’t know what it looks like yet. I don’t know if the Lord will reveal that to me or not, but I’m going to begin by asking the Lord for a harvest in September.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, You are the Lord of the Harvest. Please give us the blessing of reaping Your harvest. Father, we can plow the soil, we can prepare the seedbed, we can plant the seeds and we can pray for rain, but we can’t make it rain. We can’t make the seeds grow. Father, give us the privilege of reaping seeds that we haven’t sown as well as the privilege of reaping seeds that we have sown. Father, give us a harvest in the families of our people. Give us a harvest among the friends of our people. Give us a harvest at Overton High School. Give us a harvest with people who are struggling with hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Give us a harvest among single parents. Father, give us a harvest with people we’ve not met. Give us a harvest with the unchurched and dechurched. Give us a harvest with the churched who aren’t growing or used but need to be revived.
Father, give us a harvest of lost souls. Give us a harvest of people sitting in the middle. Take our people from sitters to servers. Take our people from receivers to givers. Take our people from consumers to contributors. Give us a harvest that is unexplainable. Father, give the blessing of the fullness of Your Spirit working in and through us. Father, I pray that Your Spirit will blow through our church and in our city in such a way to bring about revival and spiritual awakening.
Father, show me what You want to do. If You want me to know specifics, please show me specifics. Father, give me the faith to believe You for the harvest. Father, forgive me taking too much responsibility for the harvest. I can’t create the harvest, but I do believe we’ve been faithful to plant seeds. Father, give us the stewardship of reaping the harvest. Father, bust through the spiritual resistance. I pray that You will bind the enemy and keep him from our people and from Your harvest. Father, bind him and his demons in Your name and by Your blood. Father, give us Your presence and power over the enemy and his deception and distractions. Come, Holy Spirit Come. Father, I pray for Your Spirit to bring people this Sunday in abundance and for a breakthrough in our response time.
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