Today’s post includes an excerpt from a book called My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (initially published in 1924). You can read this devotional as well as other devotionals by Oswald Chambers and find out more by clicking here.
Once you read the devotional, you can reflect on what you read by going through the Reflection Questions at the bottom written by Pastor Tyler Lemen.
The Key to the Master’s Orders
“Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest….” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
Reflection Questions:
1) What are your initial reactions/emotions toward what the author is saying?
2) After sitting with those emotions for a moment, what do you feel God is speaking to you in reaction to those reactions?
3) Read the surrounding context of Matthew 9:38 (Particularly Matthew 9:27-10:42)
4) What lessons is Matthew highlighting in these verses?
5) What fields has God placed you in? Which one seems the most ripe? The least ripe?
6) Which line from the above devotional stood out to you the most? Why?
7) Does anything need to change in your prayer life after reading this?
-Pastor Tyler Lemen
Associate Pastor of Family Ministries at Friends Community Church