He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” [Matthew 9.37-38]
It just occurred to me today that Jesus first instructed his disciples to pray for workers to spread the Good News about the Kingdom and only shortly thereafter He sent them out themselves.
Is there a Kingdom principle in this? When we pray for something, does that include us in the answer to that prayer?
What if our prayer requests to God are in fact His commission for us to participate in the fulfillment of that request? Henry Blackaby, in his book "Experiencing God" made the case that the needs we recognize are indeed God's calling for us to participate in their fulfillment.
In other words, if I am compelled to pray for revival for my city, then that is in fact my calling from God to participate in ushering in that revival! If I see a need, then that is God's way of telling me what I need to do. Blackaby stated that our recognition of a need is God's invitation to join in meeting that need. This goes along perfectly with Jesus' instructing His followers to pray for a harvest and then calling them to that same work.
Anything we pray for is our preparation to do the thing we pray for.
The implications of this principle are great. "Do" what you pray for.
Father, help me to recognize that that for which I am compelled to pray for is Your calling to me to join in the fulfillment of that request.
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