Where the Harvest Is

You know, the Church isn’t supposed to do all its work inside its walls. It’s supposed to get out there in the world and get to work expanding His Kingdom. He wants to use us to represent Him. There are people out there who won’t go to churches. Periodically, over the last 40 to 50 years, the Lord has raised up groups of Christians that minister to those in the marketplace. Full Gospel Businessmen was one of those. Aglow was another, which was raised up by women. Both of those groups held meetings in hotels or community centers or country clubs, places the unsaved might feel more comfortable. However, they didn’t hold back on sharing the message of the Gospel or in allowing the Holy Spirit to move. Real people, not professional ministers, would give their testimonies. They might be accountants, firemen, government leaders or educators, for example. So many people would respond to the invitations to get born again. They would get them filled with the Holy Spirit and they’d get slain in the Spirit. They would just explain what happened to them when they would get up off the floor! Thousands were saved through those movements. Then, they would funnel the new Believers into the churches to be discipled. It is a very effective plan. I’m not saying God will do things that way in this generation, but He always has a plan to get His people out into the marketplace where the harvest is. 

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest?’ Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35; NKJV)

Give Him 15 minutes in prayer:

  • Do you believe the words in John 4:35? They can be challenging.
  • Thank the Lord for His moves of grace to harvest in the past. Maybe you were part of one of them. Thank Him for that move.
  • Intercede now for Divine strategies to spring forth from members of the Body. Pray that ordinary people would not wait for their pastors to lead them outside the walls. Pray that each would believe they can go do this!
  • Cry out for the fire and grace of God to accompany us. We must have His Presence and His Glory and the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ Name! 

A prayer you can pray:

God, we believe Your Word. We know John 4:35 and pray it often. Some of us remember that move of God where business people, housewives, and other non-clergy members went into the world with a Divine strategy. They shared their testimonies and preached the Gospel in hotels and country clubs, instead of inside churches. We have grown so comfortable inside our church walls. We have convinced ourselves that our gifts and talents are only for inside them. We are afraid to display the power of the Holy Spirit in the marketplace. But, Jesus did that. John the Baptist did it. The disciples did so, as well. Most revivalists throughout history preached in the open air. The Wesley brothers preached out where the people were, because the Anglican Church rejected them and wouldn’t let them inside their buildings. John Wesley started clinics for the poor and ministered to the sick that came there. Jesus, you have moved on campuses repeatedly throughout the centuries, drawing teens and twenty-somethings into the Kingdom. Put a fire in Your Church again to go to the highways and byways and draw in the lost! Grace us with the power of the Holy Spirit and Your Presence. We can’t do this for you. We must do this with You! Amen.

Today’s decree:

America’s harvest fields are ready for God’s people to reap!