Jesus went around visiting all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues, preached the Good News about the Kingdom, and healed people with every kind of disease and sickness. As he saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, so he said to his disciples, "The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.

Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness.

Matthew 9:35 – 10:1

We sometimes forget that God may want us to be part of the answer to our own prayers. We expect Him to do everything, and then we sit back and do nothing.

We ask Him to bless the work of our church but offer excuses when asked to serve. We plead for loved ones to be saved, yet never speak a word of testimony to them. We earnestly intercede for people with serious financial problems, but we won’t dig into our own pockets to help them. We ask the LORD to comfort and encourage the shut-ins and the lonely, but we never go out of our way to pay them a visit or send them a note of encouragement.

Yes, God does want us to bring our requests to him, but many times he wants us to add feet to our prayers. Working often goes hand-in-hand with praying.

Pray as if everything depends on God;

Work as if everything depends on you.

Our Daily Bread – October 16, 2002