The Lord Jesus saw the obvious need for labourers. He encouraged the disciples to pray for labourers. He said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
The harvest is His. Only He can send out labourers. There are three types of labourers needed by the Lord. He needs labourers who will:
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Preach the gospel.
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Intercede
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Give sacrificially.
Those who will live and preach the gospel are the ones who have died to the world, the flesh, and the devil and who, of consequence, cannot be trapped by the wicked one. These are people whose character has so undergone the purifying and perfecting work of God that God can depend on them to rightly represent Him.
He needs those who will intercede for the lost. He said,
“The people of the land have practised extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without redress. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it but I found none. Therefore, I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their way have I requited upon their heads; says the Lord God” (Ezekiel 22:29-31).
Here it was principally a divine need. Although the people deserved destruction, God out of love did not want to destroy them. He, however, could not just twist the demands of divine justice. Two things were possible. Someone either stood in the gap and interceded so that the people were spared, or they had what they deserved. Because God wanted to spare them, He Himself went out looking for one person who could stand in the gap so that they would be spared. He did not require two people ” just one ” but He did not find that one. So he reluctantly poured out His anger. What if He had found an intercessor? The people, though sinful, would have been spared so that they could have another chance to respond to the love of God. Because no intercessor was found, multitudes perished. Could it be that the sin of some particular nation, province, town, village, etc, has gone up continually to God but yet He wants to spare it if He could find an intercessor? Can you be counted upon to stand in the gap? Do you know the secret of standing in the gap? Do you know the authority of an intercessor? Are you able to satisfy this current need of God?
Where are those who can say to the Lord,
“For Zion”s (Cameroon, Africa, the world)’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem”s sake I will not rest, until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch”? (Isaiah 62:1).
Can God say the following because you are available?
“Upon your walls, O Jerusalem [Yaounde, Cameroon, Africa, the world] I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem [Yaounde, Cameroon, Africa, the world] and makes it a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7).
Others may be unavailable but can He at least say of you, “I have set a watchman?” Do you know something of taking no rest and giving Him no rest night and day as you labour in intercession? Have you ever interceded until all of your body was bathed in sweat?
The Enemy is attacking God’s special property, ” the Church. Where are those able soldiers who can wage prayer warfare and carry out the following:
“All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees, they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!”? (Psalm 118:10-12).
Are there faithful intercessors to whom God can say the following?
“Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches, let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to wreak vengeance on the nations and chastisement on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written!” (Psalm 149:5-9).
This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the Lord!
Will God find faithful men and women of prayer who will surround each aspect of the work with prayer and build prayer walls round each worker so that all attempts of the Enemy to destroy them are frustrated? This is God’s greatest need at the moment.
The sad thing about it is that although this ministry of intercession is open to all the saints:
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the rich,
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the poor,
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the healthy (physically),
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the sick (physically),
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the educated,
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the uneducated,
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males,
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females,
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etc.
yet it is the one where labourers are in the shortest supply. This surprises God. The Bible puts it bluntly: