Pray, then go
Jesus sent seventy-two ordinary followers ahead of Him, two by two. Before He gave them any instructions, He gave them a prayer request: ask the Lord of the harvest for workers.
The first step in mission is prayer, and often the answer to that prayer is us. If we pray for workers, we should be ready to hear God say, “Will you go?”
Lord of the harvest, send out workers. Use my prayers, my words and my life to bring in Your harvest, starting with the people near me today. Amen.
θερισμός (therismos (theh-ris-MOS)). “Harvest.” In the Bible a harvest is a time of urgency and joy, when the crop is ready and cannot wait. Jesus sees people as a field that is ready to be gathered in.
Only Luke records this sending of the seventy-two (some manuscripts say seventy). It shows that Jesus’ mission was never meant for the twelve alone, but for many ordinary disciples.
Francis McDougall, a doctor and Anglican clergyman, was formally named leader of the mission work in Labuan and Sarawak (Borneo). He combined medicine and ministry, and is remembered as a pioneer of medical missions in the region.