February 15, 2026 -- Matthew 9:37b - 38 -- What should I pray?

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:37b-38 ESV
 
We can pray. In fact, we must pray. Not to be miracle-workers. Not to be wonderworkers. We must pray to fulfil our task, which is to teach the word of God to those around us and proclaim His goodness. In our ordinary life, in our routines among co-workers and friends speak about Jesus. Talk about the times you’ve met Him in church. The ways you meet Him in your morning Bible reading and prayer time. Speak about how He has helped you overcome the curse of sin in your own life. How?
 
Many of you know that my friend Jason is engaged in the Canadian Mental Health Challenge. He is going to do 2000 push-ups for charity—raising awareness about the scourge of suicide. (Not 2,000 a day, come on now, but in the span of this month.) If you have talked to him recently, you know all about that. Even if you haven’t spoken to him in weeks, you can’t miss his social media posts. He is doing push-ups at Walmart (he makes sure it is recorded and then he posts it on-line for all to see). At work (and then updates the count of how many push-ups he’s already done). At home in the kitchen. Why mention that? When something is dear to our hearts, we express it and speak of it all the time. Just as Jason can incorporate his push-up challenge into his daily conversations, so we too can insert Jesus into our daily conversations.
 
Jesus is our goal. He is the prize of our lives. He is the healer of mental health crises that plague our world. Most importantly, our greatest need is met in Jesus: He cleanses us from our sin so that we can live in relationship with our Father in heaven. The Father has provided the way for us to escape His curse against our sin. The Father accepted the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, so that, at the cross, all our sins and the punishment measured out against them, were meted out against Jesus. All who believe in Jesus have exchanged their sinfulness for His perfect obedience. We are made new in Christ. It is the greatest, most-worth-telling-everyone-about-it news in the world.
 
Father in heaven, glorious and forever blessed be Your Name. Thank You for the new life You give to all who believe in Jesus. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, Who prompts us to desire Jesus. Holy Spirit, guard us in the way of Jesus. Father in heaven, we confess how lifeless our prayers have been. We ask You, forgive us our prayerlessness and our renew in us the joy of our salvation. Instill in us a holy desire, an urgent fervency, to be men and women of prayer so that those in our circle of influence will see Jesus in us and in all we do. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/vCcGqMHndxo?si=tuGVmGM9dKK5nbkT Worthy Is the Lamb that Was Slain
 

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