40 Days of Prayer | Days 31-40

After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:1-2)

There is not a shortage of lost people in the world. The harvest of individuals and communities who need the good news is vast, but the workers who are willing to go and proclaim the gospel message are few. As a result, we are commanded by Jesus to pray for workers to go into the harvest. As you pray for workers, do not be surprised if God makes you one of them. We all have a responsibility in fulfilling the Great Commission, and we are not called to do it alone. Christ sent out 72 other disciples in pairs to complete the ministry work he gave them to do.

As you share the truth of the gospel, take another believer with you to labor alongside. Share your victories, trials and God’s provision with one another, and pray God would continue to raise up other laborers to go into the harvest.

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. (Colossians 4:2-6)

We are dependent on the Lord throughout the whole process of evangelism. We not only need God’s power to open doors for us to share, but we need him to give us discernment to know how and when to walk through the doors he has opened. When we find ourselves in a gospel conversation, we may wonder what we should say, and when we should speak with boldness or ask questions. As the Holy Spirit guides us in our gospel conversations, we should not underestimate the power of our words. It’s not just about what we say in presenting the gospel but how we say it. As the Lord directs us, our words should be gracious and seasoned with salt so we would know how to respond to each person we encounter.

Pray the Lord would open doors for you to share the gospel with your one this week and pray your words would be gracious as you share the good news of Christ.

But Moses replied to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent – either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant – because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.” The LORD said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:10-12)

When the Lord called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, Moses had an arsenal of excuses why he was not the most qualified person for the job. One of his reasons was his inability, past and present, to speak eloquently. Despite whether this was true or not, God chose Moses for this task. Likewise, there are men and women in your life who God has chosen you to share the gospel with. Not your pastor or your super spiritual friend, but YOU. One of the reasons we may be hesitant to share is because we simply do not know what we would say. Our culture is enamored by articulate speakers who can speak intellectually about the claims of Christianity. But God has chosen you to share the good news with your family, friends, neighbor or your one. He made no mistake. He made your mouth, and he will show you what to say. He will help you speak. Are you willing to be used by him?

Pray you would not allow the fear of not being able to speak eloquently to deter you from sharing the gospel.

The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come and you’ll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “the Christ”), and he brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, he said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated “Peter”). (John 1:35-42)

We naturally recruit people to what we are passionate and excited about. When you see a good play, movie, piece of artwork, game, etc., our natural inclination is to grab people to share in our joy. Our joy is more fully complete when they look in wonder at what you both find amazing. When we share the gospel, we are inviting people to “come and see” the God of the universe and his deep love for them. It’s natural for us to go to the people closest to us in relational proximity, like a family member. Don’t underestimate the power of saying “come and see” to a family member who is lost. Peter, the leader of the early church, was introduced to Christ by his brother Andrew. Who might God be calling you to say, “come and see” to in your family?

Say “come and see” by inviting a family member or your one to church with you this week.

How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. (Romans 10:14-15)

Our words are critical. While we can display aspects of the gospel through our actions, sinners cannot come to faith in Christ without hearing the gospel message. According to Romans 10:14–15, we are sent, we preach the gospel, they hear the gospel, and then they believe the gospel. We have control over going and speaking. God initiates their listening and accepting. The proclaimer’s feet are not beautiful because a person came to Christ. Their feet are beautiful because they were faithful to proclaim the message. As you go through your day, may you be a carrier of the best news to your one and beyond.

Find a tool that can help you clearly and concisely communicate the gospel. We recommend 3 Circles, which can be found at namb.net/Evangelism.

Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

It’s hard to endure in the discipline of evangelism. We have friends and family members we have been praying for and sharing the gospel with for years, and there is not the slightest nudge of spiritual interest, let alone conversion. Sharing the gospel can be discouraging, but God’s timing is not like ours. God is patient, and he does not desire anyone to perish. Keep laboring in faith knowing you serve a God who is not slow but is patient with you and with those you are sharing with, including your one.

Pray God would strengthen your spiritual muscles to endure in prayer for the salvation of your one.

So the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. But may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?” (Jonah 4:10-11)

Jonah was one of the most successful evangelists in the Old Testament, and he was also the most upset about it. To Jonah’s frustration, God extended mercy to the wicked Ninevites when they repented. He cares deeply for those who do not know him, and he cares immensely for your one and others with whom you are sharing the gospel. He does not desire a single person to perish and spend eternity apart from himself, including the vilest of humans. Never believe a person is too far gone to be wooed back into the loving arms of the Savior. We can trust God to work in a person’s heart so they will repent and turn to him, like the people in Nineveh.

Who have you believed is too far gone from receiving Christ? Repent of this mindset and pray that this person would come to know the Lord.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18)

God will build his Church through the faithfulness of his people. The mission is great, but he promises this mission will not fail! No matter the enemies who come upon us as we seek to share the gospel with our one, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church! The message of the gospel will continue to go forth despite famine, calamity, persecution and hardship. Be encouraged that you are on a mission with God’s people that cannot fail. His power working in and through us will keep us in the fight until the day he makes all things new.

Pray for endurance despite persecution and hardship of the church as we continue to share the good news of the gospel with the world.

And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:9-10)

The kingdom of heaven will be far greater than we ever imagined. All our tiresome, stressful and awkward moments of evangelism will be incomparable when we stand shoulder to shoulder with brothers and sisters from around the world and admire and worship the King.

On this day, may we look around and see men and women, maybe even our one, that the Lord gave us the privilege of ushering into the kingdom. When we worship him without the effects of our sin or the brokenness of our world, we will know that this is where we were meant to be all along: with God and with his people.

Pray now that one day your one will be standing with you before the throne of God in worship.

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.” (Revelation 21:3-6)

These verses are hard to believe because we have only known a world with death, grief, crying and pain.

God gives a glimpse of the joy to come when we will finally be with him in the deepest and most intimate way possible. This is what we are inviting people into. As we invite people to come and see, and we share with our one the good news about the One who shed his blood for them, we are inviting them into a kingdom they were created for and a person they were created to know. He promises he is making all things new, and one day his work will be complete. May this picture of his coming reign propel us into our neighborhoods, offices, homes, and schools to faithfully share the best news: there is a God who loved them at the highest cost. He gave his life for them, so that they would turn from the evil inclinations of their hearts and find eternal rest in the arms of their Savior. In him, it is finished. In him, we find the eternal rests our hearts have longed for.

Pray for the reality of Revelation 21 that is coming. May this moment of being with Jesus propel you to share the gospel with endurance, love and patience. By God’s grace, may we see many more salvations and baptisms in the months and years to come!