Pray! Ekballo!
A Prayer Revolution for the Great Harvest
While reading the classic book Rees Howells: Intercessor I was suddenly arrested by the following paragraph that could, if it is true, light a fire of prayer that would shape the face of the whole earth and trigger the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Then, while in Africa, he (Rees Howells) had been struck by Andrew Murray’s comment on the Savior’s word in Matthew 9:38, ‘Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into his harvest.’ Andrew Murray has pointed out on the strength of this verse, that the number of missionaries on the field depends entirely on the extent to which someone obeys that command and prays out the laborers; and the Lord had called Mr. Howells to do this.”
If this scripture and Andrew Murray’s commentary on it are true and the church really understood the implications, then Matthew 9:38 would be on the fiery lips of millions of believers every day worldwide. Jesus is very clear in Matthew 24:14 that he cannot return to the planet until every ethnic group has had a witness of the gospel of the kingdom. I am seriously asking myself and all those who read here this question: “Have I merely taken Matthew 9:38 as a simple suggestion from the Master? And have I trivialized the main prayer request that Jesus himself made of his disciples?”
I write this message believing that an earth-shaking revolution is about to take place because the Lord of the Harvest is breathing this prayer upon the church of the earth. Jesus uses the word “ekballo” in Matthew 9:38, where he begs his disciples to “pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth (Gr. ekballo) laborers into the harvest field. Ekballo is not the normal term used for “send,” as most of our translations have it. It is a spiritually violent word filled with passion and force. It is the same word that Jesus uses when he says, “If I cast out (Gr. ekballo) demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20, NASB)
The authority and the force of Jesus casting out demons is the same spiritual force and authority by which he thrust forth laborers. It is the word used when Jesus goes to confront Satan in the wilderness. The Gospel of Mark says, “And the spirit drove (Gr. ekballo) him into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” It seems as if the power and the resistance of Satan and his evil spirits must be confronted by a greater forcefulness and empowerment. When Jesus ekballos demons, demons must leave. When Jesus ekballos laborers, evangelists and missionaries must go out. Suddenly Matthew 9:38 became a fire in my bones and an end-time war cry from heaven itself.
We are seeking to drive a million saints to JoshuaProject.net to pray for the unreached people group of the day. Can you imagine a million people a day praying for laborers to go to the hardest and darkest places of the earth? This is not out of our reach. And this is the very command of Christ; should we not believe that in our generation the task can be completed?
Will you join us in praying Matthew 9:38 daily for the last remaining unreached people groups?
To learn more about the Ekballo House of Prayer visit http://www.thecall.com Also .check out the new beautifully redesigned http://www.joshuaproject.net and download the Unreached of the Day App.
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