This sermon emphasizes the importance of praying for laborers to be sent into the harvest, focusing on Matthew 9:38 where Jesus commands His disciples to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest. The speaker reflects on the need to see the crowds, have compassion, and pray for laborers to be sent out. The urgency of the global harvest and the responsibility to pray for workers to be sent into various regions are highlighted, encouraging personal readiness and reliance on God's leading.

Well, I was converted six years ago, and when I first came to this church, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a prayer meeting. From the churches I grew up in, I never really heard of that. And when I started coming to the prayer meetings, maybe in the first year, I started hearing a verse being prayed. I never thought about the verse before. I heard this one brother in particular, he kept praying the verse. It was John Sytsma. And the verse is in Matthew 9. If you turn to Matthew 9, we're going to focus in on verse 38. And this is what he was praying. He was praying earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. And one thought that crossed my mind is why is he praying that? I've never prayed that. I've never prayed earnestly to the Lord to send out laborers into His harvest. Why is this guy, John Sytsma, praying this verse almost every time he prays in a prayer meeting? And I was asking myself that question. Because if I'm not praying it, and he is, why is he praying Matthew 9 and praying this thing to the Lord? And so I asked myself that question. And then we've got to ask ourselves this question, why did Christ say verse 38? What led up to Him saying verse 38? So what we're going to look at today is Matthew 9, 35 through 38. And we're going to start by looking what led up to verse 38. And the reason I want to do that is to look at before Christ said these words, what led to them, because then my hope is that that will lead you to be able to pray this verse as well. That you'll be able to enter into that burden that verse 38 talks about right here. For an example, if you hear the President wants to send troops over to another country, you ask yourself, why send the troops? You don't really know why. Why send the troops? But then when you find out they're killing all the women and children over there, they're massacring everyone, then you're in agreeance. Yes, send the troops. I'm behind the President. I want the troops to go over there. You see, just hearing, pray for labors to go into the harvest doesn't do much. But when you see the need, when you see what happened leading up to this, then you feel like, hey, I can enter into that. That's something that I want to pray. And so, that's where I'm going today. I just want verse 38 to be a verse you never forget, a verse that you pray. And that happened to me when I first came to this church and I heard John Syson praying it again and again. I thought, why is he praying that verse? So, let's see what led to Christ saying this. So, let's read the passage, starting in verse 35. And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers out into His harvest. So, very first brief observation, verse 35. Jesus is going throughout all the cities. He's getting a good perspective. What type of life was He living? He was teaching, proclaiming the gospel, healing every disease, showing compassion. That's not a selfish life. Christ, right here, we see, He's seeking to serve others. This isn't about Himself. None of those things are His needs. Teaching others is not about Him being taught, proclaiming the gospel to the lost. He's seeking to save, and then He's healing people. So, that's just the first thing to think about. But then, we go into verse 36. And if you look at the start, what does it say? When He saw the crowds, He had... And look at the start of verse 37. He said. So, think of these three phrases. He saw, He had, He said. So, He didn't just say something. He first saw something. And after you see something, what happened? He had compassion. So, seeing something. What does it mean to see something? It means you understand it. You see, oh, there's a reality there that I did not see before. It's kind of like when you turn on the news. You find out about things that you didn't see before. But right when you turn the news on, you see something you didn't see. And what did seeing something for Christ do? It caused Him to have compassion. And then He said something. And so, that's what we're going to look at. We're going to look at He saw, He had, and He said. And then we're going to look at therefore, because of all of these things, do this. So, the first phrase is when He saw the crowds. You know, at times our vision can be blurred to really understand a situation. Even as a parent, there's times I don't really see what's really going on in my daughter's heart. But when I finally see what's really happening, why has one mother said her daughter would fling her hands out like that? And she thought she was angry when she came to find out there was actually food on her hands that she was trying to get off. She wasn't angry. She was just doing it to get the food off of her hands. So, now she saw the situation for how it really was. Well, that leads to a different response when you see the situation as it is. Now, think of Christ. He went throughout all the cities. He's got a good perspective. The first question to ask yourself if you want to be able to enter in to the burden of verse 38 is, do I have a good perspective? Do I see the crowds? The sheltered person, they don't see the crowds. It's like that Amish guy who grew up, and when he got out of the community, he saw a movie where someone died, and it was so dramatic to him, he threw up. He had never seen death before, and then he sees death, and it hits him in such a hard way. And one thing you've got to ask yourself, do I see the crowds? You know, what is the great tragedy in the world today? Is it our government and how things are going? Not at all. If that's all we see and we think that's the big problem, we're missing the big picture. Christ thinks there's a bigger picture here. And, I mean, look at verse 37. We're going to get there later, but look. What is He saying? The harvest is plentiful, the labors are few. He's saying that's the problem. That's the big problem. And what does it mean, the harvest? The harvest of souls. And the big problem in the world is the majority of people are without Christ and headed to hell. And we've got to see that for what it really is to be able to enter in. In John 4.35, it says, Do you not say there are yet four months? Then comes the harvest. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. You know, it says Christ saw the crowds. It doesn't say He saw Himself. There's a big difference if I'm looking inward at myself and all of my own problems, but when I'm looking outward, I see the crowds. I was thinking, you know, whenever, say, a couple has problems in their marriage, what's the main thing they're praying about? Their marriage. Rightly so. That's the big thing to worry about. The last thing they're praying for is labors to be sent into the harvest. But when their marriage is in order, now they're able to pray for labors to send into the harvest. So one thing that will help you enter into the burden of Christ here is to have your life in order. To be able to not be looking at yourself, looking at your own problems, and to get a good perspective of the big picture. And so practically speaking, think, what's something getting in my way of seeing the crowds? Do I see the crowds? Do I see all the need? Do I see all of the people? Because that's what led up to what Christ said here. So, Christ saw the crowds. He was aware of the situation. He understood it. Now, what's the next thing that happened? Verse 36, When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them. You hear of ministries that are called compassion ministries. But Christ, here He had compassion. But look at verse 35. He wasn't just having a feeling of compassion. We see earlier on that He was healing every disease and every affliction. So Christ didn't just feel compassion and do nothing about it. Compassion led Him, even right before He said these things, to be healing, to be seeking to serve others. We find in Matthew 18, Christ was moved with compassion, and He released Him and forgave Him the debt. Find in Matthew 20, Jesus in pity touched their eyes. We find in Mark 1, moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand. So if you say, I feel compassion for something, the great evidence you feel compassion is you stretch out your hand. And the only way you can stretch out your hand to any need in this life is if you're not just looking at yourself. You're looking at the crowds. You see the need. You're wanting to show compassion. Now, why did He have compassion? Verse 36, When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because... Because what? They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Harassed? Harassed by who? You know, one thing you think about is how many people are harassed by the Pharisees' false teaching. It says in Matthew 23, they tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. I mean, you think of all the Catholicism. There's over a billion Catholics. Think of how much harassment is happening to people where these burdens are being laid on them that they've got to do all of these things in order to get favor with God. And here we look out at the crowds, and we see a crowd of much false religion where people are being harassed. And that's one of the things that led Christ to have compassion. The other thing is they were helpless. You know, what happens to a sheep that doesn't have a shepherd? Ezekiel 34 says this, so they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. So if there's no shepherd, what happens to the sheep? They become food for all of the wild beasts. So you could re-read verse 36. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, and they became food for all of the wild beasts, because that's what a sheep is without a shepherd. They're becoming food for all of the wild beasts. Another thing about sheep. It says, a sheep on its back... This is from someone who knows about farming. They said, a sheep on its back can't get up, which is why those who shear them put them in that position. But when they get that way on their own, either by rolling over in a soft spot, or because they are too heavy from either overgrazing or not being sheared in time, the gases build up in their stomach, which cuts off circulation, and they die. So a sheep without a shepherd falls on its back in a soft spot, and it can't get up, and it dies. So that's why Christ felt compassion. He sees people, in a sense, falling over on their back in their sin, and they can't get themselves up, and they die. Now, a shepherd comes in, he can lift the sheep up, and the sheep doesn't die. So, that's one of the things Christ is saying here. They're like sheep without a shepherd. And that's the burden. I mean, if you saw sheep laying outside of Fatty's Burgers on their back, and you knew they were going to die, unless you flipped them over, what would you do? You'd be moved with compassion. I mean, we see stray dogs. I have some compassion towards them. I feel bad for them. I don't do anything. But, it's different when you have souls. You know, Christ is saying sheep without a shepherd, because that's just a picture there of people, of souls. So, how do you even turn a sheep upside where it's standing again? The Gospel. I mean, the world needs to be saved. And that's the way we turn them upright. Shepherds go in, priests the Gospel, and they're converted. Let me pray. Lord, I just pray You'd help right now. Please help. Please, Father. Amen. Okay. So, Jesus is going throughout. Jesus saw something, produced a had-something, that had His compassion. The reason He had compassion is the sheep were basically becoming food for wolves. And then He says something. He said something. And who did He say something to? His disciples. If you're not a disciple of Christ, that means if you're not a true Christian, He's not saying this to you. And Luke 14.33, So therefore, any one of you does not renounce all that he has, cannot be My disciple. That's who He's speaking to. He's speaking to people who are fully surrendered to Him. Their will is to do their Master's will. It's not to do their own will. Verse 37, Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Now, the harvest. You think of a harvest. We have a harvest locally here in San Antonio. There's 1.2 million people in San Antonio. Then we've got a harvest globally. There's 7 billion people in the world. I mean, we're all, if we're Christian, we're a laborer in a harvest here in San Antonio. We're seeking to see people converted. But there's a harvest globally. And the problem so often is we don't see the harvest globally. We don't see it as it is. Like I said, one thing is we can be focused on our own problems too much. We don't get the big picture. We're looking inwardly and we need to forget about ourselves and look outwardly. And then it says the harvest is plentiful. And I just have some statistics here. When I think about these, you think about the number 7 billion. I mean, there's just 1.2 million in San Antonio. San Antonio feels pretty big for me. But then when I think, there's 7 billion people in the world. And that's massive. When Jesus said these words, there's an estimate of around 200 million back in His day. And now we have 7 billion. In the Arab world, it has a combined population of 422 million people. And think of the Arab world. We hear guys like Wali Bitar who live in Lebanon, and they say, I don't really know of any solid church in the Arab world. Well, here it says there's 422 million people in the Arab world. And he doesn't know of a solid church. And out of the 422 million, half of them are under 25 years of age. I mean, think of the young Arab world. Over 200 million Arab people under 25 years of age. In China and India together, there's 37% of the world's population. I mean, think of China and India. 37% of everyone alive in the world lives in China and India. In Africa, you've got a billion people. In Europe's area, there's 733 million. In Europe. You know, I think about Poland. I know a couple true Christians in Poland. And there's obviously others I don't know of. But I don't know of one solid church in Poland. There's 40 million people there. I don't know of a single solid church. There's 40 million. And the majority is Catholicism. You think they're a harvestist. In Latin America and the Caribbean, there's 600 million. In the United States and Canada, there's only 352 million. That's only 5% of the total world population. I mean, we think there's a lot of people in America. But 352 million, that's just a third the size of the people over there in India or over there in China. In the religions in the world, it's estimated there's 1.6 billion Muslims. Remember, Jesus says He's the way, He's the truth, He's the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. So here we have 1.6 billion Muslims that right now are on a straight course to eternity in hell because God is a just judge and He can't pardon someone unless their sins have been paid for. And Christ is the one sacrifice that can pay for your sins. There's 1.1 billion people who have no religion. There's 1 billion people who are Hindus. There's 500 million Buddhists. There's 400 million people who are folk religionists. I mean, we have billions of people here who are in a false religion on the way to hell for all of an eternity. And Christ is saying, I see the crowds. He's saying, I went throughout all the cities and villages. The villages, that's a small area. The city is a bigger area. Think of Trevor Johnson. He's over there in a small people group in Indonesia. It's not like there's a lot of people there. But he's going to a village. He's going to a small group. It's not just the big cities that people need to go to. Now what does Christ say? Then He said to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but what's the problem? The laborers are few. It has that word few. Where else is that word few? Matthew 7, 13-14, Christ is saying, few there be that find it, meaning eternal life. So you've got few laborers, and then you've got few true Christians in the world. I was listening to a brother from Africa preach recently, and people think there's some revival going on in Africa. And he was saying how all it is is Christians came in, let the witch doctors keep all of their witch doctor practices, and they've labeled it Christianity. And it's not a revival going on in Africa. If you think to yourself revival's going on, well, we don't need to pray for laborers to go to Africa. We have to see the crowds for who they really are. And you find out it's still a bunch of sheep laying on their back. They're going to die, and they're helpless. Matthew Henry said, people desire good preaching, but there are few good preachers. There's few laborers that are good, that are solid. You've got a group like Youth with a Mission. My father-in-law, when he was younger, he was in that in the 1970s. Even back then it was ecumenical. They went to go to the Vatican to see the Pope. Not to evangelize Catholicism. They went there to see the Pope. To give honor to some man. If that happened 40 years ago, I mean, just think of today. So look at your Bibles real quick. What's happening here? Verse 36. He saw the crowds. Like Christ, like John Sytsma, who impacted me. He saw the crowds. Do you see the crowds? What next? He had compassion. Do you have compassion? And remember, compassion is not just a feeling. Christ had compassion, and He stretched out His hand. Because? What's the reason for the compassion? Because they were harassed and helpless. Like sheep without a shepherd. Remember, sheep without a shepherd basically are food for wolves. So what happens? Then Christ says something. He verbally communicates something. After having an inward felt compassion, He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful. Just like we looked at these numbers, it's plentiful. But the problem is the laborers are few. So we see there's a big problem, isn't there? What's Christ going to say next? He's probably going to tell all of us to just go to the foreign missions field, right? He's probably going to say, Go! Is that what it says? It doesn't. It doesn't say, Go! Right here. It says, Pray. Isn't that interesting? It doesn't say, Go. You would think here He would just send a big call, You guys better go. But He doesn't. Verse 38, Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. And that word there, pray, in some versions, it doesn't have earnestly. But the thought there is beseech. The thought is, I'm petitioning the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. And here the encouraging thought is there. Lately people have been petitioning the government for Obamacare. Did Obama ask them to petition Him? He didn't. He's against them petitioning. But here, the Lord of the harvest, Christ is saying, He's saying, Petition Me to send laborers into the harvest. So it's not like we're petitioning God to say send laborers into the harvest. He's telling us. He's commanding us to pray to Him to send laborers into the harvest. That's like me commanding you, Travis, ask Me to give you $5,000. Well, now he with great confidence can say, James, give me $5,000. Why? I just asked Him to ask me to give Him $5,000. And so the encouragement there is the Lord's the one who's asking us to petition Him to send laborers into His harvest. It's like the CEO of the company coming to you and saying, Ask Me to hire more workers. You're not asking Him to hire more workers because you want that. He wants you to ask Him to hire more workers. And so we should have confidence when we pray verse 38 because He's the one asking us to ask Him. Okay, what are we praying? What's the specific prayer right here? To the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. That word send, it means to eject. It means to drive out. It means just to send forth. Again, there's even a local harvest here. Today at 3, we're sending laborers into a harvest. We're not sending, yeah, missionaries overseas. But we're going out as laborers into a harvest of the east side. The thing, even to get here from this, we're praying to the Lord to send. It doesn't say we're prodding people to go. We're praying to the Lord. So we learn there, first and foremost, it's God who sends people. They don't send themselves. They don't call themselves. God calls them. And they obey a call that God is making to them. Now there's a balance there. In Acts 13, it says, they were worshiping the Lord and fasting. The Holy Spirit said, set apart for Me for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit. So the church sent them out, but then it says they were sent by the Holy Spirit. The point here is this. As we're praying for laborers to be sent out into the harvest, it's first God who is putting that burden in a man's heart. The Lord's doing that. Obviously here, the church is praying and fasting, so it was confirmed by the church. They didn't just go as a rogue. They were sent by the church, but they were sent primarily by the Spirit of God. You think of Romans 10. And how are they to preach unless they are sent? You know, it's not you just saying, I want to go there. It's God saying, I want you to go there. And you're submitting that, Lord, that's you pressing Me. And I can't escape that. Hudson Taylor in 1890 said this, We make this appeal, they wrote, on behalf of 300 millions of unevangelized heathen in China. That was a billion people. 1.3 billion now. So there's a billion more people now, almost 100 years later in China, than there was back then. A billion more. And Hudson Taylor said, we make this plea with the earnestness of our whole hearts as men overwhelm, that's that compassion, with the magnitude and responsibility of the work before us. We make it with unwavering faith in the power of the risen Savior to call men into His vineyard and to open the hearts of those who are His stewards to send out and support them. And we shall not cease to cry mightily to Him that He will do this thing and that our eyes may see it. We won't cease, he said. You know, in my own life, there's times I've ceased. I haven't been praying this passage for months. And then the Lord, I see the crowds again. And I stop seeing James. And I stop seeing my own problems. I see the crowds. And the compassion comes back again. You know, Hudson Taylor and his society sent around 800 missionaries to China. 800. You know, the Lord's promised in Revelation 5, by your blood you ransom people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. So again, here the Lord of the harvest is saying, petition me to send laborers into my harvest. And I've promised to save people from every tongue, every tribe, every language, every nation. I mean, what more encouragement do we need to pray this? The Lord's entirely on our side. This isn't our idea, it's His. So some applications. Something to ask yourself. Again, one, do you see the crowds? Or are you focused on yourself? Like I said, there's a place. If my wife had marriage problems, we would need to be dealing with that. That would be the thing. But once that's in order, once areas in our life are in order, it's all the more easier now to look out at the crowds, to look out at the harvest, and to be entering in in prayer. If I've got undealt with problems in my life, I need to deal with those and not just leave them there and say, well, I'm just going to be praying for laborers to go into the harvest. Another question. When you see the crowds, do you have compassion? And yeah, another thing. How do I see the crowds? I have never left this country myself. I've never been out of America. Yet through the Internet, I felt like in great perspective I've been able to see the crowds as much as I can without physically going to another country. You know, one time I even opened up Google Maps and I went into the Street View thing above China. And I couldn't believe it as I was just flying through the sky on Street View. You had apartment buildings like those in downtown just for miles. Just all these massive apartments. Even the other day, I was Skyping with a brother in China and he had his iPad and he turned it where I could see the video and he was sticking it out his window at the college campus and down the street and it was just apartments. Just huge. Just lines of them. And there he is. One of the few Christians in northwest China. Almost no solid church there. And there's millions of people. I saw that with my own eyes. The buildings. And those aren't vacant buildings. There's real people there. It's unbelievable. So I never left this country but you can see the harvest. So don't say, well I can't see the crowds unless I fly somewhere else. I'm sure going somewhere else would make an impact on us. But it's not like that's practical all the time. Here a question is, have you ever prayed earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest? Have you ever prayed that? I'm not here to beat you up if you haven't. I'm here to inform you that in this text right here, Christ is giving a command. He's giving something to do. He's saying because of this, therefore pray. He doesn't say maybe pray. He's telling this to His disciples. And if you're a Christian here today, you're a disciple. And like when I came to this church, I never prayed for laborers to be sent into the harvest when I was first converted. And I kept hearing John Seitzman pray it. Almost every time he prayed, and I started to think, why is he praying that? And then when I myself saw the crowds, boom, compassion came upon me. And then, like Christ said, then you're able to enter in. You're able to pray that. Another thing, an application to think about. Are you doing all you can yourself to be ready to go if God was to call you, say, to the foreign missions field? You know, Tim talked about weights two Sundays ago. One of the main motivations in my life out of love for Christ to lay aside weights is wanting to live a life beyond reproach that I would have no fault in my life that I could be qualified, if God willed, to get sent somewhere. It makes it very easy to let go of things that just are worthless and pointless when I hear, wow, there's a billion people over there. And we're in a church that sends missionaries. And so, why not pray, Lord, sanctify me as fast as You can that I could be ready and equipped and qualified to go if You send me? What is keeping you from being more prepared? That's the question I ask myself. Is there anything in my life keeping me from being more prepared? And right when it's identified, deal with it. Lord, help me. Help me to deal with this. When Bethany and me were engaged, we were given this questionnaire thing that Tim had made. And one of the questions he had in it for premarital questionnaire, he said this. He said, this might sound odd, but do you ever pray for foreign missionaries? I thought, that's interesting. Here are two people wanting to get married, premarital counseling. The very questionnaire he gives to them is a question about do you pray for foreign missionaries? And I thought to myself, I thought, you know what, that really does matter. I don't want to marry someone who has no idea about the crowds because that could be great evidence they're too focused on themselves. But sure enough, the woman God gave me had been praying, supporting, even wanting to go herself. There was a burden there. Look, most people won't go. But the reality is, am I praying for labors to be sent into the harvest? There is a sign there of something where I'm free of my own selfish problems and things, and my life's in order where I can pray this and forget about myself and pray to the Lord. And so that was in the premarital questionnaire. But does it sound odd? It does in a way. But when you read this passage right here, and you have the Lord of heaven and earth saying to His disciples to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labors into the harvest, it doesn't sound that odd anymore. It says in Proverbs 10.5, He who gathers in summer is a prudent son. But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. That's talking about a physical harvest there. But we can apply it to ourselves. He who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. You know, here I'm a son of God. I've been adopted. Christ has saved me from the wrath of God. He's paid my sin debt in full. I've been born again, given a new nature, given new desires. The Lord's done all of that. And I don't want to sleep in the harvest. It's kind of like you're driving sometimes and you're falling asleep at the wheel. Same thing here. You're driving as a Christian. You can fall asleep at the wheel and just lose a burden for the crowd and be inwardly focused. Yet Christ is going throughout all the cities. Hudson Taylor said, God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on Him. You know, in all of these sayings, it shouldn't make you try to grunt your teeth more and try harder on your own power. It should make you all the more reliant on God. So here, I have a personal appeal to the church. Let me reread the verse. I feel I can rightly put myself in this place here. And James went throughout all the cities and villages through the Internet and through the Albionis Ministries. You know, putting up sermons from Tim, from people in the church. Getting the Gospel out. And through that, I've seen the crowds. I've felt compassion. I've seen how helpless people are. And my plea to you as a church is just like Christ pled to His disciples. Pray. Earnestly. Petition the Lord. He's asked us to petition Him to send laborers into the harvest. Even recently, there's this city, Paris, France. There's 12 million people in the metropolitan area. There's not one solid church I can find. God brought a translator. She's translated like 50 videos. We're putting them on the Internet. We're getting emails from people in Paris, France. Multiple people there looking for a church. There is no church to send them to. And then obviously you ask the question, I'm part of a church. Who is God raising up here that maybe God could send over there to lead a church plant in Paris, France? I ask myself that question. Who could be? And then it makes me feel the burden. Boy, how much more is a church just to pray, Lord, make disciples here. Grow people here. Equip people here. Train people here. That when needs show up all over the world, we have the ability to send laborers into the harvest. Like I said, what a great purpose, desire, motivation to cry out to God for greater sanctification, to cry out to the Lord, to forget about yourself and follow the Lord. And what makes Paris different than so many other countries with millions to me right now is the fact that it seems like a lot of people are being converted in the French speaking world. You look at Mexico, God saving. You look at Brazil, God saving. You look at other places, the Arabic world, it's hard to tell. It doesn't seem like a lot of awakening right now. But when I look at the French speaking world through the lens of, I'll be honest, on the internet, I'm seeing the Lord save people. And to me, it's like, Lord, raise up a church. And God may raise up someone there. Who knows? But what we should be praying is, Lord, raise up people in our own church that we could send into the harvest. Count Zinzendorf of the Moravian said, I have but one passion. It is he, it is he alone. The world is the field and the field is the world. And henceforth, that country shall be my home. Where I can most be comfortable? Nope. Where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ. That should be our prayer. Again, God may not send you somewhere. You have a harvest here. We're already in a harvest. But to ask yourself, Lord, where can I be used most? Send me there. Put me there. And if it's here, keep me there. Don't let me go somewhere if it's not you sending me. C.T. Studd said, I cannot tell you what joy it gave me to bring the first soul to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have tasted almost all the pleasures that this world can give. And he was a famous cricket player in the UK. He had much fame. So when he said he tasted of the pleasures of the world, he did. He had money. He had fame. And he said this, I do not suppose there is one that I have not experienced, but I can tell you that those pleasures were as nothing compared to the joy that the saving of that one soul gave me. And guess what? Even this evening as we go on the east side, there are souls out there. We don't have to leave San Antonio. But my big question again to you, do you pray as Christ says to pray? Verse 38. Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labors into His harvest. Do you pray that? If you don't, it's something to consider. And to consider what Christ saw, what He had in His heart, compassion, and then what He said. And think, do I see the perspective right? You know, when you find out you've got cancer and you see the perspective, you go to the doctor. You don't sit around. And so when we look at the harvest, we see the need. It should move us to do something. And what's one thing we can all do? We can all pray to our Father and petition Him to send labors into the harvest. Very easy, simple thing we can do. So, I think that's all I have. Let me pray. Father, what a privilege that You would even give us things to do. Lord, it's like You're telling us to pick up a toy to a child. And You could pick it up Yourself. But You're wanting us to pick it up. You're wanting us to get involved. Lord, we thank You for that. What a privilege. Lord, help us not be the son who sleeps in harvest. Lord, I don't believe we are. And Lord, I just pray, even in our church, Lord, as You continue to save people, Lord, I pray earnestly, I petition You, the Lord of the harvest, because You've asked us, You've commanded us to pray. Lord, I pray to You. Lord, would You send laborers into the harvest? Lord, into the harvest, even in Mozambique where there's witchcraft. Lord, into the harvest in Italy where there's so much Catholicism. Lord, in the harvest to Paris, France. Lord, in the harvest to France. In the harvest of where Haiti is. Lord, in the harvest, Lord, even in Mexico where we have brethren, Lord, would You raise up people from that church to plant more churches in that wicked country? And Lord, we're surrounded by a wicked world. Would You even raise up more laborers in Austin for that wicked city? Lord, the harvest is plentiful. Lord, we see it. And so we ask You, Lord, would You raise up laborers? Would You do it that You would send into Your harvest? Lord, we see it. It's so central. It's so focused on You. Lord, we're thankful for that. We're thankful for that. And so, Lord, I just pray, Lord, help us, even this verse, that it would be so real in our prayer life. Lord, not out of duty, but out of compassion, just like Christ had. So, Lord, help us to see the crowd. Give us compassion. Lord, help us to follow You and do Your will. We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen.