Devotional Prayers for People, Workers for the Harvest, and Ourselves

Praying People
All the believers devoted themselves . . . to prayer.
Acts 2:42

The early church was a praying church. Jesus had taught his disciples, “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Mark 11:17, niv). Many Christians today prioritize teaching, but the church was not born in a teaching session. It was born in a prayer meeting.

What can prayer do? Prayer links us up with Almighty God. That’s why James wrote, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16).

When a Christian or a church prays, God will eventually appear on the scene and manifest his power and grace. This is as sure as day follows night. It’s a divine law found in the Bible.

Satan isn’t bothered by shallow or carnal Christians. It’s true that Satan doesn’t like us attending church. But he doesn’t mind us going if the church is not a house of prayer. The people he fights against most are praying people.

The day things turned around at the Brooklyn Tabernacle was the day God met me on a fishing boat in Florida, where I had gone to rest for a bit. I was very sick. I had no money, no doctor, and no insurance, so I was hoping that the sun would beat the bronchitis out of me. Truth be told, I needed some time alone with God. I was very insecure about my preaching, and with the meager offerings the church was getting, finances were a major concern as well.

As I prayed on the deck of that boat, I felt the Lord say, “If you and Carol will lead the people to pray, I’ll give you every sermon you need. I’ll supply all the money you need. And you’ll never have a building large enough to hold all the people I will send.”

This was no extrabiblical revelation. The fact that God honors sincere prayer is found throughout Scripture and in the testimonies of countless believers over the centuries.

Let’s do what Jesus told us to: “You should always pray and never give up” (see Luke 18:1).

What can our prayers do? Whatever God can do—because praying in faith links us up with the power of Almighty God.

Lord, help me to be a praying Christian! I want to believe your promise that you are a prayer-answering God.

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Ready to Work
The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
Matthew 9:37

When Jesus looked at the crowds following him, he perceived that they were spiritually “harassed and helpless” (Matthew 9:36, niv). Literally, this description could be rendered “mangled, exhausted, and thrown down.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, declared to his disciples, “Look, the harvest is great. But the workers are few.”

People today, as in Jesus’ day, are hurting and needing the love and hope Christ offers. The harvest is great, but as the Lord said two thousand years ago, the workers are few.

It seems like an oxymoron that God would need anything. But Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to sit back and watch God save people all by himself. No, he said, “The workers are few,” as if to say, “The work can’t get done unless there are workers.”

What do workers do? They work. So even though God has all power, and even though salvation is received as a gift, in order to get the gospel out, God needs people. He needs workers to share the good news, pray over others, follow up, keep at it, and spend time and energy toward the building up of God’s Kingdom.

Over an Easter weekend at our church, more than a thousand people came forward to receive Christ after seeing our dramatic production, The Story of Love. Praise God! But what my daughter Sue and the team at our church did to put on the program—all the preparation, all the invitations, all the prayer—took a lot of labor. To do the work of ministry means to work. And according to Jesus, the workers are few.

The Lord wants us to refocus on what Christianity is all about. It’s not “Give me, give me, give me.” It’s “Give me what I need so that I can work and bring glory to God as souls are saved.” Luke 15:10 declares that the angels rejoice more when one soul repents than when we enjoy great Bible studies or worship services. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (see Luke 19:10).

Why don’t we work for the Lord more than we do? Maybe we don’t see the need as we should. Or maybe we’re too lazy to expend energy for the cause of Christ. But what joy and fulfillment we miss by not laboring in the fields! As Psalm 126:6 says, “They sing as they return with the harvest.”

The great Methodist circuit-riding preacher Francis Asbury declared to a gathering of young ministers who were going to serve like him, riding horses through rivers and other rough territory, “Although the devil attacks you in a thousand ways and there’s discouragement on all sides, you’ll never be happier than when you’re doing the work of the Lord.”

That’s true for all of us. We’re probably suffering a bit from a “Give me,” “Fill me,” “I have this problem,” “I need a better job” attitude and have too little thought of the fields that are ripe unto harvest. We need to see people and feel for them, just as Christ does.

Jesus said, “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work” (John 9:4). Let’s give ourselves to God and say, “Lord, here I am. I’m ready to do your work.” We can’t do it ourselves. But God will help every sincere worker in his fields.

Jesus, after the work you did for me on the cross, how can I not devote my life to extending your kingdom? Send more workers into your harvest field, Lord—and make me one of them.

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Pray for Me
Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
Thessalonians 5:25

The apostle Paul had a supernatural encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. He became a leader in the church in Antioch, then went on several missionary trips and planted many churches. Later, he was even caught up to heaven and heard things he wasn’t allowed to share with others. Eventually he wrote a good portion of the New Testament.

Yet with all his credentials, Paul said something that might be surprising to our ears: “Brothers and sisters, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). He appealed to the believers he had led to Christ, urging them, “Join in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30).

“I mean, really, Paul,” they could have said. “You’re our spiritual father and a famous apostle. You need us to pray for you?”

Asking others to pray for us has almost become obsolete. What a terrible loss for us! God has given us the beautiful privilege of being helped by the prayers of fellow brothers and sisters. So why don’t we ask for it?

For some of us, like me, it’s probably spiritual pride. “No, I’m the pastor. I have this thing together.” Or maybe we don’t trust the power of prayer. We think, I can handle this on my own.

Years ago, I was scheduled to preach at Bill Gaither’s Praise Gathering. I had prepared a word of encouragement to fit the praise and worship atmosphere there. But when I looked at my notes in my hotel room the night before, it’s as if they were lifeless to me. I felt no inspiration at all.

So I began to pray. “God, I don’t have notes for anything else. And this sermon seems to fit.”

But the Lord laid on my heart something different. “No, I want you to preach that my house shall be called a house of prayer. Not a place to make money, not a place of entertainment, but a place for prayer.” This would be a rather unusual topic in a room full of people who were there for multiple concerts over two or three days.

I paced and prayed for hours, my heart pounding. Around midnight, I said, “Oh, God, how can I preach that?” I imagined the audience walking out as I spoke. Suddenly a dark presence came into that room. I was in a battle. I walked; I wept; I called on God; I rebuked the devil.

Finally, at about three thirty in the morning, I got peace and fell asleep.

The phone rang at six. It was my wife, Carol, at home in New York. “What’s going on?” she said. “I couldn’t sleep all night. I’ve been praying for you. What’s going on there?” She prayed a powerful prayer over me.

Later the video “My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer”[i] went out in record-breaking numbers. Pastors called me for months, saying, “I showed the video of your message in our church, and prayer broke out in the service. People arriving for the next service had to wait because I couldn’t get the first group out.” To the glory of God, all this came about because in the midst of a strong spiritual battle, someone was praying for me.

Why don’t we ask other Christians to pray for us more often than we’ve been doing? Paul knew that it was vitally important. So should we.

Lord, I don’t ask others to pray for me as often as I should. Help me to humble myself. Show me what you will do when I have others interceding for me.

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[i] Jim Cymbala, “My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer” (Bill Gaither Praise Gathering, Indianapolis, Indiana, October 14, 1994), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U79YOKje2zU.

Adapted from Jesus Every Day by Jim Cymbala, published October 2025. Published with permission from Tyndale House Publishers.