Call upon your harvest – 1 February 2010

Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens.  The earth produces the crops on its own.  First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.  And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”  Mark 4: 26–29 [NLT]

Jesus was fond of using parables to explain how the spiritual Kingdom of God works.

If you have been praying for a long time for something with no results, here is some encouragement.  You have prayed, you have given an offering and done the good works of righteousness.  Right?  That’s your seed and now it is in the ground i.e. the hands of God.  Like the earth in this parable, God is responsible for producing the desired outcome according to His other principle of seed, time and harvest:

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease”  Genesis 8: 22 [NLT]

As you persist in prayer with no sign, the seed, depending on what it is, will be taking root in the unseen world.  For example, a baby in the mother’s womb needs 9 months gestation period, carrot seeds need only a few days to sprout, whereas the elephant has a gestation period of 22 months.

Soon we will see little signs and these may come as repeated words of confirmation and then little changes in the natural.  Whatever you hear or see, give praise to the Lord!

As your seed of hope grows, you need to constantly watch out for pests and weeds. Sometimes, you may need to fertilise and water the plant.

As you cooperate with God, He will do His part – usually the impossible.  He ensures there is sunlight and rain and He makes the plant grow.  No trumpets are sounded!

Now here is how most of us miss the harvest.  We fail to keep the weeds and pestilence away, and sometimes when the seed appears to take too long to germinate, we abandon the field.

What weeds and pestilence have invaded your plot recently?  Is it unforgiveness or failure to walk in love?  Are you loosing your faith?  Are you constantly speaking what God promised, or the problem you want to see changed?

In the invisible Kingdom of God, we often win or lose the battle by the words we speak. We are called to be like the Father who speaks things that are not as though they were. He created the world by speaking the words ...Let there be ...... and whatever He wanted created was manifest.  Like the Father, the Son spoke to the tree and it became withered.  He called Lazarus out of the grave, and he was restored to life.  He commanded the storm to be still and there was peace.  Ask the Lord to help you speak His promises.