The problem was easy to identify. It was a labor shortage. Multitudes of people were suffering, sick, distressed, weary, and wandering, with too few people to care for them. Christ Jesus, who had healed and saved many, was filled with compassion for them and told his disciples that the solution to this problem was a spiritual one: “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). 

This raises a fundamental question about this prayer. Was it meant to be a plea to God to provide more than He was already providing? Or was it aimed at awakening his followers, then and now, to the resources and power already provided by God to meet the need for laborers—for workers willing and able to follow Jesus’ example of healing and saving spiritually. 

Something interesting happens when you add an emphasis to Jesus’ instruction: Pray the Lord that he will send forth laborers. It becomes a prayer of affirmation, declaring and maintaining what is already true about the limitless Life and Love that are God and that are expressed in our love and care for mankind.