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The Call of Jesus
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Welcome to this lesson called
"Send Out Workers".
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This is from chapter 8 in my book
"The Call of Jesus"
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and video no. 8 in this series
about the call of Jesus.
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We have now looked at
how the harvest is ready
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and the harvest is plentiful,
as Jesus is saying.
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The harvest is ripe.
The harvest is not the problem.
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No, there is a great harvest
that is waiting for all of us.
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The problem is not the harvest.
The problem is the workers.
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You and me.
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So, the harvest is not the problem.
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The workers are the problem.
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And the answer to that problem,
one of those is - pray.
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Pray. Not pray for the harvest
to come in, as many people are doing,
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but pray for the workers to go out.
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And this is what we are going to look at
in this chapter, in this video.
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So, let's start with reading what Jesus
is saying in Luke 10:2.
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"The harvest is plentiful,
but the workers are few.
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Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into His harvest field."
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So yes, we really need to start to ask,
or, pray, as we see here.
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To pray, to ask, to beg. These are
some of the words Jesus is using.
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These are very strong words:
pray, ask,
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but we actually see the word,
almost beg, like beg,
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beg, beg the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers.
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Jesus has commanded us to pray.
And it's important that we pray.
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There are many people who pray
every day.
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There are many people who, for example,
pray the Lord's prayer.
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Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
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Your Kingdom come
and Your will be done
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or earth
as it is in heaven.
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Out of Matthew 6.
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And it's good to pray that prayer.
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But you know, that was not the only
prayer Jesus has commanded us to pray.
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He has not only said that we should pray
the Lord's prayer there.
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He has also said that we should pray
God to send out workers.
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Like Jesus is saying.
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But how many do, actually,
pray that prayer?
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If I now go to the church and ask:
How many pray the Lord's prayer?
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Almost everyone would lift up
their hands.
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But if I ask: But how many pray
this prayer Jesus has commanded us here
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to pray God to send out workers.
Almost no one would lift up their hands.
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And that is the problem.
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Because what Jesus is saying here is
as much the truth as what He said
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when it comes to Lord's prayer.
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But, what does it mean when we pray
God to send out workers?
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I want to look a little at the word:
"send out".
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I want to start with reading
from my book.
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"There are several interesting things
about what Jesus is saying here in Luke 10:2.
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The first interesting thing is that the Bible
translates one of Jesus' words,
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'to send.' But, the Greek word 'ekballo'
could also mean 'to drive out.'
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The word 'ekballo' is the same word used
when referring to driving out a demon.
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One of the first places in the Bible you see
this word 'ekballo' used
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is in Matthew 10 where Jesus commands
us to drive out demons.
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Matthew 10:7-8 states: As you go,
proclaim the message:
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'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'
Heal the sick, raise the dead,
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cleanse those who have leprosy,
drive out (ekballo) demons.
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Freely you have received;
freely give."
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So, what we see here is that the word
"send" - "ekballo"
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could also be translated "drive out".
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And I believe it's saying so much more
about what it is. Why?
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Because a demon doesn't want to go.
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A demon doesn't want to go.
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So, a demon needs to be driven out
of a person.
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The same way, we as believers,
we just don't want to go out in the harvest.
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We don't want to go out
and talk about Jesus.
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We don't want to, so we need, often,
to be driven out.
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And this is what it is.
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And if you start to pray, to beg,
to ask God to drive out believers
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out in the harvest, send them,
drive them out,
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He is going to answer it.
He is going to answer it.
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And right now, in this time we are
living in, there is a virus
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that has been spreading all over
and people are in panic all over the world
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because of this coronavirus, but
I want to introduce you to another virus,
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a virus that is not going to bring fear,
but a virus that is going to bring hope,
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that's going to bring life.
And that virus is called Luke 10:2b.
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The virus is called Luke 10:2b.
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And I want to read about that
from my book here.
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"Some years ago, I heard about the virus
that was spreading all over the world.
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This virus was called the 'Luke 10:2b'
virus.
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This 'virus' started back in 2002
when two young people started to pray
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out of Luke 10:2b.
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But, in order to remember to pray this prayer,
these two young boys set their watch
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to beep every day at 10:02 in the morning
and 10:02 in the evening.
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So when the clock would beep,
they would remember these words
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in Luke 10:2 so they would pray to God
to send out workers to the harvest.
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We can see that God has answered
their prayers
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because we are now seeing many people
all over the world going out to the harvest,
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and we are seeing more and more people
praying the same prayer."
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Hallelujah!
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And I have also seen this
again and again.
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When I started to pray:
God, send out workers!
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Send out workers to the harvest!
Send out workers to the harvest!
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I started to see God answer
that prayer.
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The last year we, me,
The Last Reformation,
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the people I'm working with,
we have seen thousands of workers
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being sent out to the harvest.
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We need to pray this.
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We need to start to pray
for workers to the harvest.
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So, let's spread this "virus".
Take your watch, take your alarm clock,
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take your telephone and set it on 10:02.
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And then every morning 10:02
and every evening 10:02,
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when you hear that alarm clock,
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you'll remember what Jesus is saying
in Luke 10:2.
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What will happen if you do this?
First, you'll remember,
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you will keep your focus sharp,
and you will start to pray:
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God, send out workers,
drive out workers, drive out workers.
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And you will experience how
He will answer your prayer.
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Second, you will also experience
how He will send you out.
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Why? Because if you set your
alarm clock every day and it: beep, beep...
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And you are thinking of the workers
and you are praying God:
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send out workers, send out workers,
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after a short time you will feel
something stirring up in you.
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You will also need to go out.
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You will also need to start
to open your mouth and share about Jesus.
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It will help to pray this.
It will help to keep your focus sharp.
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It will help you, but it will also
drive you out yourself.
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Let's read some more from my book here.
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"Prayer is also important for us
because it transforms us.
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When you start to pray out of Luke 10:2,
you will start to experience
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how this prayer will actually create
something within you.
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After praying this prayer for just
a short time,
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you will understand that it is truly
on God's heart to see people saved.
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We see this in Luke 15:4-7,
when Jesus talks about leaving
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the ninety-nine sheep to go out
to find the one sheep that was lost."
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So, here we see, when we pray,
it will stir something up in us.
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But it will also give us the right heart,
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like Jesus left the 99
to find that one sheep that was lost.
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When you start to pray: God,
send out workers, send out workers
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to the harvest, send out workers,
I ask You, the harvest is ready,
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the harvest is plentiful,
the workers are few,
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when you start to pray that,
God will answer that prayer
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and that prayer will stir something up
inside of you.
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You know, it's time to pray biblical.
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It's time to pray according
to the Word.
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For years we have been praying
for revival like
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revival is something that just comes
by itself.
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Like, suddenly, the harvest just comes
through the door.
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But Jesus has not, one place, said that
we should pray for the harvest to come in.
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Has He?
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No. But He has asked us to pray
for the workers to go out.
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Why? Because harvest cannot come in
to the barn.
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Harvest cannot move.
We have to go out to it.
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And I'm going to tell more
about that later.
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So, it's wrong if you pray for the
revival like
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it is something that just comes totally
by itself, from God.
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No, we need to go out in the harvest.
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And there I'm not only talking
about going out on the street.
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I'm talking about your neighbors,
your friends, your family, your coworkers,
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people in your neighborhood.
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It is so important this truth
about the harvest that is ready,
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and pray God to send out workers.
Why?
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Because Satan has been trying so much
to keep us away from this.
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So, we need to start to pray,
pray according to God's Word.
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Not just say a lot of words,
but pray in faith according to God's words.
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And I want to read more
from my book here.
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"To pray for a revival as if it is totally
up to God to do it is not a biblical prayer.
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Are you aware that we can pray wrong?
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If we pray for things that are not biblical,
we will not see any results.
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James 4:3 talks about this by stating:
'When you pray, you do not receive,
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because you pray with wrong motives,
that you may spend it on your pleasures.'
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Matthew 6:7 states: 'And when you pray,
do not keep on babbling like pagans,
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for they think they will be heard
because of their many words."
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Yes, this is so true.
We can pray wrong
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and we can just pray a lot of words
and think that
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if we just repeat the prayer and
pray a lot of words
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we would be heard.
No, we need to pray from our hearts.
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Many years ago I was praying
the Lord's prayer like
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just words, words, words, words...
My heart was not in it.
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And I know, as I said,
many people are praying that today.
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They are just praying words.
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We need to pray biblical
and we need to pray from our heart.
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We need to pray according
to God's will.
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A good example is what we saw
here with Jesus.
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Pray the Lord of the harvest
to send workers.
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This is a biblical prayer and
this is a prayer according to God's will.
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And if you pray that from your heart,
you know that you've already received
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what you prayed for.
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I can come with and example
of a bad prayer,
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that is not according to God's word.
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Some years ago, I remember,
we led a new person to Christ,
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who had no Christian background.
She was very new in the faith.
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Short time after she came to faith
she came to me very excited.
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She said: Torben, Torben,
I have an idea. I have an idea.
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And I was very excited to listen
to her idea.
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I have an idea. I really believe
it was God's, she said.
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And I was like: Okay, let me hear.
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Who is the one who's creating
all the problems in the world?
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Satan.
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What if we can get all Christians
to come together and pray for Satan,
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that Satan might get saved.
If Satan would get saved
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we would not have
those problems anymore.
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She was so sweet when she
said that.
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And I couldn't stop laughing.
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Her heart was good,
her intention was good,
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but to pray for Satan to get saved
is waste of time. Why?
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It's not a biblical prayer.
God is not going to answer it. Why?
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Because it goes against His word.
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Another prayer that is not biblical:
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Oh God, God I pray for my city
that they would get saved.
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Or, God I pray that You will
send people to our church.
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Now I'm provoking you a little,
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but where do you find those
prayers, like, if we just pray
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people would get saved automatically.
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It almost sounds in those prayers
like it's God who's keeping back.
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Like God doesn't want people
to get saved.
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God wants people to get saved.
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So much that He sent His Son Jesus
to die on the cross.
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God sent His Son to die for every man
out there.
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The harvest is plentiful.
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Workers are the problem.
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Not God, in that sense.
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I don't say that you cannot pray for your
city. I don't say that it's not okay
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to pray for people. You can pray for
people that they may open their hearts
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to receive, and you can pray that God
will draw people.
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But, if you pray like
you don't need to do anything else,
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or like they will come into the church
by themselves
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or suddenly give their lives to God
by themselves,
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then you are praying a wrong prayer.
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It's unbiblical.
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And this is how many people
have been praying in churches for years.
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Oh God, send people like this,
to get saved.
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Do you know, faith comes by
hearing the Word of God.
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And we need somebody to preach.
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Paul is very, very clear:
We need people to be sent out.
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Paul is saying that in Romans 10:13.
And I will read here.
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"Everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord Jesus will be saved.
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How, then, can they call on the one
they have not believed in?
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And how can they believe in the one
they have not yet heard?
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And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them?
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And how can someone preach
unless they are sent?"
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Can you see it? This is so clear.
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We need to pray God to send
out workers. Why?
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Because when people are sent
they can preach,
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and when they preach
other people can hear,
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and they can come to faith,
and they can get saved.
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People don't come to faith
without hearing.
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We can pray for our cities,
but a more biblical prayer...
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is pray God to send out workers.
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So, let's start to pray that.
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Let's every morning,
when you wake up, the alarm clock,
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and every evening, or during the day,
when you think of it,
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pray this: Oh God, I pray for those
people out there.
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God, I pray for people in our cities,
that You will send out workers to our city.
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God, I pray for my neighbor
that You will send out workers.
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God, I pray for my family
that You will send out workers,
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to preach the gospel,
so they can hear it, so they can believe,
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so they can get saved.
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Set your alarm clock.
Set your alarm clock. Do that.
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To 10.02, as a reminder to you,
about this, about what Jesus is saying,
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to remind you to pray,
but also keep your focus sharp
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and get a new heart for
the people out there.
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And God will answer this prayer.
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And then, please, spread this
"virus".
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This "virus" you are commanded
to spread.
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You are allowed to spread.
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Spread this "virus" to everyone
out there
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and let's see a prayer movement,
where people start to pray biblical,
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pray according to God's Word,
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because then we know He answers
and give us what we prayed for.
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And I have testimony after testimony,
after testimony, of that.
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But I will start to pray now.
Let me pray.
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God, I pray for everyone who is
seeing this.
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God, I pray that You will stir
something up in their hearts.
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And God I pray that You will put
this on their hearts,
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that they, together with me,
may pray, God.
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God, send out workers, God.
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God, we pray that You will send out
workers to our city.
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God, we pray that You will send out
workers to our country, God.
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God, send out workers.
Drive out workers from our churches, God.
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God, take the people from our churches,
and we pray, God,
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that You will drive them out, God.
Drive them out in the harvest, God.
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The harvest that is ready,
the harvest that is plentiful, God.
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The harvest is not the problem.
The problem is the workers,
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and workers are few.
So God, we pray...
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we stand together and we pray
that You will drive out workers
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to the harvest, God.
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And we will see that the harvest is
ready and plentiful, as You have said.
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Hallelujah!
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Pray this. Keep praying this.
Stand together with me.
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Pray this every morning and
every evening, during the day,
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and see how it's going to transform
your life.
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Until next time, share this video
and spread the "virus"
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to millions of people out there.
Spread it as much as you can.
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And then we will see more workers
go out,
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find the person of peace,
as we are going to talk about later,
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go into the households, healing the sick,
casting out demons,
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and we will see a move of God
like we have never ever seen before.
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God bless you!
See you next time! Bye-bye!
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The Call of Jesus