In the third day of our church’s week of prayer, we are praying for fruit from the preaching of the Word and the different ministries through which we were serving the community during lockdown. We are also praying for the children and young people that the Lord has entrusted to us and the children in the community around.
The video meditation is below followed by a brief summary for those who prefer to read.
As a child, I remember planting an apple pip in a pot and checking every few minutes for something to happen. Of course, it took a long time for there to be any growth. It was planted outside shortly before we moved away, but I am hopeful that it did produce blossom, fruit and a harvest.
Psalm 126 is a remembrance of restoration and a prayer for a harvest. It could be referring back to the return from exile and then, with faith stirred through remembrance of deliverance, they are praying for a harvest in the coming days.
While living in London, most of us do not have a direct relationship with the soil and planting. However, we can relate to the desire to reap what we sow. We have sowed the seed of the gospel in conversations, through texts, letters and emails. Many of us have sowed during church outreaches. We sow when the gospel is preached.
But we long to reap a harvest; we long to see many people come to know Jesus. So, we pray that the sowing will turn to reaping.
In all this, we are dependent upon the Lord. Let’s look at Psalm 127v1-2. Everything we do to build the house – His kingdom, or our own families and lives, is completely dependent upon Him. We can be prone to forget that – to work harder and harder without trusting the Lord.
Psalm 128 and the rest of Psalm 127 have a lot to say about families. We are not all married and we don’t all have children, but we can pray for the next generation because families with children are part of our extended family in the Lord. All of us can be involved in seeing spiritual children born – through youth and Sunday School, by befriending and encouraging families in the church and through our prayers.
The greatest thing we can pray for our children is not for material prosperity or academic success, but for spiritual prosperity; that is, eternal salvation through Christ alone.
Let’s pray for the harvest and let’s pray for the next generation.
The best is yet to come 