“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'” (Matthew 9.36-38)
As my pastor pointed out, what is most striking about this passage is what Jesus does because of his compassion on these lost Galilean Jews. He doesn't act on his own! He's the one with the power; he's the one who can truly open hearts; he's the one who can help these poor, lost souls. And he does act himself: going to where they are, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of his Kingdom, and healing (v. 35). But he doesn't act alone; he calls his disciples to do something.
This reminds me of God's Word through Amos: “The Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” (3.7) An example of this is how God dealt with Abraham. Jehovah appears to him with two angels (Gen 18), and promises the son within the year, and the Trinity speaks with himself: “Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing?” (vv. 16-21) Then God proceeds to unfold his plan to judge Sodom & Gomorrah, and Abraham begins to beg him to have mercy because of his people in those cities. Truly this is a prayer, though he's speaking face-to-face with Jehovah in the form of a man. God answered that prayer in delivering Lot & his family out of Sodom before destroying it.
This is what friends do; they share themselves & their lives with each other. They reveal their plans to each other, and talk about them together. This is what parents do with their children in order to teach them: they tell their children what they are about to do, and then they do it. Sometimes, the child may even object (because of his lack of understanding) to what seems to him a contradiction, inconsistency, or just plain wrong. And the parent patiently explains what he's doing, not because he has to explain, but because he wants his child to grow in wisdom. God doesn't seek our counsel; rather, he shares himself with us, revealing himself to us which delights & satisfies us, and teaching us what he wants us to be.
Thus, Jesus shares himself & his compassion for the lost with his disciples, so that they might know & delight in him & his will, and express that delight in fervent prayer, longing for God to perform that will, and express it in a like compassion to his own.
Why do we not pray for missions? Because we do not believe the greatness of God's compassion for the lost. His compassion is unanswered by our prayers, so our prayers are unanswered by demonstration of his power to save. The lack is not in God's compassion; the lack is in our faith, which results in lack of prayer. And we lack the compassion God has for the lost. You want God to heal your sickness; do you want him to heal the nations from their sin?
Why do we not pray for missions? Because we do not believe the greatness of the harvest. We expect a puny harvest, so we put forth puny prayers. We do not believe God's promise to bless every people group on earth with salvation through Christ (Gen 12.1-3; Isa 49.6; Rev 5.9,10). We don't believe God will glorify his name throughout the whole earth (Psa 46.10; Mal 1.11; Psa 67; 72.17-19).
Why do we not pray for missions? Because we do not believe in the necessity of God to work. We don't believe God can use a weak “witness” to do powerful things. We polish our sermons and perfect our arguments & evangelistic techniques, but we don't beg God to work. We speak more to men about God, than we speak to God about men.
Therefore, invite others from your church to meet in your home specifically to pray for missions. Any believer can do it; you don't have to be a pastor or missionary. Pray for God to fulfill his will of glorifying his name among all people groups. Study people groups, and see who has no light or little light, and pray for God to raise up missionaries to make himself known to those specific peoples. Pray for God to use your current missionaries, to guide their efforts & make them effectual. Pray for God to answer Christ's blood by drawing all people groups to himself. Pray for God to send others to help you in prayer.
If we would see Christ glorified & sinners saved, we have but to fast & pray!
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