November 24, 2023

5 Helpful Insights for Effective Spiritual Harvesting

Something we often pray for is a spiritual harvest. Have you ever taken in a physical harvest? If not, you may miss what harvesting involves.

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Mark 4:30-32. NIV

I’ve often wondered why the Bible has so many gardening and plant illustrations. God is a gardener. In Genesis two, it says that God planted a garden. A few years ago, I started gardening as a hobby. I now love it! In the process, I learned incredibly useful lessons that apply to life in missions.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matthew 9:36-38 NIV

Observations of Physical Harvest that Apply to Spiritual Harvest

1. Harvest is seasonal, and each plant has its fixed time every year.

If you want continual harvest you need to plant and nurture many different types of plants on a continual basis.

As a disciple maker, it is important to reach out and disciple as many people as possible. Rather than pouring all our time and effort into one person, it is essential to go broader. Jesus had twelve close disciples, and also the multitudes he met in his journey. If you sow sparingly you reap sparingly. People who share the gospel frequently see many salvations!

2. A good harvest comes from hard work and preparation earlier in the year.

You must water consistently, and prepare the soil. If you don’t do this work, then the fruit or seed will not form or will fall from the tree before it is ripe.

This is the same in the spiritual world. The water is the prayer that we must pour into the soil of people’s hearts. Sharing truth and a powerful demonstration of the love and reality of God are the nutrients we dig in.

When the fruit is ready it will come off easily on your hand. If you pick the fruit too early then it is usually bitter and hard. The same with people. It is not good to try to “force” people to get saved. When people are ready, they are open and responsive. They are hungry for truth and connection with God.

3. Harvesting takes effort but is very rewarding.

“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”
John 4:35-36 NIV

4. Harvest requires intensive work for a season.

You have to pick the harvest daily until all the crops are gathered. You can’t put the work off or the fruit will rot on the tree, or get attacked by pests and spoil on the vine. It is greatly satisfying to gather in and eat the fruit of your labor!

It is the same when we see a movement of disciples starting. When people get saved we need to work hard in discipling people. Just like caring for a newborn physical baby is full-time work, the same for new spiritual babies. We should follow up straight away. Frequently, with people in the first days after they get saved, we need to invest time, not wait for another week when we casually see them again.

5. Harvest is the time you are most susceptible to pests.

When the harvest is almost ready, the pests try to come and devour it. Birds, rats, insects – they all come to eat the harvest. It is the same with a spiritual harvest.

The enemy attacks around harvest time through distraction or destruction.

Satan may send sickness, division in the team, financial loss, family issues, or a strong temptation to give up and go home. Often this is just before the breakthrough comes. The way to resist the demonic “pests” that come to spoil the harvest is by prayer and loving perseverance.