“The New Apostolic Epoch” By: P. Douglas Small
“The New 95 Thesis” Proposals for Reformation
“My House shall be called a House of prayer for all nations”. (Isaiah 56:7, Mark 11:17)
A thesis is a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved. The following thesis you are about to read concerns prayer. In the church, we do many things such as maintain buildings and grounds, keeping them clean, caring for those in need of care, discipling, training, preaching the Gospel and a whole lot more. But, we cannot forget prayer! Rev. Douglas Small, Ordained Bishop with the Church of God and International Director of Prayer Ministries for the Church of God, has put forth a New 95 Thesis on prayer in his book, The New Apostolic Epoch, available at alive publications.org. This is the 6th Thesis in the list for your consideration and use. Included is a prayer you may pray and use also.
Thesis #6
“The typical church is not engaged in harvest prayer, in evangelistic praying, in tearful prayer for lost people – prayer is too often self-absorbed in its thinking, and lacking a missional strategy that considers the lost near and far. (The New Apostolic Epoch – Thesis #6 – Page 22, 23)
36) But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37)Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38)Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38 – NKJV
Prayer: by Pastor Dennis Langford
Suggested Prayer: “Lord, one day, all of us who are now saved were lost. There was no hope for us outside of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We were without saving hope in this world! But, someone prayed for us! Someone carried us in their hearts and prayers until faith blossomed in us and the witness of our mouth confirmed the answer to their prayers for our salvation. For many of us, it was our parents and grandparents or our brothers or sisters. For others it was our spouse or our children. But somebody prayed and held onto God on behalf of our spiritual need until the change came.
Lord, it is not enough that we got saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. We were not the only ones you died for! You died for our brothers and sisters, our nephews and nieces, our children and our grandchildren. You gave your life for our neighbors and friends, everyone who has lived, is alive today or will live on planet earth! We ask you Lord of the Harvest to burden our hearts with the lost who are half way around the world from us, and those closest to us.
We give you permission Holy Spirit to convict our hearts when we fail to pray for the salvation of the lost both near to us and far away from us. Everywhere there are people, there are those who do not know you in the full pardon of their sin. Lord, it is not enough to support our missionaries afar and our ministries near with our financial giving and not support through pray for the harvest of lost souls to be gathered in.
So, once again, we pray to You, Lord of the Harvest, to not only send forth laborers into the harvest, but use us in prayer and personal witness to be a reaper of the harvest. Prepare our hearts Holy Spirit for the opportunities that are before us. Open our eyes fully to see them and use us as You will to reap the harvest you have placed before us.
This we ask, according to Your will, in the Name of Your Son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ! Amen!
