A lack of workers is nothing new. It was a challenge even in Jesus’ day. It says this in Matthew 9:36:
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Sound like your children’s ministry? The “crowds” for you might be the kids & parents in your ministry, “like sheep without a shepherd” because of the lack of help.
But there’s hope. Jesus offered an answer – one which too often is ignored in favor of bulletin announcements, high-tech videos or plain old begging. Here’s what He said:
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
There’s nothing wrong with using practical “techniques” of recruiting (begging does NOT fall into that category) – we’ve shared some here & here. However, Jesus gave us the first and primary solution – “pray to the Lord”.
Is prayer your “first option” when you need workers? It should be, for you and your team.
A great reminder comes from a quote that we’ve shared before here on the blog, and it goes like this:
Prayer does not equip us for greater works – prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
Everything about our ministry ought to flow from our relationship with God because it is God doing the work, not us. Recruiting included.
