+ Day 1 : Prayerful Mind

Prayerful Mind: Repenting and Realigning with God’s Mission

Getting started: Spend time reflecting on how the good news of Jesus Christ has changed your life. What specifically has God saved you from? What specifically has he saved you to? Do you sense that the gospel really is good news?

Indeed, it is the greatest news the world has ever known and ought to be the greatest news we personally have ever known. Consider how daily reflecting on and treasuring the gospel in your own life may motivate your willingness and eagerness to share this news with others. Or conversely, how does infrequent reflection on the gospel impact your motivation?

Scripture: Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” John 4:34

Reflect and Act: Jesus was totally surrendered to the will of God. He acknowledged that he had been sent on a commission to do and accomplish God’s will. Is your food to do the will of God? Are you satiated and nourished by doing God’s will and accomplishing the kingdom work he has assigned to you? If you do find yourself in this position, thank God for giving you the desire for his will to be done in your life. If not, spend time confessing this to God, and ask him to realign your heart with his. (Likely, there will be a little bit of both!)

+ Day 2: Prayerful Eyes

Prayerful eyes: Remaining Alert on the Mission Field

Getting started: How does your perception of how much time you have impact your urgency to proclaim the gospel? Consider your closest relationships, in particular, but also your interactions with acquaintances and strangers.

Scripture: Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4:35

Reflect and Act: Do you hesitate to proclaim the gospel because you believe you have more time to do so (e.g. “four months until the harvest”)? Jesus tells us not to think this way, and to lift up our eyes to see that there is a harvest ready now, fully ripe and right in front of us.

Who is someone in your life ready to respond to the gospel? Ask God to highlight someone and write down their name. Reject the temptation to make judgments about the first person he brings to mind. Just begin praying for this person.

+ Day 3: Prayerful Expectations

Prayerful Expectations: Realizing the Promises of Mission

Getting Started: What kinds of feelings arise in you when you think about evangelism and missional living? Confess any fears, anxieties, insecurities, or frustrations you may have. Thank God for your positive experiences with evangelism, if applicable.

Scripture: Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. John 4:36

Reflect and Act: What things can you expect from missional living? Jesus promises at least three things to his disciples in this verse: 1) Their work would be rewarded (“ the one who reaps is receiving wages”). 2) Their work would last forever (“gathering fruit for eternal life”) 3) Their work would produce joy for every worker involved (“sower and reaper may rejoice together”). Is this not our dream? That our work in this life would be profitable, lasting, and enjoyable for ourselves and others? Jesus has kingdom work for us to do that is all these things and more! No matter your prior experiences with evangelism, consider how this framework of expectations could impact your missional efforts going forward.

Join us on Zoom tonight at 8-9pm for Mission Week Prayer Night where we will “rejoice together” in the mission of MERCYhouse. This will be a casual time of sharing stories of God at work through us and praying for our specific mission efforts this week, expecting God to deliver on the promises presented in John 4:36.

+ Day 4: Prayerful Proclamation

Prayerful Proclamation: Reaping the Harvest

Getting Started: Reflect on your own spiritual journey and the people involved in bringing you to Christ. Who were the sowers (those plantings gospel seeds) and the reapers (those harvesting the gospel fruit)? Thank God for the specific work of each in your life.

Scripture: For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” John 4:37-38

Reflect and Act: Jesus was getting ready to send his disciples to “reap that for which [they] did not labor.” Again, Jesus was insisting that the harvest was ready immediately because others (namely John the Baptist and Jesus himself) had gone before them preparing the soil, planting the seeds, and tending to the plants. Now, it was their turn and time to reap the harvest.

Are you ready to reap? Intentionally connect with the individual God brought to mind from your reflections and prayers on Day 2. Invite them to join you at MERCYhouse, online or on-site, for the Easter Sunday service on April 4th. If you plan to watch online with them, ask if they’ll join you for a Facebook watch party so you can dialogue with them during/after the service.

Here is a short example of a message you could send: “Hey [insert name]! How are you? Easter Sunday is coming up on April 4th, and I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me for the service at my church [online or on-site]? It’s an important day for me and my faith and I’d love for you to join me and see why. What do you think?”

+ Day 5: Prayerful Perserverance

Prayerful Perseverance: Remaining Devoted to the Mission

Getting Started: How did the person receive your invitation yesterday? If they responded positively, praise God! Continue praying for them and their receptivity to the gospel. If they rejected the invitation, continue to pray for them and personally engage (Note: Sometimes the initial ask is rejected but it opens the door on conversation! Don’t miss the opportunity to keep the conversation going using some of the techniques we learned in Questioning Evangelism last year), but consider who else God may want you to invite.

Scripture: Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:39-42

Reflect and Act: All our previous days’ devotions focused on Jesus’ teaching his disciples about the mission before them. Right before this brief discourse, he had revealed himself as Savior to a Samaritan woman at a well, she believed in him, and she went excitedly telling her testimony to her fellow townspeople (read John 4 in its entirety for more context). As this portion of the passage reveals, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus through the woman’s testimony. It was through her testimony that they then met Jesus himself and heard his word!

Preparing your testimony is an important evangelistic tool for at least two reasons. 1) It may cause some to believe right away as it did with the Samaritan woman (did you catch her 5-second testimony in verse 39?). 2) For others, your testimony will cause intrigue and will draw them to encounter and believe in Jesus himself through his word (v40-42). Either way, the more you tell your testimony and proclaim the good news of Jesus, the more you will see people coming to faith through your witness!

As you keep reaching out to the individual(s) God has brought to mind to invite to Easter service, consider how you could share your testimony with them before or after the service. Not sure where to start? Use this worksheet to help write a 15-second and/or 3-minute testimony.

Of course, keep in mind that not every person you encounter will receive Christ. For some, you may merely be the sower in their life and someone else will reap further down the line (which doesn’t diminish the importance of the sowing! 1 Corinthians 3:6-8). We can’t control the response, but we can control the input. Share your testimony and share the gospel widely, deeply, and fully with as many people as you encounter, brothers and sisters! This devotion concludes our Mission Week series, but we are ever living on the mission to reach our campuses, communities, and unreached people groups together. May we persevere faithfully to the end!