Key verses: Matthew 9:37 

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38  therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Key thought: Intentionality in the harvest is important, yes God cannot be limited by our planning but we cannot leave our evangelism to chance

1. Pray for the harvest 
   • First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, Pray for the masses and people groups, pray for people of all walks of like and social status 1 Timothy 2:1.
   • God desires that all people should access the knowledge of truth, everyone must be given an opportunity to hear the good news
   • The unregenerate are in the chains of the enemy and part of our prayer focus is to have them released form the hold of Satan 
   • Praying for the harvest and witnessing becomes simpler when we have a burden for the lost Romans 9; 2-3, 10:1 
2. Be intentional about the people we are praying for
   • There is a place for the multitudes and a place for individuals singled out
   • Luke 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
   • In the midst of the crowd surrounding Jesus, he singles out Zaccheaus who is a sinner and has no good standing in the society.
   • Every soul is significant in the sight of God, we must not be overwhelmed with the need to reach to the many to the extent that we fail to minister to the few that are near us, for they are a ready harvest.
   • In the P40, we identify three people that we will be praying for and we share the names in of people groups of three.
3. Prepare for an encounter
   • We must set the stage for the presentation of the gospel, this may involve create a common ground through which the gospel can be communicated.
   • Luke 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
   • In this instance Jesus is clearly communicating his plan of encounter, where the gospel will be shared with Zacchaeus, he specifies the day and place.
   • P40 is about planning for reaching out, we create space for the encounter with the truth of God’s word
   • Sometimes the encounter may be prompt, as led by the Holy Spirit, the preparation here comes in our time of praying for the person we have identified. 
   • Evangelism styles – different ways we can enable people encounter the gospel
   • Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg (1996, 122–132):
   • Confrontational style: Peter (Acts 2:36)
   • Intellectual style: Paul (Acts 17:18) 
   • Interpersonal style: Matthew (Luke 5:29)
   • Invitational style: The Samaritan woman (John 4)
   • Testimonial style: The blind man (John 9:25)
   • Serving style: Dorcas (Acts 9:36)
   • Whatever the style, we must prayerfully and wisely use it to be appropriate to the context
4. Teaching them to obey
   • Discipleship is a process of empowering new believers to grow in following Christ
   • The Great Commission is about making disciples of all nations, making is a process that involves teaching them to obey all that which Jesus commanded.
   • The Great Commission is only complete when we disciple believers, evangelism and disciples and must not be separated; they are intertwined

Conclusion

Without planning we most likely never to reach out, plan for the harvest