Last night Ishtar & I were going back over some things the Lord has spoken to us in the past year and we were reminded of a word out of Genesis 26 that I think is apropos for us right now.

Isaac is living in Canaan and it says there is a famine throughout the land. Isaac is preparing to the leave the country and go to Egypt where there is no famine, when the Lord speaks to him in verses 2-5, "Then the Lord appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."

I think some of us can look around us and see spiritual famine around us...in our jobs, in our schools, in our communities, even in our lives and think if I could just go where there is no famine things would be better.

But I believe that the Lord is telling us we are supposed to dwell in this land and the Lord will bless us. We all know that in so many ways Harvard, MIT, Cambridge are an epicenter for the rest of the world. What happens here, sends ripples throughout the world. So if we stand strong and believe for the Lord to show up in the middle of this famine and see His Spirit fall on this place, it will affect the entire world.

Look at what Genesis 26:12 says, "Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him."

This does not make sense except that God was in the middle of it. No one sows in the middle of a famine, for without water nothing can grow, yet God said plant, he planted and in the same year he reaped a harvest a hundredfold. If you talk to farmers, even in a good year with lots of rain and all the right conditions they do not reap a harvest of a hundredfold. That means there was fruit for every seed that was put in the ground.

When we are obedient to the Lord's word and we plant where and when he says to plant, He will bring the harvest. We may be living in a place of spiritual famine but God has said, "Dwell in this land, and I will bless you; and I will give you all these lands."

So what does it mean for you to sow in this land you are in?

We know we do not fight a battle of flesh and blood, but a spiritual one (Ephesians 6:10-12). Therefore, we must use spiritual weapons to sow into this land (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We must be committed and consistent to pray. Prayer is one of the greatest tools we have for preparing the soil of people's hearts. In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a story about a farmer that sows seed and some of it falls on hard soil, rocky soil, thorny soil and fertile or good soil.

In Matthew 13:19-14, Jesus explains the story like this, "The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their hearts.

The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word.

The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced.

The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God's message and produce a huge harvest – thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted."

One of the things that makes the biggest difference in the soil is prayer.

When we pray, God shows up and moves in us and through us in supernatural ways. (Matthew 18:18-20) We need to ask God what we are supposed to do, so that He can do what only He can do. When we pray the Holy Spirit goes out to prepare the soil of people's hearts to hear & receive His word.

I believe that we are walking into a time where we are going to see a harvest of souls beyond our imagination, but we must be faithful to sow into this land. Please be faithful to pray for all of us at Grace Street, all those around us and our community that the Holy Spirit will bless the seeds that we sow and we will reap a harvest of souls a hundredfold.

Sowing in This Land, PC & Ishtar