Eight months ago, I was sitting in a crowded conference when a phone alarm suddenly pierced the room. You could feel the awkwardness in the air, until the speaker paused, smiled, and pulled out his phone. Instead of silencing it quickly, he looked up and said with excitement, “Perfect timing!”
It was 9:38 a.m. and his alarm was set as a daily reminder of Matthew 9:38:
“Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”
Right there, in the middle of the session, we stopped everything and prayed together for God to raise up more laborers for His kingdom. That moment stuck with me. A few days later, I set the same alarm on my own phone. And for the last eight months, it has gone off nearly 240 times now.
The crazy part? I still forget it’s there almost every single day. So, it catches me completely off guard, during worship services, important meetings, while mowing the yard, in the middle of conversations, or even while driving.
Each time that familiar sound rings, it interrupts whatever I’m doing and pulls my heart back to the same urgent prayer: “Lord of the harvest, send out workers.”
I’ve grown to appreciate these interruptions. They’ve become sacred moments that remind me the Great Commission isn’t just a nice command tucked away in the Bible, it’s a daily invitation to participate in something eternal.
Jesus looked at the crowds and saw they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He told His disciples the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. That reality hasn’t changed. The fields are still white for harvest, across our cities, our states, and especially the nations.
So, here’s my question for you: Are you willing to let your life be interrupted by God’s call?
If you’ve been sensing the Lord stirring your heart to go, whether to the unengaged, to plant churches, to serve with an organization like South America Mission, or simply to pour your life into making disciples right where you are, I want you to know this:
There are people praying for you every single day at 9:38 a.m. At least a dozen that I know of have been faithfully lifting you up.
And if you’re not being called to “go” right now, will you join the prayer movement instead?
Joel Woodard serves as the Mobilization Director of South America Mission. He and his wife, Amy, served as missionaries in Slovenia for seven years before returning to the US where Joel pastored a church in Oregon for 15 years. Joel started working for SAM in August of 2025 when they and their four children moved to South Carolina.
