30 Days of Prayer for the Harvest

Day 27 – Saturday, February 7, 2026

Read Luke 15:1-7

¹ Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. ² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” ³ So He spoke this parable to them, saying: ⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:1-7).

In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables that all make the same point: God goes to great effort to seek lost sinners and He greatly rejoices when they come to repentance.

Jesus first tells the parable of the lost sheep. A lost sheep in the Judean wilderness was doomed. It had no protection and it would be only a short time before predators would attack and kill it. A lost sheep is unable to find its way home. As such, it is a picture of a lost sinner. The sinner may not even know that he is lost and headed for destruction, but that is the truth. Unbelievers are lost and helpless, prey for the enemy unless God intervenes. But, thank God, He has intervened!

Jesus says the shepherd leaves his 99 other sheep and goes after the lost one, searching until He finds it. Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10), who described His mission as “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus makes it clear that His willingness to “receive sinners and eat with them” was not about minimizing sin or embracing compromise. No, His actions were focused on saving lost sinners.

Notice the effort the shepherd exerts to save the lost sheep. He leaves the other sheep and the safety of other shepherds to go to the wilderness in search of the lost sheep. When he finds it, he tenderly carries it on his shoulders to safety. When He gets home, he rejoices with friends and neighbors, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!”

Jesus says, “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” When a sinner turns from his sins to God, all heaven rejoices because God gets the glory. God cares about every lost sinner who needs repentance. He seeks them out. He calls them individually to come to Himself. God greatly rejoices when a sinner repents, so should we.

In tenderness He sought me,
Weary and sick with sin,
And on His shoulders brought me
Back to His fold again.
While angels in His presence sang
Until the courts of heaven rang.

O the love that sought me!
O the blood that bought me!
O the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold![i]

Today’s Prayer

(This prayer is just a model for you to pray, make the prayer your own from your heart as the Lord helps you to pray).

Father, I rejoice in my Lord Jesus Christ, the good shepherd. When I strayed from You and was lost, Jesus didn’t give up on me. He came to seek and to save the lost. And I am one of those sheep who had gone astray in to sin and self-righteousness.

Lord, use me today to tell other lost people about Jesus, the good shepherd, no matter the personal effort it may take. Lord, may I find great joy in seeing lost sinners come to repentance.

Amen.