5 Signs Your Prayer Life is Working (Luke 10:2)
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“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest” – Luke 10:2, KJV.
This instruction given in Luke 10:2 was a preparation for what we now call the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). It’s not just a casual suggestion but a strategic directive for kingdom advancement through prayer. This blog post seeks to reveal five measurable indicators that your prayer life is producing Kingdom results, drawing from the apostolic ministry blueprint Jesus established in Luke 9 and 10.
Sign #1: Growth
The opening verse of Luke 10 contains two seemingly minor but significant words: “others” and “also.” These terms indicate that this wasn’t Jesus’s first deployment of representatives. When we look back to Luke 9, we see Jesus first sending out the twelve disciples. Now, in chapter 10, He’s commissioning seventy-two others – a remarkable 82% increase in kingdom workers.
This growth pattern continued throughout the New Testament to one hundred and twenty in the upper room (Acts 1:15), to thousands after Pentecost, and now to what Hebrews 12:22-23 describes as “the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven.” This exponential growth wasn’t accidental but the fruit of intentional prayer and discipleship.
Sign #2: Legacy
Instead of celebrating the 82% increase, Jesus pointed to an even greater need: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” This response mirrors God’s words to Joshua in Joshua 13:1: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.”
This principle of building beyond the present success through continuous expansion without settling for current successes finds a beautiful illustration in Isaac’s life. Genesis 26:12-22 records how Isaac, even after experiencing tremendous prosperity, continued digging wells – each with names signifying expansion and breakthrough: Rehoboth (spaciousness), Sitnah (opposition), and Esek (contention). Each well represented a new territory claimed for God’s purposes.
Rather than focusing solely on immediate needs or quick victories, a legacy-oriented prayer life embraces a broader, multigenerational perspective. It calls us to pray with eternity in mind, seeking not just temporary breakthroughs but lasting transformations that will impact future generations. When we pray with legacy in mind, we’re asking God for wisdom to build sustainable systems and structures that will continue bearing fruit long after we’re gone. For example, Moses prayed for and mentored Joshua, ensuring the continuation of Israel’s leadership into the Promised Land (Numbers 27:15-23).
Sign #3: Sending Capacity
Jesus prioritized sending capacity over seating capacity. While many celebrate attendance numbers, Jesus’s model focused on equipping and deploying His disciples into the field. This means God is looking for workers not just churchgoers. Believers with sending capacity can inflict others with the Gospel of the kingdom of God. For example, you would expect that the 3000 that showed up during the day of Pentecost would have influenced the 120 but instead, it’s the few who influenced the many.
The early church in Antioch exemplifies this principle perfectly. Acts 11:25-26 records how Barnabas and Paul invested a full year teaching the believers there. The result? These disciples became so Christ-like that they earned the nickname “Christians” (little Christ’s). More importantly, Antioch became a major missionary-sending center for the early church.
This calls us to prioritize quality over quantity in discipleship, ensuring that each individual is deeply rooted in their faith and well-prepared for ministry. This involves significant investment in leadership development, equipping leaders who can effectively guide others. Additionally, focusing on reproducible ministry models ensures that the methods and practices can be easily taught and replicated, fostering growth and sustainability. Together, these elements create a strong foundation for effective and impactful sending capacity.
Sign #4: Harvest
Luke 10:17 records the joyful return of the seventy-two, reporting significant breakthroughs in soul-winning, deliverance, and territorial advancement. This teaches us that effective prayer should lead to measurable kingdom impact.
In modern contexts, this can be seen through transformed lives and families, where individuals experience personal and spiritual renewal that affects their homes. It extends to community impact and social change, as the gospel influences societal structures and brings about justice and compassion. Spiritual breakthroughs in resistant areas demonstrate God’s power to overcome opposition, while the multiplication of ministry efforts ensures that the work of the kingdom continues to expand, reaching more people with the message of hope and salvation.
Sign #5: Casting Down
Jesus’s declaration in Luke 10:18, where He speaks of seeing Satan fall like lightning, unveils the spiritual warfare dimension of effective prayer. This testimony shows that prayer is a tool of authority used to confront demonic strongholds and facilitate the breaking down of barriers in resistant areas. This emphasizes that prayer is not merely a personal discipline but a battlefield strategy, engaging the forces of darkness and asserting the victory of Christ.
In conclusion, these five signs – Growth, Legacy, Sending Capacity, Harvest, and Casting Down – provide a biblical framework for evaluating the effectiveness of our prayer life. They challenge us to move beyond ritual to results, from maintenance to multiplication, and from gathering to sending. Remember, prayer is not just a spiritual discipline but a strategic tool for kingdom advancement.
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