Matthew 13:10-23
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’ d
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” [1]
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The familiar parable of the sower describes different ways of responding to the sowing of God’s Word in our hearts. Hearing it, I want to believe that I am good soil, and that the word will produce an abundant harvest. But the truth is that I am all of the soils. My receptivity and openness to the Word is not always consistent, as I mentioned in the sermon this past Sunday. And it gets even more complex. My heart, fallen as it is, contains all four of the soil types mentions. So all four illustrations are pertinent to my walk with the Lord and my growth as a disciple.
This informs how I pray. I pray for understanding of the Word so that it can take root before the evil one snatches it away. I pray that the Word would grow deep roots in my life so that when (not if) troubles come, I will not fall away. I pray for God to clear the weeds so that the worries and temptations of this life do not choke out what God is trying to grow in me. I pray for good soil, that the word grow abundantly in my heart and life and brings forth an abundant crop for my Lord.
Lord, prepare the soil of my heart for Your Word. Keep the birds away, the rocks clear and the thorns down so that my heart may be the good soil that will result in an abundant harvest.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 13:10–23). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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