Garden Cycle of Prayer – Seed, Toil, and Harvest ; For audio only PPN
Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner. Today’s episode is “Garden Cycle of Prayer – Seed, Toil, and Harvest”. We will discuss how the cycle we see in nature in the garden, an example that Jesus used to describe the Kingdom of God, is also the cycle visible in prayer. Paying attention to the cycle of prayer you will gain peace and understanding of your relationship with God.
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One of my earliest memories as a very little girl was sitting in the one room of our little house that had air conditioning shucking bushel baskets filled with purple hull peas. I also remember visiting my grandmother and watching her toss her coffee grounds and eggshells into the rather barren garden during the winter months. But my best memory about gardens was visiting my father-in-law and eating his freshly picked ripe tomatoes in July. Yum! Nothing tasted better! His backyard was mostly garden and we visited often enough to see the whole cycle of seed, toil, and harvest took place. Most of the homes I have lived in had yards of hard clay or rocky soil. And remember what Jesus said about seeds sown there!
Our parish has a community garden that feeds the poor who visit our food pantry. One summer I took my granddaughter to work the soil by removing grass, weeds, and twigs and then plant beds of lettuce. We planted but someone else harvested. All of these garden experiences can be used to describe prayer.
You are listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host Patti Brunner. Today’s episode is “Garden Cycle of Prayer – Seed, Toil, and Harvest”. The cycle we see in nature in the garden, an example that Jesus used to describe the Kingdom of God in His parables about seed, is also the cycle visible in prayer.
Keep the life cycle of prayer in mind as I list the life cycle of the garden: acquiring the tools, clearing the field, working the soil, choosing the seed, watching for tender shoots, tending the garden with water and nutrients, harvesting, sharing the harvest, and letting the garden go at the end of the season. You can see that there is a lot going on when we pray! Where in the garden cycle are you having trouble praying? Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians “Pray without ceasing”! Maybe that takes a plan. Persistence becomes the norm, trusting the answer of God’s grace; his word goes forth as seed. Who has seeded prayer into your life?
Remember, the harvester is not always the one who plants.
We might say, “I know not how to pray!” Jesus helped us acquire the tools to pray as he taught us, his followers, the Lord’s Prayer. But even “Jesus, help me!” can be very powerful. Gather before you the tools you shall need: The Word of God, the teaching of the Church, the Magisterium and your priest, the prayers of the faithful, the sacraments’ graces. With these all things are possible. Reach out and embrace God’s plans. Reach out with open arms unhesitantly. He is the Lord, He is Love, He is the one who is.
“Clearing the field” is where I got stuck in the bog when I was young. So many other things grabbed my time that I rarely thought about prayer except a quick meal prayer. And that was mostly a habit. Good habits are very useful, but it took a desperate night in the hospital when I was miscarrying before I truly called out “Jesus Help Me!” with all my heart and mind. Even though I lost our baby, I gained a new relationship with my Lord. Trust me, laying in a hospital bed clears the field very painfully. In the years since then, there have been several urgent situations that have caused me to work the soil again. How easily the seed of prayer takes root then!
When the Lord called me to pray for others for healing, I spent quite a lot of time seeking out the best way to sow good seed in prayers.
The Holy Spirit provides those who have gone before us to teach us about forgiveness prayers, the charisms of healing, and scriptures to sow. Sometimes the Lord provides consolations as encouragement, to witness the glory of God like the success of the 72 disciples Jesus sent out to heal the sick. The Lord can give immediate results from prayer, but more often we are like farmers who trust in the miracle of the seed that God has provided and allow it to take root and grow.
At a retreat Fr. Mark Stengel of the Subiaco Abby shared an illustration of patience and hope with the story of Paw-paw seeds. After the farmer’s seeds are planted they are dormant for 6 months and then take 2 months of watering before they sprout. He noted that farmers sometimes plow under their crop because of drought, but then they plant again. He said there is potential in the seed but the farmer must take action and participate to bring forth a harvest.
Fr. Mark also reminded us that the promises of God are living seeds. Our relationship with God and being in the Presence of God allows nourishing attentive listening. Persistence is important for intercessory and contemplative prayer as we rely on God’s promises, His seeds and allow His seeds to affect us.
Our prayers continue as we watch for tender shoots. The answer to our prayer is getting closer. This is when we have to take care not to stomp the soil with negative words or give up hope. About this time the weeds also show their face. The enemy sows them directly into our most vulnerable spots. He distracts us from our prayer; he points out the rocks that we failed to clean out hoping we will give up. It’s amazing how a good confession can pulverize those rocks and quench the weeds. Only the mercy of God can answer a prayer. Yet He invites us to pray always!
The greenery of the plant is used to draw the benefits of the sun. The rain nourishes the greenery by drawing it through the roots. The soil provides minerals and nutrients that allow growth. All these things take time. Continue your work. Keep praying! The Lord is your sun, your water, your soil! Let him feed you, grow you, use you!
Do you find it hard to pray? There is a lot of toil in gardening. Yet, true gardeners find joy in each facet of gardening: Whether we personally are those who prepare the ground, plant, cultivate or get to participate in the fruit of the harvest, we can all find joy in the toil as we labor. Do not lose site of the harvest; enjoy it always.
The story of Jesus with the two sisters, Martha and Mary, remind us not to lose focus by concentrating only on the toil. The presence of God is with us each step of the Way.
Prayer is key as the inner joy awakens in us.
Faith and hope are needed as you open your eyes to the difficulties as the toil is tedious due to its repetitive nature and sometimes even the rejection by those for whom you pray.
Has God called you to sow seeds of prayer time after time? Without the ability to see the harvest? Think about this: the blood of the martyrs—who could not see the fruit of their suffering—brought tremendous harvests after their lifetime.
When the harvest is plentiful recognize those who toiled without seeing the harvest yet trusted God.
Take heart. The Prophet Amos in chapter 9:13 writes, “Yes, days are coming, says the LORD, When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed.” The reaper shall overtake the seeder, the sower on this particular “planting”, this journey of faith. The prophet of the Lord is telling us it is possible to have fruit from our prayer even before it leaves our lips!
The needs of God’s people are many. You know you cannot take care of all of them. Yet, by God’s grace and by intercession much work can be accomplished. 30-60-100 fold! Fear not. As God calls you to pray—pray. As God calls you to sing, to work, to rest—all will be given to you to benefit the needs about you. Fear not the overwhelming task before you this day in your prayers. God’s grace proceeds you.
Here are some of the Lord’s promises that he has given to nourish our garden of prayer:
In the Gospel of Mark 11:25, Jesus said, “I tell you therefore: everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father may forgive your failings too.”
In the Gospel of John 15:16-17, Jesus said, “You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another.”
In John 14:12-13, Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
In the Gospel of Luke 17:6, Jesus said, “If you have the faith as big as a mustard seed and say to a mulberry tree, “Be thou uprooted and be planted by the sea” it would do so.”
As you bring the Lord’s Word unto the people it will take root. Fear not your smallness. Is not the mustard seed small? Yet if it is not planted the amount of soil, water, and sun has no effect on the fruitfulness.
Build the furrow to carry the water. You shall ‘seed’ the clouds with your praise and thanksgiving. “The fruit is the seed, thus the seed is the food.”
As the desert blooms after a rain so too shall the hearts and minds of those who have suffered the dryness of no grace in their lives be revived as the Living Water touches them and ‘soaks in’. The ‘sprinkling’ has no effect but to rinse the dust from the leaves. It takes a ‘downpour’ to truly nourish and set free the life process. Many survive only because they have ‘stored’ grace deep within them. But, the desire of the Father is not just ‘survival’ but abundant life.
Are the ones in your prayers the children of darkness, of the night? Send forth the rays of the Light of Christ to rescue them. Watch the changes as life-giving water reaches the ‘roots’. And then the nation shall bloom.
Let’s talk a little about some of the weeds that can enter the garden of prayer. Bermuda grass is the one that tries to take over backyard gardens in Arkansas. It’s great out front where it is neatly mowed, but its tentacles can stretch far and wide and come up in the most inconvenient places in a garden. I think the Bermuda grass in my garden of prayer is judgment. I couldn’t tell you how often that word came up in the confessional!
When true love for others is in the heart one can forego the “justification” of judgment against the actions of others and thus release to God all judgement, for Jesus shall come to judge the living and the dead. As you release your judgement against others you find joy and peace in your prayers. Not as the world would claim it but as the Spirit gives it—in truth, true joy; true peace.
The difficulty with being a servant of God is realizing that the crops are plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the harvest master to send more help. Continue to seek the face of the Lord, and pray, especially when you are tired. The world’s weariness ‘infects’ even the healthy, but they quickly recover and thus immunity grows against the ploys and diseases of the enemy until heaven is attained and no longer can the works of darkness exist.
The delay in the manifestation of God’s presence among the people is shortened by the awareness of one. As one impacts another, the two then send out the Word that changes the world. The Word is God, the Word is truth. The Gospel revealed and proclaimed and lived shall set the hearts of men on fire. Come with the Lord into the fields. You shall harvest that which was sown by another, you shall scatter the seed to the four winds and it shall quickly take root and thrive. The resource of the Church is the field sown by another. Harvest becomes seed to sow.
In Ephesians 3:16-19 St. Paul wrote, “Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth , until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge you are filled with the utter fullness of God”
Continue—continue to tend the field. As the early harvest has been taken, the “seed harvest” been replanted, the weeds seem to overtake the good at times and the tender of the fields can become discouraged. But fear not, the rain that falls on the “weeds” also has been nourishing the wheat. The crop is ready for an early cutting. It shall continue to produce and the 30-60-100 fold will soon be evident. In particular—seek out the dark corners; those who sit alone in the shadows who need encouragement to step into the Light. In darkness often fear attacks. Pray during the darkness because the Son of God provides light in the darkness. What is sown in the dark is revealed when the day dawns.
Do you have anyone in your family or relationship that needs prayer? As a gift from God their lives are touching others. The community of believers helps one another. God helps us all. Approach them. Witness the power of God by relating healings to others, then offer to pray for them and their friends. When this happens the major barrier is broken as they humble themselves to acknowledge the power of God and their own need of God’s mercy for another. If the person refuses, if they totally reject prayer, then pray for them anyway for they are near the edge of the precipice. End your conversation by blessing the Lord for the blessings of stability and prosperity that the person has, recognizing that we are to thank God for all things, even struggles, and in doing so we find peace. Sow the seed of hope. Give witness to your own belief and sow the seed of faith. Rest assured. It may be small yet it is the “smallest of seeds” that was used to describe the kingdom—and that’s infinity!
The harvest we desire in life is joy, happiness. We desire a harvest of Divine Favor for our needs and the needs of others, and we desire the ultimate harvest of eternal life.
People perish due to lack of knowledge. Too many think they gain riches by gathering and holding close the fruit of their labor. When you look at the lives of the saints, you find those who shared in the Name of the Lord. There are many worthwhile needs in the world, yet this, world shall pass away. The most important needs are those which affect eternal decisions.
When I was first asked to do a podcast, I asked for prayer from my fellow leaders in the Charismatic Renewal without giving any specifics. In prophetic ministry, they saw visions of an abundant garden, harvested and canned in fruit jars. I quickly realized that the Lord was giving me the okay to take the fruit he had given me the past 25 years and share it with others.
The Lord has given me much to plant in my prayer garden over the years. I have prayed for myself, my family, my friends, and hundreds of people in healing prayer ministry. I have seen much bountiful harvests as God brought fruit for me to see and to experience.
There are other prayers that continue to be planted day after day, year after year that perhaps are like the paw-paw seeds that take so long or like Eucalyptus plants that actually require fire for their seeds to sprout. Some prayers take the fire of the Holy Spirit to start the growth process! The fruit of these prayers may be harvested long after my tending of the garden has been completed and the role given to another.
Be sure and pray for others and for yourself. Prayers matter! The everlasting needs of the people are met in Christ, with Christ, through Christ. As you abandon your needs and the needs of others unto the Lord, indeed surrender them fully, you shall find your peace. It is very difficult for most people to do this. The urge for physical survival draws people to work out the solution on their own. As you die to self and live for Christ the questions “How can I please You, Lord?” and “How will this ‘decision’ give glory to God?” will be deeply rooted in your garden– in your heart– and thus all anxiety disappears and the heavenly realm takes care of every need.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m Patti Brunner. I’ll list some of our other episodes about prayer in the summary and we invite you to click on the YouTube Truth of the Spirit channel and find the “Prayer Helpful & Fruitful Information Playlist”
Leave us a comment about your prayer gardening experience at the end of this podcast. And then, come back for more. With the Holy Spirit, there’s always more! Amen.
Prayer Helpful & Fruitful Information Playlist:
TOS026 Prayer- Protection, Deliverance, and Cleansing with Sheila Canup
TOS027 Supernatural Prayer-Tongues with Rick Brunner
TOS028 Public Prayer-The Mass with Patti Brunner
TOS029 Praying the Scriptures –Ken Hunter of the Prayer-Reaching Out to God Series
TS030 Healing Prayer with Lissa Applewhite
TOS031 Prayer through Fasting with Patti Brunner
TOS066 Lenten Logos VI Prayer
TOS078 “Efficacious Prayer in Healing” – The Lord Healed them All –part 7
TOS085 Recognizing God’s Voice Prophetic Word for this Season—Pray!
