“When it was day, Jesus departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought Him and came to Him and would’ve kept Him from leaving them. But He said to them, ‘I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns as well. For I was sent for this purpose.'”
– Luke 4:42–43
There’s a lot we could talk about in the context of this book and the geography and movements of Jesus. That’s kind of the point I want to camp out on and lead us to pray according to.
Luke 4:42–43 Shows us Jesus’ goal of Preaching all over Israel
Jesus did not stay in one place. He continually was moving from place to place. He says right here, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to other towns as well. For I was sent for this purpose.” Jesus didn’t just stay in one place and preach and heal people there. He went from place to place preaching the good news in different towns.
So it’s no surprise when we turn the pages of the New Testament into the book of Acts, to see the spirit of Jesus and the people of God calling them to keep moving to new places. Not everybody, it’s obviously not a New Testament command to every individual follower of Jesus to keep moving from place to place in your life. But it is a clear emphasis in the Bible on the church, making sure that the gospel doesn’t stop in one place, that it keeps moving on from place to place. That the good news of the Kingdom of God goes from town to town. Think Antioch in Acts 13. When the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus calls Paul and Barnabas to leave Antioch and to go and spread the good news of the kingdom where the good news of the kingdom had not yet gone.
This is what Jesus had told his disciples they would do. They would make disciples of all the nations, which would entail going to different nations, to different places. This is the story we see unfolding in the entire book of Acts, the gospel spreading from city to city, town to town. And this is why we as the people of God today, in whom the spirit of Jesus dwells, must keep moving the gospel from place to place, from town to town, from city to city, from nation to nation.
Not, again, that every single individual follower of Jesus is supposed to pack up and move to different places, but every single follower of Jesus should be open to that, should be saying to Jesus, “Wherever You want me to go, I will go. And if that means going to another town, another city, another country for the spread of the gospel, I will do it.”
Luke 4:42–43 Challenges us to Work to bring the Gospel to others
And so I just want to say to every single follower of Jesus listening to this right now, are you open to that? Are you saying to Jesus in your life, “If you ever want me to go somewhere else for the spread of the gospel, I will do it. If you ever want me to go proclaim the good news of the kingdom, particularly in a place where the good news of the kingdom is not now known, then I will do it.”
Are you praying that to God and asking Him if that’s what He wants you to do and saying, “I will gladly do it if You are.” If not, I want to encourage you to pray that. Again, not assuming. I don’t know how the Lord is going to lead your life. I want to follow His leadership in my life, but we need to be open to wherever He wants to lead our lives, especially in a world where 3 billion people have not even heard the good news of the kingdom.
So God, we pray right now according to Your word, according to this picture, Lord Jesus of You being obligated to go to other towns preaching the good news of the kingdom. And we know Your spirit is in us, and we know Your spirit wants the good news of the kingdom to spread to every town, every city, every village, every mountain, every valley, every corner of the Earth, every country on the Earth.
So we pray together right now, God, do You want each of us, God are You calling any of us to go right now? And we pray that You would give us willing hearts and open ears to hear from You and to obey You if that’s what You’re calling us to do. I mean, if You’re not, God, we pray that You would give us faithful ministry, right where You’ve put us, making disciples of the nations around us no matter what stage or age of life we are, whether we’re in school and work in this area or that area, retired.
Praying for Directions to Go
God, we pray that as long as You have us in the town, city, community where we live right now, we pray that You would help us to flourish in making disciples of the nations here. And God, we pray that You would give us a continual openness to going to other places, short term for a week or two, midterm for a month or two or a year or two, or long term to move somewhere. Our lives are Yours to spend for the proclamation of the good news of Your kingdom. So lead us however You want.
And God, I pray even right now trusting that Your spirit is leading some of us to go to new places, different places, even unreached places. God, I pray for wisdom to hear from You and faith to obey You. Just like You gave it to Abraham when You said, “Go to a place I will show you”. We pray for that kind of faith. Raise up laborers for the harvest field, particularly places where the Gospel of the Kingdom is not yet gone.
Oh God, spend our lives however You want for the good news of Your kingdom going to the ends of the Earth. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
