By Helen Jesze 8th May 2026

“Do you not say, It is four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you,
raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for
harvesting.” John 4:35 Amplified Bible

“Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the labourers
are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust out labourers
into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37+38 Amplified Bible

Three days ago, when I woke up in the morning, the anointing of the Holy Spirit was
heavy upon me and the following song was singing in my spirit:
Lay your life on the altar for God,
He’s calling for you today
Lay your life on the altar for God,
This moment the Master obey
The fields of the harvest are white
And servants are scattered and few,
Lay your life on the altar for God,
He’s calling for you, for you.

This was a song we often sang when I was growing up. It is taken from the above
verses, where Jesus points out to His disciples and others, that just as they look at the
fields to see if it is time to bring in the harvest, so they should look with their
spiritual eyes and see that the spiritual harvest is long ready. But the problem was
that there were too few labourers who were willing to go and bring in this harvest of
souls. This is also a problem today, that we are so busy and taken up with our daily
lives, that we do not have time to gather the spiritual harvest, or we have not seen that
it is ready. Our focus has been only on other things.

Throughout the Bible, we read that different men built altars to God to offer up
sacrifices, to worship Him, to remember certain instances when God had done
miracles for His people. I began to think of altars and what they mean. First of all, an
altar is a place of sacrifice, where something precious is sacrificed or given to God.
Millions of animals were sacrificed through the Old Testament, and when God saw
them He would cover the sins of the people. But these animals were only a type, a
foreshadow of what Jesus, the Lamb of God would do hundreds of years later, when
He laid down His life for us on the cross of Calvary. All who believed in Him would
have their sins totally forgiven, not just covered. The curse of sin, sickness and death
would be broken. This was the SUPREME SACRIFICE.

An altar was often a place of self-denial, where something which meant a lot to the
giver was offered. Sometimes in our lives, God asks us to offer some dream, some
desire, something which is not in His plan for us, but which we have held on to. I
remember in my own life, I was saved at 9, baptised in the Holy Spirit at 14, and I
knew God was calling me into fulltime ministry. But I had a great desire to do
something with the theatre or opera, not that I could sing in opera, but in some other
capacity.

I remember the day when this all came to a head. I was running through the woods
behind our house, which belonged to Charterhouse School, a very old expensive,
high-up school. Sir Wilfred Noyce who later would climb Mount Everest taught
there. After much inward fighting and many tears, I finally said “Yes” to Jesus, and
His plan, and laid that dream on the altar. Later, I was so grateful that God did not let
me go my own way. His way is best!

An altar is also a place of worship. A place to meet with our God. The more we lift
Him up in praise and worship, we are lifting Him higher and He will manifest
Himself to us in increasing measure. God is always ready, we are the ones who are
slow to seek His face. Years ago, often in church, after the sermon, the pastor would
give an invitation for all those who wanted to get saved or needed prayer for some
reason, to come to the altar. This was called an “altar-call”. It was a place where we
could encounter God and Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, in a new way.

The Apostle Paul, found an altar which was dedicated “To the unknown God”. He
preached to these heathen people about this “unknown God”, telling how he knew
this God, himself. We should not have any altars in our lives to ‘unknown gods’. We
should know whom we worship and live for, the God of our Salvation.

Not only Christians have altars, but heathen religions also have them. When the
prophet Elijah was on Mount Carmel with all the Israelites and the prophets of the
idol Baal, they had an altar erected to him. They jumped on the altar, cut themselves
with stones and knives, and shouted to their dead god, but in the end they had to give
up, for no-one answered them. Now it was Elijah’s turn, and he did not use Baal’s
altar, but he found the altar of God, BUT it was broken down. It had not been kept in
repair and had obviously not been used for a long time, for many of the Children of
Israel had begun to worship Baal and other false gods, and had forgotten Jehovah.
The very first thing Elijah did was to repair God’s altar!! Before he did anything
else, he knew that was the foundation of relationship with his God. Later God
answered by fire, and the Israelites had to admit, “The Lord, He is God!”
What about the altar in your life, dear Friend? Is it broken down? God is calling
to us today to rebuild the altar of prayer, sacrifice, obedience, self-denial,
worship, that we might have a fresh encounter with Him.

In the little song written above, it calls Christians to lay their lives down on God’s
altar to serve Him. It brings our focus on the spiritual harvest-field, where so many
souls are waiting, ready to be won to Christ, but the labourers are not enough. Before
George went to preach in India, the Lord gave me this poem:

Cry of India!
INDIA –- land of ‘holy men’, squalid huts and opium den.
Green rice-paddies, scorchèd earth, no harvest, famine, dearth.
Elephants huge, pushing logs near the mangy, stray street dogs.
Myriad children running wild, yet a person, each small child.
Sticklike legs and stooping back, buildings just about to crack.
Heaps of refuse in the street, honking horns and hurrying feet.
Rickshaws pulled by coolies thin. Cannot hear above the din.
Goats and pigs with traffic vie, endless people pushing by.
Holy cows have right of way through the city any day.
Urine-stench, sweet smell of drug, fly, mosquito, gnat and bug.
Pleading hands, beggar-blind, maimed, despicable, every kind.
None to hear their mournful cry, none to comfort when they die.
Lepers here, a frightful scene, a hole where once a nose has been.
Hindu-Temple, heathen shrine, demon-worship, priestly whine.
Burning bodies, wail for dead, anguished hearts and bowèd head.
Corpses lying on the stones, vultures feed upon their bones.
Disease and sickness, running sore, cup of misery flowing o’er!
Rushing flood or dried-up well, when we’ll eat, we cannot tell!
Prostitutes and thieves abound, steal before you turn around!
Buses run-down, steaming trains, decaying houses, open drains.
Sitting down on the ground, charmer pipes to snake curled round.
Speakers blare music weird, dark brown faces with black beard.
Delicate sari, filthy rag, striking beauty, toothless hag.
Businessman in Western suit, bazaars of clothing, meat and fruit.
Hotel, office, building, school tell of long-gone British rule.
HAVE YOU HEARD MY MESSAGE HERE?
LET IT COME THROUGH LOUD AND CLEAR!
INDIA NEEDS YOUR HELP TODAY!
INDIA NEEDS THAT YOU SHOULD PRAY!
Take her needs upon your heart, make them of yourself a part.
Tell about the One whose love brought Him down from Heaven above.
Ganges river will not bring forgiveness, cleansing, peace within.
And if you cannot GO, my friend, you can give, another to send.
The golden grain is ripening fast. Soon the harvest will be past.
India’s night may soon come on, our chance to help may then be gone!
In the harvest you can share,
SHOW THEM THAT YOU REALLY CARE!!
****
After reading this poem and seeing a missionary film, a young man went to India as a
missionary. He married an Indian lady and they had a very fruitful ministry.
Not only India, but so many places and countries are in dire need. Jesus is calling you
and me today, to lay our lives afresh on His altar, and to go forth, whether at home or
abroad, as He directs us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring in the harvest. We
are truly in the Endtimes. Let us be like the men of Issachar who had “understanding
of the times” (1 Chronicles 12:32). There is a part for everyone to play in God’s plan.
He has a place where you can just fit in, and become fruitful in a new way!
Lay your life on the altar for God, He’s calling for you, for you