GALATIANS 4:19-20 Intercession is like Child birth 4:19 MY LITTLE CHILDREN Out of frustration with the Galatian believers, Paul used a remarkable metaphor to described the nature of his work among them: He said he was like a mother “again” in labor for the birth of her child. In other words, he thought the child was birthed, but it is still in the birth canal and the outcome is still in question. This is supreme frustration but profound insight into the nature of intercessory prayer for difficult things and hard – hearted people. There is the love that moves one to intercede. Like a pregnant mother’s expectant love for her unborn child, a love coming from her very insides, “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (I Corinthians 13:7). No one is more hopeful and passionate for the future than a pregnant woman. No one is more submitted to her task – her body no longer her own, pressed into the service of another. What love! And what a way to pray. There is the work of intercession. It can be like childbirth: difficult, exhausting, but full of hope. Some see prayer primarily as a path to relaxation and inner quiet. It can be that way, but serious intercession is anything but calming. Paul told the Romans that to pray this way is to be part of a cosmic effort he described as “groaning” (Romans 8:22-26). There is the end of intercession. Its purpose: nothing less than fully functioning, healthy child. This goes way beyond the moment of birth – it extends to the end of life. No good mother is content with merely a baby, as delightful as a baby is. She wants her child to grow up into maturity. The idea of childbirth echoes in Paul’s statement of his goal in ministry, which is “to present everyone perfect in Christ.” He said, “To this end I labor” (Colossians 1:28-29); his labor was a labor of intercession for those whose lives God had entrusted him. P R A Y Lord, teach me to pray the way a mother gives birth to her child: passionately, determinedly, unselfish – with the same love, the same labor and the same goal.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 04:33:14 +0000
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