Life Givers

I offer this in honor of all intercessors today...life givers who give birth to God's plans through prayer.

Women are uniquely designed to be life givers, but also uniquely equipped to partner with God to see His plans unfold in the earth. From Genesis 3:15 we can see that even in the midst of the Lord's chastisement of Eve for "eating the fruit" He set His redemptive plan in motion. To the serpent He said, " And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” From the moment that sin entered onto the horizon of human experience, God developed His plan to restore us to Himself and He allowed woman to partner with Him to accomplish it.

I've often thought that the "enmity" between the serpent and the woman is what makes us such effective prayer warriors. We have a natural, inborn hatred for the devil and his deceptive, destructive ways. We are enemies, and that coupled with our innate nature to nurture those we love, is a dynamic force that the Lord utilizes in us to do battle! When we fall to our knees to pray for those close to our heart, Mama Bear does not begin to describe the raw prayer emotion that is unleashed on the enemy! When this energy is controlled by the Spirit of God, there is victory!

While we are honored to partner with our Father in this way, it does not come without a price. Throughout the history of the church, intercessors have endured loneliness, despair, rejection, discouragement, sickness and fatigue. Praying for others, especially in prophetic intercession, calls you to do something most other people do not understand. Think of the prophet Jeremiah, thrown into a cistern. Or Jonah, called to intercede for Ninevah; ending up in the belly of a whale. There are many Biblical examples that can be cited, as well as the countless stories each of you can tell! The good news is that Jesus understands how you feel. He is the Greatest Intercessor of all and is right there with you amid late nights or early mornings in prayer. He loves and delights in you.

Ask any intercessor about his or her story and you will hear the narration of painful experiences involving their family, health, professional pathway, finances relationships or, most likely, all of the above. Intercessors, in reality, need people to intercede for them. They need people who will stand up like a wall of spiritual protection around them helping deflect some of the worst of the enemy’s assaults. If you are an intercessor, at some point your health may be attacked, your marriage may be attacked, your family relationships may be attacked, your livelihood and provision may be attacked. The enemy will come at you from all sides. This is one of the main reasons I formed the Women's Prayer Army. We fight for others, but equally as important we fight for each other!

There comes a point, during the natural birthing process called "transition." If you've had a baby I don't need to explain this, but if you have not, let me just offer that this is the time right before the baby is born where you will experience relentless, agonizing contractions meant to get that baby in position to be pushed out! Back in the day, many of us moms chose to forego pharmaceutical intervention and opted for a “natural birth.” This meant lots of pain and even a quiet, reserved women could become a wild boar!

To connect the natural to the spiritual, the transition phase in prayer is often the time when many intercessors are tempted to give up. I remember during one of my labors I turned to the nurse, and in all sincerity told her I couldn't do it. The battle tested nurse, who had probably heard those words a hundred times told me "honey, you don't have a choice. You should have thought of that 9 months ago. You can do this!" She snapped me back to reality and I powered on with her help.

Sisters, let's be that nurse to one another. When we see a fellow intercessor who is right at the point of birthing something in prayer, but does not have the strength to go on, come alongside and help! Remind her of these things:

Love is your motivation. Love for God, and love for others.

We pray because we know that God answers prayer and we want to see HIS will done in the earth.

Don't focus on the present pain but look to the end result. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Look with God's eyes of faith to see what He is doing in the lives of those you are praying for, and do not rely only on what you see with your own eyes.

Know that Jesus is LORD over all those who oppose you.

Be vulnerable to our Father. Remove all self- effort and trust in HIM alone. Refuse to substitute action for intimate intercession.

Focus on who He is and not on human intellect or education.

Pick up your authority when God says it is time, knowing that others will recognize it.

Trust that God will use the depth of your dependence upon Him to prophetically lead others in a pathway of deliverance.

And PUSH! Pray Until Something Happens!