To travail is defined as – work, especially of a painful or laborious nature: to labor hard.
This prayer, the prayer that births, is more commonly known as travail. Travail is a birthing anointing; giving birth to a vision is often compared to bringing forth a child. The anointed are not always carriers of the vision themselves. But through intercessory prayer, they are like spiritual midwives who assist in the birthing process.
We can find our prayer time filled with tears. We weep for the church in the time of a sinfully sick world. Intercessors will often experience something similar to birth pains of a woman when they are praying for God’s purpose to be realized on earth.
The time is now to become the intercessor God has called you to be. We are entering a season of spiritual restoration being birthed throughout the earth. An intense form of intercession is given by the Holy Spirit, whereby through prayer, brings forth new life.
Prayer intercession unheard, have led to the destabilization of families, a rise in divorce, fathers leaving wives and children. There is the chaos of children killing their parents and parents killing their children. Society gripped by crime and criminal activity. Child labor, sex trafficking, and gang violence, all on the rise. Terrorism, conflict between races, and ethnicities, homelessness, poverty is increasing because many chose not to obey God and walk in their calling. People are dying daily without ever knowing God. As we know, God created the universe out of chaos.
God has given us an assignment to fulfill while on this earth and time is running out. He designed and created us for relationship with Him. The hard work of travailing prayer is especially difficult because it requires extra labor and pain. In the Bible Elijah travailed for the birthing of rain. Scripture describes Elijah stooping in prayer for Heaven to release rain. It indicates that he was stooping in the birthing position.
Those in ministry anointed with the gift of a midwife intercessor, often doubles over as if to squat for delivery and begin to groan loudly as if in labor. These are prayers that birth the purposes of God.
Jesus too performed travailing prayer. This is described in Luke 22:44.
Luke 22:44
44 “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
He wants us at a deeper level of intercession. He wants to teach us to travail in prayer.
John 16:20-22
20 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” The prophetic word is: God wants us in a position of travail, to give birth to that which we have been carrying. There are God given dreams, vision, and ideas the Lord wants us to bring forth. Keep a pure heart, being teachable, accountable, and lacking of a critical, bitter spirit.