Travailing in anything is hard work - as these definitions state.
Travail as a noun is painfully difficult or burdensome work; toil, pain, anguish or suffering resulting from mental or physical hardship.
Travail as a verb is to toil or exert oneself.
How come is it that for the past few days I have felt not only the Lord ever present with me, but also the desire to be with Him and to minister with Him? Paul exhorts us to pray in the Spirit at all times and to pray without ceasing. I have always, and I mean ever since my baptism in Holy Spirit back in 1989, always known His presence and always had my prayer language, or tongue, bubbling away in the background. Now today, I just want to get deeper, deeper, and deeper still into His wonderful presence.
Many talk about travailing in the Spirit or travailing in prayer. This has never been difficult or a burden for me. I love my times of prayer – I just enjoy them. It isn’t as though I spend a lot of time there either, but it is about the quality and the communion that takes place. Prayer for me is about fellowship with my Saviour through my best friend, Holy Spirit.
Please don’t get me wrong here. I am definitely not in any way ‘super spiritual’. My relationship with the Lord, Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, is about love and communication – and although I am somewhat garrulous with people, this is about the Lord communicating with me. And it’s not as though I gabble away for hours and then ask if He wants to say anything !! I just enjoy resting in Him – being still and knowing that He is God. He always has things to say to us if we are still and listening. I just pray in the Spirit most of the time – if only because I have no idea what to pray about or where to start. Some will say that I don’t travail at all.
This isn’t about me or you ‘travailing’ at anything. This is all about God, and us allowing Him to be who He is, do what He will do, and say what He wants to say to us and through us. This is about your efforts and my efforts at dying to self that He may be seen through us. It’s about us carrying His presence wherever we go and about allowing Him to use us as He wants to.
I don’t always do very well. How about you ? As my school report often used to say – “Could do better”, or “Must try harder”.
That's very pertinent for me (again) as I've just finished reading E.M.Bounds Power through Prayer and it's been transforming. If ever God has spoken through a book, this was it. I've just discovered being freed to fly in the Spirit and know what has been missing all these years of my Christian walk.
ReplyDeleteTo know how to go deeper and deeper still into His wonderful presence is my absolute desire now.
Thankyou!