Labor and Delivery

Prayer    Lord God, thank you for Your blessings and protection. Please forgive me for my sins and cleanse me from my unrighteous ways. Create in me  a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Bless my Pastor, his family and the entire congregation. Bless this city, state, and nation, help your people who are called by your name to humble ourselves and pray. Give us sensitivity to Your spirit and Your will. Order our steps according to Your purpose and plans. Bless and protect my family, friends, coworkers, and the entire body of believers. In the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.               Labor and Delivery by Veronica Garrett  Evening, morning and noon        I cry out in distress,        and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:17 Sometimes praying a thing through is like pregnancy.  A positive pregnancy test shows that   a woman is expecting a baby. Some blessings or deliverance we have to  nurture them in faith and in due season they are delivered. In the early stage of pregnancy a challenging time is the morning. And as the months go by, the pregnancy can become difficult in the middle of the night. Soon thereafter lunchtime can  be troubling. Then towards the end of pregnancy, the wee hours of the morning can be wearisome.  Some blessings that God gives that are wrapped in time, you have to have faith to receive.  Often we go through seasons of praying in the early morning, midday, and late night.  We conversate with the Lord to hear what He’s saying about the situation.  Liken to pregnancy, a woman can be very pregnant and just not showing!  Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)   You cannot trust your eyes when you've prayed in faith because often in the meantime nothing seems to be happening. Consider that a pregnant woman believes she will soon hold a baby even when she hasn't gained an ounce. In fact, she celebrates the blessing with a baby shower and she makes many preparations. When we pray in desperation do we wait with great expectation?  A pregnant woman changes her diet and life habits in consideration of her baby. A man or woman expecting a blessing from God walks uprightly before Him in great expectation. In fact, a pregnant woman prepares a hospital bag. Men and women walking by faith know that they must prepare themselves to enter the delivery room. Being pregnant is a work and at times praying is too. When a pregnant woman says it’s time most often the delivery of the baby is near. When is God going to deliver?  I don’t know, you’ve been praying about it, what's He saying to you?  When it's really time, He will deliver. He could deliver without any cooperation on our part but most of the time He doesn't. He allows us to labor.  And then, at just the right time He delivers.