Have you ever noticed how moms can tell you every detail of their labor and delivery of their children, no matter how old their children are?  It’s almost comical.  You can be at a baby shower or a baseball game and women will jump right into their story, talking almost without a breath until they’ve finished every detail.  It’s their battle story; a story of triumph over hardship.  It is filled with suspense, pain and suffering, grit and a refusal to give up until they reach victory.  A woman who has gone through labor, especially a long, hard labor, knows what it is like to contend for something.
In 1 Kings 18:41-46 we find Elijah promising King Ahab a coming rain which was huge because in 1 Kings 17, Elijah had announced a great drought would come for the next few years due to the actions of the king and the people.  From the moment Elijah spoke the declaration, not a drop of rain fell.  The king and the people were desperate for rain.  Can you imagine?  They’d gone years without as much as a drop of rain.  Think of what that would do to our economy.  Think of what our gardens and our animals would look like. Then Elijah declared the rain was coming and he went to pray.  He didn’t just pray, he contended for rain.  If you study the scriptures, Elijah took a delivery stance in prayer [vs. 42].  He didn’t just pray a simple prayer and go on about his business. He  labored in prayer for rain.
Today we tend to pray a time or two for something and if we don’t see immediate results we surmise either God doesn’t listen to our prayers or it’s not in His will for us so we give up.  We need to learn from Elijah’s example that some things take time.  Some things require we stop what we’re doing, put forth some pain and suffering, and cry out to God before we’ll see evidence of Him moving.  Elijah’s servant had to look toward the sea and report back to Elijah seven times before he saw a sign of rain, and even that was a miniscule sign.  How many times do we give up after the fourth or fifth time of looking for a sign?
We need to learn to contend for the things of God.  Our situation may be like Daniel’s in Daniel 10:12-14, where the Lord heard his prayer and sent an angel in response, but the angel was delayed by the enemy twenty-one days.  If we are really seeking God’s direction or a move of God, we need to fight as a pregnant woman in labor….until we see results.  It may be harder than we expected and it may take longer than expected, but God is faithful [Deuteronomy 7:9].  He will deliver!
Some days my posts come from what the Lord reveals to me in my quiet time.  Other times they come from what I’m walking through personally. Today as I write this post, I am joined by hundreds of others as we contend for a precious little girl in India who needs a move of God.  In twenty-four hours, she will be taken from the only safe and secure home she’s known by an uncle who is doing this for no reason other than spite.  He is well within his legal rights to take her. The little girl and her new family are unable to stop him.  We are contending for her and asking her heavenly Father to change her uncle’s heart.  It isn’t an easy battle because I know what’s at stake; however, I’m contending as if she were my own, because she has stolen my heart and God called us to fight for the orphans. Will you join me in crying out for this little one?