PUSH: Persevere Until Success Happens Through Prayer by Cindy Trimm Read Free Book Online Page B

it will be the most effective.” 27 I am reminded of the time Jesus coached His disciples in Matthew 11: “
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? …Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace”
(Matthew 11:28-29 MSG). Learning to walk and work with Jesus in the “unforced rhythms of grace” might simply require you to realign or reposition yourself, to lean into the circumstances that are pressing around you, allowing them to direct your prayers rather than battling them in your own strength.
    Allow faith and trust in the Lord to buoy you. Guard your heart. Paul reminds us, “
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”
(Philippians 4:6-7). Philippians 4:8 goes on to talk about what kinds of thoughts you should allow to occupy your mind—
“meditate on these things…and the God of peace will be with you”
(Philippians 4:8-9). When you are pressing for your blessing, this is of vital importance. Your thought life will determine the intensity and duration of your labor.
    Dr. Grantley Dick-Read was the first to explore the relationship between a woman’s mindset and her ability to navigate the stormy seas of labor. He described the Fear-Tension-Pain Cycle as the overwhelming impact fear can have on a labor. 28 Fear, in other words, predisposes the mind and body to the worst possible outcome—the mind panics and the body stiffens, exponentially intensifying the pain of every contraction. The key is to relax into and work with each contraction without fighting or resisting the increasing tightening. It is the ultimate surrender. The repeated pattern of constricting forces is what is actually causing the uterus to expand.
    Working with the unforced rhythms of grace may be a matter of allowing natural forces, such as gravity, to work on your behalf. Birthing positions that allow the pull of gravity to work with the rhythm of the body’s contractions are the most successful. “You should become familiar with the positions that most commonly promote a healthy delivery,” advises medical writer Christine Cadena. “For example, squatting may provide for a greater opportunity to work with gravity…allowing for less discomfort and greater room for your baby to move.” 29
    Likewise, when you pray, posture yourself in ways that will allow you to best connect with how the Spirit is moving—whether you kneel, stand, or lay flat on the ground—be willing to adjust your position. You have the power to align yourself with the currents of God’s grace just as a birthing mother aligns her body with the pull of gravity. Dr. John H. Kennell advocated, “One of the best things we could do would be to help women/parents/families discover their own birth power, from within themselves. And to let them know it’s always been there, they just need to tap into it.” 30
    Birthing pools are also used to ease the transition phase and expedite the pushing process. Gentle, natural, and supportive, these pools offer a calming environment that undergirds the birthing mother while at the same time providing the newborn a peaceful transition into the natural world. The infant birthed underwater emerges into the welcoming environment of a bath imbued with the soothing sounds of music. Similarly, after we travail in prayer, there should be a time of the washing of the water of the Word in an atmosphere of praise and worship. This should be a part of our own birthing process as we enter anew into the kingdom of God each and every day.
    Similar to the practice of New Testament baptism in signifying conversion and the “new birth,” Jewish women renew their reproductive rites each month by submersing in the “living waters” of the
mikvah
. The word
mikvah
literally means “a collection of living