WOMAN SINGS DURING CHILDBIRTH

By Denise Shaw

Micah 4:9-10"...for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail...labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail...the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies."

Several years ago when I was expecting our second child, I asked the Lord to help me. I did not want to go through another childbirth like the first. After much prayer (almost nagging God), He tenderly promised that this time would indeed be different.

When our first daughter was born, we had uncertainties about the birthing process. Even though much had been done to build our faith, many times fear of the unknown would try to grip me. The night after we brought her home from the hospital, my husband and I took a long look at our experience and agreed not to have another child for a LONG time.

Two years and nine months later we found ourselves preparing for another delivery. The baby was 10 days overdue and our church was in the midst of a huge Campmeeting. I went every night hoping to somehow convince the baby it was time to be delivered.

Just before the service started that evening, I heard the Lord say; "You must yield to the Holy Spirit. It will not be easy, but it will be good." In my natural way of thinking, I was expecting the Holy Spirit to instruct me to do something unusual (like dance in the aisle or run around the building). In the end, nothing like that happened and I left wondering if I had missed God.


The next morning I woke up in labor. My husband and I, along with my mother-in-law, slowly made our way to the hospital. My closest friend met us there and we settled in for what was expected to be a smooth delivery.

By mid-afternoon, the labor pains became stronger, but my body didn't seem to be making much progress. The nurse noticed I handled the contractions better when my mouth was moving. She kindly suggested I sing to help fill the time. That was the beginning of the "yielding" the Lord had spoken to me about the night before.

Upon hearing her remark, I thought, "I just will!" For me, singing came more naturally than having a baby. When the next pain began, I didn't stop to think. I just opened my mouth and sang. The song was surprisingly appropriate:

"The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in Him and I was helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song, I'm gonna praise the Lord."

From then on, I sang during contractions. Within minutes my body calmed down and the whole atmosphere changed. The clock seemed to stand still but yet the time seemed to go quickly. As we worshipped the Lord, the room became charged with the power of His awesome Presence.

The nurses marveled at the sound they heard down the hall. "Was this a woman in labor?" There was no hint of strain as the melodies poured from my heart. (Apparently, it was noised abroad in the entire maternity ward--an important factor later in the story).

Things went so well and so quickly, that we actually had to wait a few minutes for the doctor to arrive. Once he got there, things got interesting.

Just moments after I began pushing, alarms sounded in the room. The baby's heart rate quickly dropped to only a few beats per minute. She was near death. The emergency response team was there within seconds.

Nugget of truth: A lifestyle of praise displayed before men can cause us to walk in the favor of both God and man (Acts 2:47).


When the people in our wing of the hospital heard there was a problem, they immediately started praying. They said, "Oh, no! Not the lady who's singing!"

While God held the life of our precious child in the palm of His hand, complete strangers gathered outside our hospital room to pray.


We found it interesting that in the midst of turmoil and confusion, the Holy Spirit had superbly gathered an army of prayer warriors to stand in the gap.

Afterward, we discovered that my mother-in-law had been led to pray for our doctor to have spirit-led wisdom. My husband was inspired to pray for the baby; while my dear friend prayed for me. The Lord had seen to it that all aspects were covered in prayer.

The surgeon on call wanted to do emergency surgery, but our doctor knew there was no time. The cord was tightly wrapped around the baby's neck. The doctor urgently instructed me how to change my position on the bed to ease the pressure on the cord, allowing more blood to flow to the baby's body.

It worked! The child's heart rate came back up, taking her out of immediate danger.

It was not possible to sing at this point because of the strain on my body. However, since we were already in the flow of the Spirit, I was able to speak the Word of God with authority. I prayed and quoted scriptures like: "This child will live and not die" (Psalm 118:17).

After the baby recovered from the incident, the doctor allowed me to push once again. He and my nurse gave firm instruction that the child must come quickly. With supernatural strength she was out in two pushes.

First sight of the baby indicated she was in shock. Her limp body was blue. After resuscitation, they let me hold her briefly then whisked her off to the "special care" nursery for observation.

Glory to God! He is faithful. Much to the doctor's surprise, the baby and I were both ready to go home in less than 24 hours.

Some time later, my mother reminded me that both of my grandmothers had lost baby girls to cord accidents at birth.

Was it a curse? No. My covenant with God has redeemed me from such things (Galatians 3:13; Ezekiel 18:17). But, if the devil gets by with something in one generation of a family, he'll probably try to do it again in future generations. He doesn't have any new tricks. Because of God's faithfulness, we were prepared in advance for the enemy's attack.

Thank God for His Word and the Blood of Jesus! By winning this victory, Satan's evil chain of destruction was broken. As we worshipped the Lord in the midst of travail, just as in Micah 4:10, the Lord truly delivered us from the hand of our enemy.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, "What's this got to do with prayer?"

The Word of God likens intercessory prayer to the travail of childbirth. Having participated in many prayer groups (both for the lost and for the nations), I have often witnessed (and experienced) what could be termed "birthing" in prayer.

When it comes to prayer in general, it seems the joy and victory of our salvation often escape us. We can get so caught up in our efforts, we forget to rejoice. Some individuals even step over into the realm of "works," not allowing the Holy Spirit to effectively aid them with their petitions (2 Chronicles 20:15).

In light of the story I have shared, one of the easiest ways to yield to the Holy Spirit in prayer is by taking a spiritual step up, magnifying the Lord with the prayer of worship (Acts 16:25; 2 Chronicles 20:21-22). By thanking God for what He has already done, we enter the arena of faith, exalting Him as Lord over the situation. Then, even the most difficult circumstances can become easy to press into and pray through.

As a point of contrast, right after our second child was born, I looked at my husband and said, "I could do this again tomorrow." He said, "Me, too."

That's the way prayer should be. We should be able to enter into the realms of prayer and come out refreshed, ready to face whatever challenge the Holy Spirit brings our way.



July/August 1999