In Isaiah 66: 8 we read that "as soon as Zion had labor pains, she gave birth to children" and this is the most important part of the Work of God. Can children be born without pain? Can there be birth without labor pains? However, how many await in the spiritual area what in the natural is not even possible?
Oh, my brother, nothing, absolutely nothing less than labor pains will give birth to spiritual children.
Finney tells us that he had no more words to express, the only thing he did was moan and cry when he prayed to God for the lost. These are true birth pains. Can we moan for a drowning child and not for a soul that perishes? It is difficult to moan when our little one sinks for the last time in the water. In those moments the anguish and pain is easy. It is not difficult to agonize when the coffin with the remains of the beloved is taken from our sight forever. Oh no, tears are easy at those times! But, oh, the realization that souls, precious souls, immortal souls perish around us, marching to the blackness of the abyss, eternally lost, and yet not to feel anguish, not to have pain, to shed no tears, not to pass by they the anguish of childbirth for their souls.
How little we know the compassion of Christ! And yet God wants to give it to us, and the fault is ours because we do not have it. Remember Jacob, as he was in labor pain until he prevailed? Who does it today? Who is the one who does the same in prayer?
Who is the one who prevails in agony of prayer today? How many, even among our spiritual leaders, are content to spend half an hour in prayer each day and then be proud of the How much time do you dedicate to God?
We expect extraordinary results, and these extraordinary results are possible; the signs and wonders will follow us, but only through extraordinary efforts in the spiritual world. Hence, nothing apart from a continuous agony in prayer for souls, hours and hours, days and nights to prevail. Therefore, "Cling and lament priests, ministers of the altar, come, spend the night clothed in sackcloth, you ministers of my God. Sanctify fasting, gather the assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth to the house of God, and cry out to God "(Joel 1: 13-14). Oh, yes, Joel knew the secret. Therefore, let's leave everything else aside, and "cry out to God."
We read the biographies of those who preceded us, who were so successful in winning souls, that they prayed for hours in private. I ask, can we achieve the same results without the same efforts? If we can do it, let's show the world that we find a better way of doing things, but if it is not, then for the love of God, let's start at once to follow those who by faith and patience obtained the promises. Those ancient saints were dying and praying before God for sinners to be saved, and they did not stop until they saw them traversed by the Sword of the Word of God. That was the secret of its powerful results. When the flow of God stopped, they struggled with God until he poured out the Holy Spirit on the people, and the Sinners were converted.