Memorize Scripture

Scripture memory is a vital spiritual discipline that is just as crucial in pregnancy and labor as it is in any part of life. I shared last week about memorizing a Psalm and a hymn, and today I want you to go one step further and commit other Scripture to memory.

Why memorize Scipture?

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

Scripture equips us to do every good work that God has for us to do. And can I tell you, Sister, giving birth to an image bearer of God is a mighty good work!

It does not matter one bit what kind of birth you have, completely unassisted, c-section, medicated or other wise, giving birth to a child is very good work.

And this is why we need God’s Word in our hearts.

How do we do this?

I am the first to admit that it can be very difficult to memorize while you’re pregnant. The hormones running through your body to develop the baby and maintain the pregnancy do a number on your brain. Hopefully you have been in God’s Word previously and it will come back as you review, but if not you can still get Scripture into your heart and mind to reflect on throughout your pregnancy, delivery and beyond.

Read the Scripture

Be in the Scripture every day! Whether one verse or a whole chapter, read it. Then read it again. Familiarize yourself with the Words of God continuously and then repeat it. Our brains are faulty. They forget. I have read my Bible cover to cover more than once, and frequently I say, “I don’t remember reading that before!”

As you read, let the Word show you who God is, who you are, who your child is. Let these Words remind you consistently and hold on to Who God is so you can be who you are and do the good work He has for you!

Meditate on and Pray the Scripture

After you have read, think on the Scripture. As you see who God is, think about this! Then tell God who He is. Prayer is powerful and as we pray the Words of God to Him, telling Him who He is, it ingrains in our hearts who He is and the Words God uses to describe Himself.

Write it Down

As you read, often God will point out exactly what you need to read. He shows you the Scripture you need to remember. Take these verses and write them down. Put them on index cards, print them on card stock or computer paper, use erasable markers on your mirrors, anything! Put them where they are in front of your eyes regularly. Review these verses whenever you see them.

The repeat this process. Aim to memorize as much as you can. The more of God’s Word we have in our hearts and mind the better!

Some of my favorites for pregnancy and labor specifically: Psalm 127, Psalm 128 and Proverbs 3:5-6.

What are your favorite verses? Share below and encourage others!

Sam’s Birth Story

After having my last two children without any induction assistance I was all ready to have a natural delivery again. I had high hopes throughout the pregnancy that it would be similar to the last two and that labor would begin without any trouble. Around 38 weeks, I began having irregular contractions, which was not surprising since this was my fifth baby. Unfortunately they did very little at that point.

My due date, April 10th, came and went, which wasn’t much of a surprise either. Thankfully, I had begun to dilate from the contractions and was 2-3 cm at my appointment that week. I was hopeful that labor would kick in. I begged and pleaded with God for labor to begin and still nothing.

On Monday, April 14th, they did an ultrasound to make sure all was well with the baby and it was. They also were guessing the weight to be 9 lbs and 12 oz! Having had a 9 lb baby before, I knew it would be wise to go ahead and induce sooner rather than later. There was also extra fluid. The combination told me from my experience that unless labor kicked in that night, I would need help going into labor to have the baby. Dr. Brown asked me if I would allow her to help me, and I said yes. She checked my cervix and I was a stretchy 4 cm, meaning I would only need pitocin and not cervadil. They arranged for me to be induced the next morning if nothing happened during the night.

I went home and began having contractions that felt promising. Again, I was extremely hopeful and I contracted well for about 2 hours. But then they began to space out. Again, I begged God to bring the contractions back and did what I could to help “stir the pot” but nothing else happened during the night.

I was up late and had to wake at 5 am to call and find out what time I could go in for the induction. 6:30 was my time, so Jim and I got up and ready to go. Thankfully, the car had been packed the night before, so we just had to pick up a couple of things on our way out the door.

Check in went quickly. My IV was started that hurt horribly. (Seriously, the WORST part of having a baby for me!) Finally, around 9 am the pitocin was started. Usually I respond well to pitocin, so I was hoping to just need a whiff of pit, but no go. The contractions did not get harder. I tried changing positions, but the baby was still too high and not putting enough pressure on my cervix. I just had to wait.

Jim and I listened to music I had put together for labor and played a couple games together on his Ipad. I was so tired I began to fall asleep. Around 11 or so I took a good nap. I have never napped during labor! But clearly I needed it.

Contractions continued with no real progress. I knew if they broke my water things would move quickly, but at that point the baby was still floating, which is an unwise time to break your water, especially when your fluid is high. I sat up again, hoping it would encourage the baby down. The contractions got a little harder, but still no real discomfort.

Finally, around 4 pm I was about 6 cm and the baby’s head was low enough the doctor felt it safe to break my water.

That’s when the hard part began.

I stood up beside the bed for awhile as the contractions increased in intensity. It took about 45 minutes for me to get really uncomfortable and need to get back in bed. At that point, I felt like I was dying. I have never had overly painful contractions, but this time I did. It was intense and I was hurting. I was so close to asking for pain meds, which is not normal for me. My mind was my enemy.

Thankfully, I was making gradual progress and so I told myself I would resist. With each contraction I was regretting the decision, but I cried out to God all the more. I had to remind myself that God was my only strength and He would get me through.

He was so gracious to give me an amazing nurse who talked me through each contraction. When my body was telling me to push before it was time, she reminded me to relax and my mind went to my Psalm. She was rooting for me to have the natural labor I desired, and it seriously made all the difference in the world!

Finally, I was given permission to push with my body. It took no time at all as my body and I pushed the precious baby out. At 5:31 pm the baby was born. Jim looked at me and said “It’s a boy!” To which I responded, “Are you sure?” (No, seriously! We all thought the baby was a girl.) But it is a precious little boy we had. Samuel Hezekiah weighed in at 9 lbs even (thankfully the ultrasound was a little off) and was 21 inches tall. Samuel means “God hears.” Hezekiah means “God is my strength.” This little boy is named to remind me that God always hears my prayers and that God will be my strength in all that He asks me to do.

I was so thankful he was here and healthy.

It is also special that his birthday is April 15th as that was my maternal grandmother’s birthday.

God is so faithful to me and I am blessed beyond belief.

Psalm 23 and How Great Thou Art

On Monday I shared about one of the best pieces of advice I received in preparing for my birth: memorizing a Psalm and a hymn. Today I want to share my Psalm and hymn with you so that it may encourage you in finding the Psalm and hymn that comforts you.

My Psalm, that I have had in my heart since I was a young girl and still comforts me in all life circumstances to this day, is Psalm 23. I know it is a common one, but take some time to read it slowly and reflect on the message of who God is and who we are in Him.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me like down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

There are 150 Psalms given to us in God’s Word and they are all amazing. I love Psalm 23 as it reminds me that God is with me at all times and how much I need to remember this in the throws of labor.

What is it God wants to remind you of as you are giving birth?

The hymn that I reflect on is “How Great Thou Art.” This is one that became important to me after Jim’s and my first mission trip together in Moldova. We were standing on the balcony of an underground church worshiping with Brothers and Sisters and singing this song in three languages. It was beautiful and peaceful. When I sing or hear this hymn, I’m back on that balcony, beholding God’s beauty in creation and worshiping my Creator with all that I am.

How Great Thou Art

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

When Christ shall come with shout of acclimation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart

Then I shall bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

How I love to worship my God while bearing the children He has blessed me with. It reminds me of who He is and who I am and I know that no matter how challenging it gets, He is there with me. He knows my pain. He knows my struggle. He knows the outcome. And because He knows, I can be at peace while I give birth.

There are so many amazing hymns, both traditional and modern that give us grace to focus on God while we labor. Look at a hymnal at your local church or search the online hymnals. Find one that reminds you of who God is.

Will you share yours? Encourage others by sharing what God has given you!

What is your Psalm? What is your hymn?

A Psalm and A Hymn

I have always been terrified of needles! Because of this I knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant that I needed to learn how to prepare for a birth without an epidural. I asked many of my friends about their births and soaked up all of the suggestions and tips I could. I also wanted to be God centered in my approach to labor and childbirth.

One of the best pieces of advice I received from my friend Kim has helped me with every single one of my births: memorize a Psalm and a Hymn.

Why a Psalm and a Hymn?

Psalms and hymns are by nature deep and rich. They focus our hearts and our mind on God and who He is, but they also allow for the deep emotions we experience as a part of life. They help us to express our hearts and souls in beautiful ways and can help give words when we have none.

It does not matter whether you are planning to use medications or not during your labor, having a Psalm and a hymn in your heart allow you to focus on God and the truth of who He is as you labor and give birth. This is central to having a God-centered birth and an important part of spiritual preparation.

Memorize a Psalm

What is a Psalm?

A Psalm is from the Scripture and is the inspired Word of God. Psalms are powerful, rich in theology, wide in feeling and are the heart cries of a soul in worship and praise to God.

There are 150 beautiful Psalms in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament, as well as others found throughout Scripture including a Psalm of Moses in Exodus 15, a Psalm of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 and the Psalm of Mary in Luke 1. I encourage you to search the Psalms and find one that speaks the truth of God to you and comforts your soul, memorize it and let it be your prayer during your labor and delivery.

Memorize a Hymn

What is a hymn?

A hymn in the Christian context is a song of praise or thanksgiving to God. While not considered Scripture, hymns tell of the deep truths of God revealed to His people in His Word and thank Him for what He has done for us. Hymns are rich in theology and remind us of who God is.

There are hymn books by the hundreds, both physical ones and online where you can find these deep songs of the faith. Ask your lead pastor or worship pastor if they have one you can look at or recommend.

Singing and/or humming can be a great help in reducing pain and discomfort in labor. It gives you something else to focus on during contractions. I have often used this technique to help with many physically painful situations. If you’re humming or singing while in labor, why not have a hymn to sing and praise the LORD?

As you think on your birth, pray over your little one and prepare spiritually, find a Psalm and hymn that draw you ever closer to the LORD to memorize and hide in your heart.

What Psalm and hymn would like to focus on?

Gabriel’s Birth

One week and two days before my due date, God decided to surprise us with the birth of our 4th child!

It started as a normal morning with the Lillian wake up call at 5:30 am, Bible reading, prayer, Jamey’s appearance around 6 am, little play time, breakfast, Reuben waking up at 7 am and getting ready for my weekly doctor’s appointment. School time had to be by-passed since the appointment was scheduled for 8:45 am.

Jim and I left the house just after 8 to go to my appointment. With this pregnancy I have had contractions here and there for weeks so I thought nothing of the fact that I had a couple of contractions during the morning and on the way to the office (which is thankfully connected to the hospital).

I signed in at the front desk and sat to wait to be called back. I was so tired and was just trying to stay awake. I remember thinking “I hope they call me back soon. I really need to pee!” and then had a huge contraction that caused my water to break.

That, I was NOT expecting.

I looked at Jim and said, “my water just broke.” He looked as surprised as I felt. Jim told the people at the front desk that my water had broken. They got towels and a wheel chair and whisked me down to labor and delivery.

They took me to triage first to get admitted and checked out. Though I was not contracting regularly I was around 4 cm dilated. They soon moved me over to my designated labor and delivery room and the waiting began.

Thankfully, by God’s grace, my body responded to my water breaking and began to contract regularly after an hour or so. God gave me strength and, even with my water broken, thankfully held off very intense contractions until the end.

Because of my water being broken I was not able to move around as much as I would have liked in the hospital setting, but I was able to move around in the bed to help bring the baby down. Praise the Lord, I did not need anything to augment my labor. It took a little while, but by God’s grace my body did what God designed it to do. Around 1:30 pm I felt the rest of the water break and the baby moved into place. I knew it would not be long.

I am very blessed that when that happens, it happens quickly and at 2:07 pm the baby made it’s way into the world.

I looked down and Jim said, “It’s a boy!” “It’s a boy,” I responded laughing. I could not believe we had another boy. I really thought this one was a girl based on my pregnancy, though I had had some doubts. But a boy he is and a beautiful one.

This labor was so different, but a blessing as God helped me to give birth a fourth time. We named him Gabriel Jonathan. We chose Gabriel because it has the same meaning as the other boy name we were expecting to use, “God is my strength” and Jonathan for Jim’s brother. God completely named him and we know God has a plan for this precious boy’s life.

Facing Your Fears

“The reality is when we do not face our fears and choose to give them to God, we are choosing to live in bondage.”

Angie Tolpin in Redeeming Childbirth

Since the fall of humanity, fear has marked every single human being. We’re afraid of everything. Fear of the dark, fear of thunderstorms, fear of dogs, spiders and snakes, fear of the number 13, fear of being hurt, fear of failing, fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, fear of life.

Pregnancy and childbirth are no different. In fact, this is a time when fears seem to be magnified. Fear of eating the wrong thing, fear of medicines, fear of working too hard, fear of losing the baby, fear of pain, fear of medicines, fear of everything going wrong and even the fear of giving birth.

And this barely scratches the surface of the fears that we have.

But this should not be for God’s people!

Why?

Fear is a lack of faith!

Since we are a fallen people, it is impossible for us to never be afraid. In fact we are to fear God! But if we fear God then there is nothing else to fear.

When we place our trust in Jesus for salvation and life, these fears have no place because the God of the universe is holding us.

Fears will often sneak up on us when we least expect it. Because fear is part of our sinful hearts, we may be living in fear and not be aware of it.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?”

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

Fear lies in the depths of our hearts and we cannot understand what is happening in our hearts. But God does!

Therefore we must ask God to search our hearts and reveal the fears of our hearts to us so that we can face them head on, taking them to the foot of the cross and leaving them there for Jesus to take care of. Because, as Angie said, to not face these fears is to live in bondage.

Satan wants to keep us afraid. Remember fear is sin because God has told us to fear not! And Satan wants to keep us in this sin.

So what do we do with our fears?

Confess Them!

So frequently we’re afraid to say our fears because we believe it will cause something bad to happen. It’s a lie that’s been fed to us by the devil and culture.

But God continually tells us to bring sin into the light!

Fear is sin, so when we admit our fears we are bringing our sin into the light and confessing where we have fallen short!

Instead of giving fear power, which is what Satan would have us believe it will do, it actually takes the power of fear away because it is now in the light!

Speak your fear! Confess it to God! Confess it to others! This takes away the bondage and power of fear.

Get into God’s Word so that you can see yourself and your fears rightly next to His Truth.

This is crucial to preparing for labor! This prepares you in every way. Fears can hold you back in so many ways. Release these fears to God so every part of you is released from the bondage of sin and fear and ready for the beauty of giving birth.

What are you afraid of?

Speak it out loud! Let God remove the power of fear in your life.

Mama’s Day Out

The day is drawing near. Just a couple more weeks until you meet your new little one.

The room is decorated, furniture in place. The drawers are filled with tiny little clothes. Your bag is packed, in case the baby decides to come early. The base is strapped in and car seat is ready to go.

And now we wait…

One of my most favorite things to do is take a Mama’s Day Out!

Throughout pregnancy we want to prepare for birth, but I love getting away for a few hours or a whole day to really focus on preparing spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically.

When I was pregnant with my third child, I earned about this special day of preparation from some dear friends and I thought it was brilliant! Since then I have taken at least a few hours to get away from the house and focus on preparing for the birth to come. Each time has looked a little different, but it has been such a blessing, a wonderful time to refresh my soul and prepare in every way for me to give birth.

What can you do for a Mama’s Day Out?

  • Spa Day: massage, manicure, pedicure, or anything else that helps you relax physically and helps you to feel your best!
  • Coffee date with yourself- Go to your favorite coffee house with Bible, journal, books, music and relax with a great drink and time to pray and reflect
  • Lunch date with Jesus- go to your favorite restaurant and have a Bible study, reflect on who Jesus is and what He has done for you, let the Truth of His Word wash over you as you pray, listening to His voice.
  • Take a nice long walk
  • Get out in nature- reflect on the beauty of the world God made and the privilege of being a part of it
  • Go for a swim- water does wonders for preparing your body for birth!
  • Read a good book- Fiction or non-fiction, a book on birth or just something to make you laugh, find something you enjoy to read and relax

My favorite Mama’s Day Out included a combination of these things. I went early to Starbucks with my Bible, journal and a book on motherhood and enjoyed time praying and hearing from God about the amazing call of motherhood. I then was blessed to get a mini spa day thanks to winning a gift certificate to a local spa! I enjoyed an amazing prenatal massage where I prayed and practiced relaxing for labor. I then got my fingers and toes prettied up with a manicure and pedicure. I concluded my day with lunch at Panera with my favorite sandwich and drink along with my Bible, journal and my favorite verses to memorize and reflect on for labor.

My soul was refreshed from Bible reading and prayer, my body relaxed from a time of physical rest and my heart and mind focused on Jesus and His provision for the birth ahead of me.

Other times my day out has been as simple as a special coffee with my Bible and journal at Starbucks. When possible I would get a pedicure in as well.

Even this short time was rejuvenating and helped me prepare for my time of birth.

Whatever you do, seek to focus on God and preparing to meet your little one.

What would you do on your Mama’s Day Out?

Reuben’s Birth Story

God’s hand was completely in this as He is in all births! I am excited to share how God showed His glory and favor to us!

Both of my other children had to be induced for different reasons and I desired so much in my heart to go into labor unassisted medically.

God designed birth and I knew that He could put my body into labor without medical assistance and I prayed so hard for this. Not only were Jim and I praying for this, many of our wonderful friends were praying the same thing for us. During a beautiful Mother Blessing, several close friends prayed fervently that God would grant this!

We were narrowing in on the day that a decision had to be made and I continued to pray that God would see fit to bring Him glory by my body to do what He designed it to do without assistance.

I had been contracting off and on for a couple of weeks, which is not surprising given that it was my third pregnancy in three years.

On Tuesday morning I was at our weekly playgroup with our church and noticed contractions again. Because of the off and on contractions the previous weeks, I took note but thought little of it.

Around 3:00 pm, I noticed that they were much more frequent and perhaps a bit regular, but they were no stronger than the ones I had been having for the past couple of weeks. Jim and I debated and prayed and decided it was nothing to call about. I had a doctor’s appointment the next morning at 10 am and decided I could wait until then if nothing changed.

I went to bed around 11:00 to get a good nights sleep in my own bed before we had to decide what we should do.

Praise the Lord I slept! What a beautiful thing.

I felt mostly rested when I got up in the morning and I was still having contractions. This was great!

I was so excited and hoping I would be about 3 cm dilated at my appointment, since I had been contracting all night. Rebekah came to watch the kids for my appointment and Jim and I left.

On the way there the contractions started to change a little bit. Just a little bit stronger and needing a little more concentration.

At 9:45 am we checked in for my 41 week appointment and they looked at me and asked if I was in labor. I said maybe but I wasn’t sure. They got me back and I had to wait a few minutes for the doctor. While I was waiting the contractions felt a little stronger.

Dr. Pridham came in and listened to the baby and checked my cervix. I was 6 cm dilated! I was rejoicing that the Lord had given me the desire of my heart and had put my body into labor as He had designed it to do!

Dr. Pridham told me to go to check out to get a copy of my chart and head over to labor and delivery.  I had intentionally not taken my bags because I really was not expecting to be that far along and was going to go home to labor for a bit. So I called Rebekah and her mother came to watch the kids. Rebekah got all of our stuff together and took care of things at the apartment arranging childcare for the rest of the day.

And so my time in the hospital began.

They knew I wanted a natural delivery and they completely respected that and worked with me. I had a wonderful nurse, Debbie, who loved that I had been an L&D nurse. She put me on the monitor to check the baby and gave me a saline lock. Since I was going natural they allowed me to walk and drink water. I even got to have a Popsicle! The nurses at the station heard I had been an L&D nurse and talked to me about it. It was really neat for them to be excited about that and they were super nice to me.

I walked until I really could not stand through my contractions any more, around five hours or so. I went back to my room and struggled through positioning as the contractions continued to grow in strength.

Transition came on strong. It became difficult not to push but God gave me the strength to resist and hold off until my water did break. It was perfect timing, God’s timing. I had a very strong contraction that broke my water. At that moment my doctor was walking by my room from a C-section and came in to check on me. I have never screamed in labor before but that day I did. All I could say was “God help me!” My wonderful husband whispered in my ear “He will.” And He did.

It was time to push. About 10 minutes later Reuben Yates was born!

God gave me the strength to endure and gave us a son to care for for Him. What a wonder! What a blessing! Birth is so amazing and God is so amazing.

I will admit that this was my most challenging labor, but it was my easiest recovery. With the inductions they were so fast it was almost as if I had no time to feel anything. This one was longer, but it was in God’s timing and gradual. Reuben tolerated it so well and we both did wonderfully. I also did not feel as tired afterward. Reuben fed within an hour of birth with no problem. They did not even give me pitocin after the birth and I had no complications. God is so good!

How Can You Prepare Spiritually?

Giving birth is an amazing and beautiful time. To add to the wonder of this season, I want to encourage you to really prepare for giving birth, especially spiritually.

Preparing spiritually can sound very ethereal and like a far off concept, but today I want to share some practical and concrete ways to prepare spiritually for giving birth.

How is your relationship with God?

First and foremost, check your relationship with God. If you are reading this and you do not have a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, please email me or talk to another Christian in your life about the amazing Gospel that saves us from sin and brings us to life with God. When we know God through Jesus, His Holy Spirit lives inside of us and He can lead us throughout this experience.

If you are a Christian and you’re reading this, I still say check your relationship with God. What do I mean by that?

Evaluate where you are spiritually.

Are you trusting God in everything? Are you spending time with God in His word, praying and worshiping? Are you regularly meeting with God’s people to hold you accountable? Are you seeking to be holy as God is holy?

I do not mean this in a legalistic way, but your relationship with God is crucial to spiritual preparation. After all, God is the One Who made you and your child and is over all of the conception, pregnancy and birth.

He is the One who knows what is to come and can give you the desires of your heart. His Holy Spirit will lead and guide you as you make decisions during this time.

Where are you with God right now?

Go Deeper

After we evaluate our relationship with God, we need to deepen that relationship with Bible reading, prayer, singing, and sharing.

Read

Be in God’s Word daily filling yourself with His Truth! His Words will be your comfort in the midst of labor. His words will be your strength as you push. His Words will be your joy as you meet your child.

Remind yourself who God is as revealed to us in Scripture. Remind yourself of who you are in Christ.

This allows you to hear from God, not simply tell Him what you need. A relationship with God is two ways and we need to hear from Him more than He needs to hear from us.

Pray

After you fill yourself up with the Word of God, pray without ceasing! (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

No this isn’t a contradiction. Filling your mind with God’s Words gives us the ability to pray without ceasing and pray effectively.

Tell God who He is. Praise Him for His goodness!

Confess your sin. Where are you falling short? Tell Him your fears. Ask Him to reveal any area in your life that’s not aligned with His Word.

Thank Him for your life, your child’s life, the ability to conceive and give birth. Thank Him for salvation. Thank Him for everything you can think of!

Ask God for what you need. Tell Him the desires of your heart.

In all of this commune with your God and Father that you may know Him!

Sing

After you’ve read and prayed, sing praises and worship your God in song! It doesn’t matter if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket!

God’s Word said to, “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the Earth” Psalm 100:1 (ESV). This is not a friendly suggestion, it’s a command!

So belt out songs of praise to our God! And maybe dance a little too! (Added exercises while you’re praising!!!)

Share

I hope that you have people in your life that you can share with as you walk. As we share what God is doing in our lives and hear what God is doing in others’ lives it deepens our love for God even more. We rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. We do life together!

Also, share the Gospel with those around you. Share the amazing story that God is unfolding and invite people to faith. Get outside of yourself and live out your faith.

Memorize Scripture

“Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against You” Psalm 119:11 (NASB)

God’s Word is to be stored in our hearts at all times to keep us in alignment with God’s Word. It is also our life and breath!

Memorizing Scripture will be your lifeline in labor as you recall the Words of God during this time. No matter what decisions you make medically, Scripture will help you as you give birth because God’s Words are Truth! And in the midst of labor, you will need Truth on your mind.

So memorize all you can and treasure all His Words. Start now!

Admit Your Fears

I mentioned this in prayer, but it is worth repeating: Admit your fears and take them to God.

Satan likes to attack all of God’s children. Peter tells us that he prowls looking for someone to devour.

Pregnancy and childbirth is an extremely vulnerable time for women and an easy time for him to strike. The easiest way to do this is through all kinds of fears.

Take it to God.

This is another reason why Scripture memory is so important. We fight the attacks of Satan with Scripture. We fight fear with Scripture. We fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God that is a double edge sword and with it no scheme of the devil and no fear shall prevail!

Give Everything to God

God is Ruler and Sovereign over all! You can trust Him with your birth.

As you walk through preparing spiritually for birth, this will become easier and easier. Be open and honest with God as you are honest with yourself.

This preparation gives you the strength to be ready for whatever may come because you are filled with God Himself, through the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you!

There will always be some surprise as that’s the nature of labor and birth, but with God you can be confident that He is working and He is good!

So evaluate where you are in your relationship with God. When you see where you are take steps to deepen your relationship with God by reading His Word, praying and sharing your heart with Him, singing praise to your God and sharing the Gospel as well as what God has done in your life. Hide God’s Word in your heart as you memorize and meditate on His Word. Admit your fears and give everything to God.

Let God be your strength!

What do you need to do to begin preparing spiritually for childbirth?

Why Is It Important to Prepare Spiritually for Childbirth

Giving birth is a spiritual event.

No matter what your personal convictions are, there is something beyond the physical that transpires when you give birth.

As a Christian, it is seen so clearly. God’s Word clearly tells us that God has created humanity (Genesis 1:27) and that all life begins with Him (John 1:3). We also know that God is life (John 14:6) and because of the saving power of Jesus Christ, if our faith is in Him, we have the Creator living inside of us!

And because we have the Creator living inside of us He who helps us give birth.

Eve said in Genesis 4:1, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” The very first record of birth states that it is with God’s help life has come forth.

It is no less true today.

Without God there would be no birth, no life. He is the One who forms us in the depths of our mother’s wombs (Psalm 139:13-16). He is the One who builds our houses. He is the One who protects and guides (Psalm 127:1). We need God for everything, and this is especially true in birth.

Today in our individualistic society it is easy to think, “I’ll just go have a baby” and think we can do it on our own.

But we can’t.

We need God to start and sustain our labor. We need God to keep the baby alive. We need God to give us the strength to push. We need God to heal our bodies. Because of sin, not everything goes the way God intended when He created the world, and that truth alone shows me how much more we need Him.

We need to be confident that the Lord will do what is best, even if it’s not what we want. We need to believe that He is working for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). We need to take every fear and doubt to Him (1 Peter 5:6-8).

Birth is not easy.

Pregnancy is not easy.

Motherhood is not easy.

Life is not easy.

But when we know the One who holds all things together and surrender to Him, even when it makes absolutely no sense to our human minds, we can make it through, no matter what comes our way.

And that is why we need to be prepared spiritually for birth. This preparation can take as many forms as there are births. There is not one way to do it.

I like to remind myself of these truths and reflect on the One who made birth, especially when I’m sitting here ready to move forward, and it seems as if the day will never come.

I pray Psalms that have touched me deeply and remind me of who God is. I sing praise songs and remind myself that God is Who is to be praised. I pray and fight and wrestle with my flesh. I let God into the mess of my heart.

It’s not easy, and it’s not pretty, but in the end a beautiful story of grace comes out and I get to, once more, tell of what God has done for me.

Why do you think spiritual preparation is important? How do you prepare spiritually for childbirth?