Introduction

This teaching began to take shape in a slightly different setting than most. I was in a situation where someone was sharing something like this, “I came to the Lord through the prayers of my mother/grandmother”. There is nothing extraordinary about hearing this sort of thing. Tragically however I can never recall hearing anyone say, “I came to the Lord through the prayers of my father/grandfather”. At first glance it would appear that intercession is characteristically female. Sadly, I can never hear anyone challenge this working assumption in a teaching context.

It simply cannot be the case that the ability for prolonged, impassioned and agonising prayer is somehow a property of gender. There is no evidence anywhere in the Bible that women are naturally more prayerful than men. More significantly, the Lord Jesus remains in the male form of humanity even in heaven and he “always lives to make intercession” (Heb 7:25). I sense that the Spirit is trying to speak with men about the way we think about ourselves, about our self identity. He wants to radically rearrange our perception of masculinity; and in the process pose some challenges for women as well. This theme was recently brought home to my mind by listening to the reading of a number of scriptures in a local Prayer Summit. Each reading seemed to highlight exceptional revelation to women. I will list them in the biblical order they appear.

Exceptional Revelation to Women

a. A New Name for God

The wife of Abram, Sarai, encouraged him to impregnate her slave-girl Hagar as a surrogate to ensure the promised heir. She was soon abused and fled from her mistress into the wilderness. Alone and distressed she received special revelation when God calls to her. “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees me,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” ” (Gen 16:13). The beautiful name given by Hagar to God, El-Roi, “The God who sees me”, appears only here in the Bible. This is a revelation that God has not forgotten her. Remarkably, Sarai, Abram’s true wife and by God’s choice the mother of the child of promise never receives this order of revelation.

b. The Revelation of Incarnation

The unequivocal message that God would fully enter into human life is given not to a prophet but to a young woman of low estate, Mary, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35). Mary is the first human person to have a clear awareness that the God who has been worshipped by the Jews is about to become also a human child. Contained in this angelic message is a revelation of the essential nature of God as Trinity beyond any insights previously granted to humanity[1]. Such a communication exceeds the bounds of ordinary prophecy about God’s actions in history, for Mary is given to know something about a transformation in God’s own personal identity, the significance of her being taken into the divine confidence in this way cannot be exaggerated.

c. A Christological Confession of Faith

In the Gospels Jesus never directly discloses his true identity to the public, there is however one important exception, the Samaritan women at the well. “The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”” (John 4:25-26). Through the woman’s witness the Samaritan villagers are led to the exalted Christological confession, “this is indeed the Saviour of the world.”” (John 4:42). This understanding that Jesus is not only Israel’s Messiah but the world’s Saviour is a confession exceeds even the insight of the apostles at that time.

d. The First Witness of Resurrection

In the Gospel records it is women, particularly Mary Magdalene[2], who is the first to see the risen Jesus. “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb…. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? …. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.” (John 20:1, 15, 16-18). Mary, rather than one of the male apostles, is the primordial witness to the resurrection, the first herald of the good news.

Looking for a Pattern

Noticing this connection between women and revelation at key points in the biblical story, has caused me to me seek an underlying pattern. Experience teaches me that this is rather dangerous territory to tread for a male. One hint was provided by the theologian Karl Barth who emphasises, particularly in relation to Mary the mother of Jesus, that the grace of God comes to human beings in their acknowledged weakness. It is certainly the case that in biblical times women occupied an inferior social position to men. This was especially so with the position of childless women in a patriarchal culture; this is I believe the key link between the various episodes of revelation.

Hagar fell into pregnancy and rejection because Sarai was barren and did not believe God’s promise that she would bear a son (Gen 16:1-6). The Samaritan woman may seem to fall outside this pattern but we may reasonably speculate that she was permanently infertile. In a culture that valued women primarily for their child-bearing, this would be the most likely reason for her being divorced multiple times at the initiative of her husbands[3].

The Virgin Mary is not an exception to this pattern of childlessness, for strictly speaking, apart from divine intervention, a virgin is necessarily childless. Prophetically however there is a much deeper layer to Mary’s accepting that she will have a child according to the Word of the Lord (Luke 1:38). The basic template for Mary’s confession of faith in God’s promise that she will have a son (Luke 1:46-55) comes from another “barren” woman’s praise for God bringing fruit to her womb. This is the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10). One line in particular stands out, “The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.” (1 Sam 2:6). In the deep structure of scripture, this is a prophecy of the resurrection of the child of Hannah’s counterpart in the new covenant, Mary. In some way the Spirit of God uses the distinctly female experience of struggle over childbearing to reveal to women the ability of God to deliver new life at the most profound level. This leaves the case of Mary Magdalene.

It seems that Mary was unmarried and childless and that her closest human attachment was to Jesus. In processing this Mary’s situation with Jesus, I asked, “What was the difference between her weeping and that of Peter?” At the moment Peter’s betrayal was exposed, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly”. (Luke 22:61-62). The answer would seem to be that Peter was weeping for himself, but at the tomb of Jesus Mary was genuinely grieving for the loss of the progenitor of revelation. For Mary, the (apparent) loss of Jesus is the loss of the Revealer. The death of Jesus means for her the loss of hope for the birth of new life; this would have been humanity’s terminal barrenness. In time however the Lord looked at Mary through risen eyes and all was sheer joy.

Probing Deeper about Women

It may seem passé to say that women are hard wired to wrestle for the birth and well being of others. Yet in scripture a largely unnoticed element appears that takes this inborn disposition to another level.

The judgement of God upon the woman is a straightforward and undeniable fact of human existence. “To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”” (Gen 3:16). But another and more hopeful scripture appears a little later in the biblical account soon after and reveals that Eve, “the mother of all living” (Gen 3:20), is conscious of working with God for the bringing forth of new life. “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ““I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” (Gen 4:1). This scripture highlights the redemptive actions of God.

The word translated “gotten” roughly means “acquired”, a very unusual way of speaking of a birth, but perhaps natural enough if we think of this as the first birth of all. Literally, ““with the help of the Lord.”” is “I have gotten a man the LORD”. This is a peculiar manner of speaking, but it highlights Eve’s sense of the presence of God in giving birth to a child. God is here given his full covenant name, for LORD is actually in Hebrew the name of the merciful YAHWEH. What was it that moved Eve to be so expressive about God’s gracious assistance in relation to labour?

The answer appears to be a promise that comes before the word of judgement about the pangs of childbirth (Gen 3:20). “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”” (Gen 3:15). As far as Eve knew, the child which opened her womb was the offspring that would deliver the human race from the tyranny of Satan by crushing the serpent’s head[4].

When these different elements are woven together in the Eve story we have a powerful picture of redemption. God’s judgement experienced through child birth, successful birthing though the help of the covenant God and ultimate deliverance from evil are all contained in the primordial scenario of childbearing. It is no exaggeration to say that the Eve saga is a prophecy of the gospel. So much for women, but what about men?

Probing Deeper about Men

The outstanding thing about Adam’s in Eden from the time of the tempter’s entry is his silence. The text plainly informs us that Eve was not alone when Satan spoke with her, “her husband who was with her” (Gen 3:6). Furthermore, whist we have the hopeful utterance from the woman concerning the first human birth (Gen 4:1), Adam remains silent in the biblical record from the time of God’s judgement upon him as a man until his demise. This seems to explain why God’s final Word to Adam (below) echoes God’s first Word, “you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17).

Unlike the LORD’s Word to Eve, which contained the promise of a deliverer, there is no word of remediation that accompanies this judgement on the man. ““Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,‘ You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”” (Gen 3:17-19). No matter how hard he works, the final issue presented before him is death. This carries an atmosphere of futility[5] that does not overshadow the life of the woman. There seems to be two reasons for God’s severity to the man (Rom 11:22).

First, judgement is proportional to responsibility. God spoke originally and directly to Adam concerning the penalty of sin, and so he is more responsible than Eve. Secondly, there are these difficult words from Paul, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor” (1 Tim 2:14). Contrary to some commentaries, this does not mean that the woman was the first sinner. It is inaccurate to say she took the initiative to assert her independence or leadership apart from the man. Rather, Adam failed to take the initiative God had given him in speaking with him first. Adam’s passive silence in the presence of evil in Eden makes this the primal sin. In the biblical order of judgement people reap what they sow, following the circumstances of the Fall, very many (Christian) men have been passive in confronting evil ever since! This explains the failure of men to persevere in intercession. A second element in the story is also crucial.

When confronted with her sin Eve confesses to God, ““The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”” (Gen 3:13). Adam however seems to shift the blame to his wife, ““The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”” (Gen 3:12). In terms of divine judgement Eve’s honesty opens up a window of mercy in the way the LORD speaks to her, but there is no such hopefulness for Adam. The only way forward out of this mess relates to the advent of “the last Adam”(1 Cor 15:45) who came to deliver us all.

The New Man in Christ

I frequently teach that the most important verse in the bible on prayer is Isaiah 53:12, “yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors”. This is a prophecy about Jesus mediatorial death for us on the cross. It is preceded by another text which ties together the initial stimulus for this article (the failure of men to pray) with a distinguishing aspect of women.

“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:11). The King James Version translated this as, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied”. Whilst the word translated “travail” is not used for the pains of childbirth in the Old Testament, it nevertheless evokes in our thinking that sort of intense suffering-for-a-purpose. Torment of the innermost recesses of the soul like this was experienced by Jesus in going to the cross[6]. This is made plain by the descriptions of Christ struggling in Gethsemane and his anguished cry from the cross, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34). Here Jesus seems to be experiencing the deepest barrenness of all –the eternal desolation of spiritual fruitlessness. Yet as our Isaiah text predicts he lives again to see “many accounted righteous” i.e. justified.

Such suffering for the vindication of others is the experience which Paul enters by faith when he described his own struggles in prayer, “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Gal 4:19). Paul is not seeking to bring forth Christ in himself, but to bring forth the life of Jesus in another person. This other-centredness is a typically feminine way of thinking. A little later the apostle expounds the implications of the sacrifice of Jesus for others by referring to a part of Isaiah that flows on from the great cross prophecy in chapter 53. This is the enigmatic saying of Isaiah 54:1, “…. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labour! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”” (Gal 4:26-27)

The key to grasping how such supernatural multiplication occurs lies in the expression, “the Jerusalem above”. This is the heavenly Jerusalem, the church (Heb 12:22-24; Eph 1:20; 2:6), where the true conjugal union between the Bridegroom and his Bride is already taking place in the Spirit[7]. This means that Paul’s apostolic labour of childbirth partakes of a very different character than the toil of Adam. The church is birthed from heaven to earth. We labour within the completed work of Christ, something which men in all their activism and self effort struggle to understand. The promise which the Father made to the Son, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied” (Isa 53:11) is our promise.

What then are we lacking? The Word to Eve that she should bear children and that one of these would be a final deliverer, required from her faith. The subsequent account of the birth of Abel (Gen 4:1) testifies that by the grace of God this faith was present. There is however no promise to Adam and no challenge to him to endure “as seeing him who is invisible” (Heb 11:27)[8]. Men in other words need to turn from being preoccupied with the visible and pragmatic to the invisible realm of God and his Word.

Conclusion

Masculine identity is often associated with emotional repression, a lack of intimacy, pursuit of achievement, status and self-reliance. When it comes to dealing with the area of intense intercessory prayer, these traits remain true of the vast majority of Christian men. Sadly, many men and women are happy to preserve this as the status quo. It suits males because they can avoid emotional discomfort and it suits women because their prayer is preserved as their de facto power base in the church.

The way forward is not for men to become more like women, but for men to become more like women where women are like Jesus. The “new male” will have the freedom to labour hard in prayer in a way that is as natural, intimate and effective as any woman, because this is what Jesus did in his great travail on the cross. The result of men entering into this realm will be a new and profound unity of spirit between men, women and Christ amongst the people of God. Such a union will see a wonderful release of the fullness of spiritual fathering which this nation so desperately needs[9], and which is an essential foundational prerequisite for sustainable revival.

Let me issue a direct challenge to us all. “Men, do you believe that you can be someone who intercedes with the passionate longing of Jesus Christ for the sake of the lost.” “Women, do you believe that the men closest to you can indeed be transformed by Christ in this way?”

I would like to end this meditation with a word of promise directed to all those who have long been struggling to see the kingdom of God come forth with power in our midst.““Before she was in labour she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son.8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labour she brought forth her children.9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”says the Lord;“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”says your God. ” (Isa 66:7-9).