February 27, 2026

"Are You God’s Wife?"

“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” (Romans 15:1)

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Yesterday, we looked at “bearing” up others in the sense of staking ourselves to them and holding them up, much like one would stake up a tomato plant. This is actually one of the meanings of the word used for “bearing with one another” in Ephesians 4:2 and Colossians 3:13. 

However, the Greek word used for “bearing” in our two opening verses is different. Those subtle Greeks!! This word (bastazo) means to lift or carry and can imply removing something or carrying it away.(1) Sometimes we carry another person’s load in order to give them a break. But when we bear someone’s burden through prayer, we are doing more than this; we are doing so in order to help them get rid of it! 

Christ bearing our sins and diseases is a powerful example of this. Isaiah 53, verses 6 and 12 state the following concerning Him: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to His own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all... He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Christ “bore” our sins and iniquities, but he is not still carrying them! He removed and carried them away from us, “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). And somewhere, somehow, He disposed of them. This connotation of bearing something in order to get rid of it is extremely important in the context of prayer. It is imperative to know that we don’t simply carry someone’s burden just to give them a break. We stake ourselves to them, as discussed in yesterday’s post, and pray to remove that which is burdening them!

The Scapegoat

The concept of the scapegoat in Scripture illustrates this (Leviticus 16:8-22). A scapegoat takes someone else’s blame and the consequences that follow. In Old Testament times, two animals were used on the Day of Atonement. One was sacrificed; the other was used as the “scapegoat.” The high priest would place his hands on the scapegoat’s head, confessing the sins of the nation, after which it was released into the wilderness, never to be seen again. This symbolized Christ the “scapegoat” bearing away our sins and curses, never to be remembered again. 

We don’t “bear” another person’s sin - Christ did this once, for all, removing them from us. We do, however, bear one another’s burdens and weaknesses through prayer, with the goal of removing them. At times when we do so, Holy Spirit will allow us to truly identify with the other person’s pain, being moved with compassion (See Matthew 9:36-38; 14:14; 15:32; and others).

Dick Eastman shares a remarkable incident from his life that illustrates the extent to which God can allow us to engage in this type of intercession. 

“Several years ago, Dick was interceding for 153 children who were being held hostage by terrorists in Holland. The news media provided day-to-day coverage of this situation, and one day, as the terrorists’ demands intensified, the Lord brought him to an entirely different level of intercession. 

“While praying in his backyard prayer chapel, Eastman suddenly could see himself inside the schoolhouse where the children were being held. As he looked at them through his spiritual eyes, he was startled to recognize his own six- and nine-year-old daughters among those held captive. He knew his girls were actually sleeping in the house just a few feet away, but this mental picture caused him to enter into an entirely different intercessory burden of prayer. The Holy Spirit laid upon him an intensity of prayer like none he had ever experienced.

“Trembling with indignation, he authoritatively commanded the terrorists to let the children go. Various emotions exuded from him as he, from the position of being a parent of these children, labored in intercession over them, demanding their release. Sensing victory, the time of intercession abruptly ended. He went to the office a few minutes later and didn’t give it another thought throughout the day.

“That evening, while at the family dinner table, he happened to see out of the corner of his eye a television left on in the family room. Catching his attention was a news report that three of the Dutch children had been released. Rather than being thrilled with this victory, Eastman was surprised to find his eyes filling with tears. Jesus, he said in his heart, I didn’t ask for three children; I asked for all of them to be released. And that was a prayer born of Your Spirit. With a fresh burst of boldness, he pounded the table with his fist and declared, ‘And I claim the miracle now!’

“At the exact moment he hit the table, a local reporter interrupted the news broadcast to clarify that the report just aired had been recorded earlier and was incomplete. He went on to inform the viewers that, actually, all 153 children had been freed early that morning.

“Eastman’s amazement at the precise timing of this continues to this day. He knew beyond a doubt that his prayers had made a difference, as had those of other believers.”(2)

“There’s a story about an occurrence in New York City on a cold day in December, some years ago. A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

“A lady approached the young boy and said, ‘My, but you’re in such deep thought staring in that window!’ ‘I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,’ was the boy’s reply.

“The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. The store clerk quickly brought them to her.

“She then took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, ‘No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.’

“As she turned to go, the astonished little boy caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked: ‘Are you God’s wife?’”(3)

Just as this kind woman did, God wants to use us to bear and carry away the burdens, pains, and weaknesses of others. What an honor to be part of the bride of Christ. 

Pray with me:

Father, thank You for the privilege of partnering with You as intercessors. As we do, we become extensions of Your love and grace in the earth. Please mature us in this calling, enabling us to fulfill it much more effectively. We truly do want to be Your hands, Your feet, Your arms of love, and Your voice of healing. 

You love people very much. Please impart to us Your heart, enabling us to love as You do. You desire to lift burdens and difficulties from them…and You want to use us to do so! Give us greater sensitivity as You alert us to pray for others. Not only will this glorify You, but it will also lift the burdens of many.

We end our prayer today by asking You to show us anyone You would like us to stake ourselves to in this season. Who would You like us to pray for daily until their burden, difficult situation, disease, or mountain of adversity is gone? Who would You like us to strengthen and release to them Your provision? Whether a family member, a neighbor, a church leader, or a government official, we will do so. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that revelation regarding the church’s partnership with Christ is increasing, and that we will partner with Him at greater levels than ever before.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 

2. Dick Eastman, Love on Its Knees (Tarrytown, NY: Chosen, 1989), pp. 35-37.

3. https://littleganeshas.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/true-heart-opening-stories-about-children/