Prayer Root Ministries -> Praying through Scripture -> Galatians -> Galatians 4
Scripture (ESV)
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
Prayer Root: Word to Prayer
Heavenly Father,
I pray to You that all my actions reflect the life of a child of the free woman, as Paul has shown through the example of Hagar and Sarah. Let me not live as one bound by legalism, self-reliance, or confidence in the flesh, but as a child of promise who trusts in Your grace.
Lord, transform my heart and my mind so that my life flows from freedom in the Spirit — a freedom expressed through compassion, love, joy, patience, kindness, and self-control. Let every word I speak and every action I take bear the mark of a life led by the Spirit, not by earthly desires.
Cast out, O God, every tendency toward legalism, self-dependence, and bondage that keeps me from living in the freedom of Your promise. Replace them with the fruits of the Spirit, that I may live as a true heir of Your kingdom, walking in the freedom and promise You have given to Your children.
Rooted in prayer, rejoicing in Christ.