The intercessory prayer of the Apostle Paul was not just a prayer for protection or for a few blessings to rest upon the saints.
Any mother can relate to the focused intensity of labor pains.
This was how the apostle prayed for the church, as though he were giving spiritual birth and would continue to be in labor until the person, power and nature of Christ Jesus Himself was functionally formed in the disciples. We must realize that Jesus wants more control over us than an occasional thank-you during life or merely the right to our souls at death. We are to literally, substantially and physically become Jesus' body upon the earth. We must perceive the awesome connection, the flow of power, the oneness Jesus came to establish between Himself and His body. When the Spirit of Christ comes into the world, He comes not just to exchange an old religion for a new one.