Infertility Encouragement from Sarah's LaughterSample

For this child I Prayed...

Oh, how I wish there were video cameras in Hannah’s day. As much I love to read Hannah’s words, I would really love to watch her tell her story. I’d love to hear her make her petitions to the Almighty. I’d love to see her face when she told Eli the priest that she wasn’t drunk, but heartbroken. Most of all, I’d want to eavesdrop when she brought her God-sent son back to that same priest and dedicated him to the Lord. I’d ask you to watch that video today.

I’d ask you to fast forward to Hannah holding her precious baby boy in her arms, saying: “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted what I asked of Him...” I’d ask you to start over and watch it again. And again. “For this child I prayed...” I can’t help but believe if we could hear Hannah’s voice when she said these words, we might just hear her put her passionate emphasis on the word this. “For THIS child I prayed...”

The waiting is hard. You simply want a baby. You don’t care whether it’s a boy or a girl, or born at the perfect time of year. You just want a healthy baby. You cry out to God with everything in you to let this month be the month. Anybody who has ever gone through infertility would understand.

But listen to Hannah. “For this child I prayed.” What she didn’t realize all those years—as she was weeping and crying out to God for a baby—was that every tear and every prayer was for Samuel. For this child I prayed. It must have all come together the moment she saw his face. “Oh, I understand. It was for this child I prayed and waited. Not another! He was so worth it!”

If Hannah had conceived when she first desired a child, that child would not have been Samuel. There’s no way she could have realized the specific child she was praying for, but God knew. Similarly, God has a specific purpose and plan for your infertility. It is our prayer that one day, just as you have wept with Hannah, you will join with her in saying, “For this child I prayed, and God has granted what I asked of Him.”