Faith for Fertility: A Prayer DevotionalПримерок

It all started with a promise. And it ended with a promise fulfilled. But in between those two shining moments was darkness, betrayal, and not a little pain.

God told Abraham he would be the father of many. That sounded great to Abraham and Sarah, except for one small problem. Two, actually. 1) The absence of any children to speak of. 2) Sarah’s ticking biological clock. And so began the faith wrestle. The dark, low moment when the confused couple decided to forge their own way. The birth of Ishmael was through Hagar, and later, these two were rejected and betrayed by Abraham and Sarah, who turned against them and turned them out. As we know:

Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NKJV

After much deferred hope and heartsickness, Isaac was that desire fulfilled, a tree of life. A new, single shoot in the family tree that had threatened to whither dry.

The cyclical story of promise, wrestling, pain, and coming of desire continues throughout the book of Genesis. Abraham’s chosen son and his wife, Isaac and Rebekah, were also barren at first (Genesis 25:21). Isaac’s chosen son and his wife, Jacob and Rachel, were barren at first, too (Genesis 29:31). Three generations of struggle and turmoil, of labouring in prayer to see the promise fulfilled.

And that’s just the first book of the Bible. I take so much courage from the way God has interwoven stories of infertility, barrenness, waiting, and miracles in the story of Jesus’ family line. What God promises, He brings to pass. That’s a given. He’s proven it. The question is: will we wait patiently and faithfully in the in-between?

If you are waiting for a child, be it through adoption, natural pregnancy, or fertility treatment, this devotional is for you. The reflections on the scriptures are short and the prayers will take one to three minutes to pray. This devotional aims to encourage you to allow God to fill your heart with hope, patience, and faith. I strongly encourage you to complete this devotional together with your spouse.

May God bless you with a desire fulfilled.

Kate