“And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.”
– Genesis 25:21
Genesis 25:21 hits particularly close to home for me and for my wife as we struggled through infertility for about five years, longing to have children. God did not provide the way we were hoping and longing and even praying for. There was lots of wrestling in faith even during those years. Month after month after month, we were just praying and pleading, God, we know you have power to bring children so why are you not doing it.
Genesis 25:21 Reminds Us Only God Can Bring Life
I can imagine there are a variety of people who are listening to this who either have been through a journey similar to that or know someone who has and this verse is just a clear reminder that God alone can give life and so we pray to him as the author of life. He alone can bring a child into the world and sometimes we wonder why he doesn’t answer that prayer at this time or that time. And to look back even at my own life and family and to say, “Oh God, yes, you alone can give life and God, you can be trusted with my life and you can be trusted to shape my family in the way that is best for us and most glorifying to you.”
God gives and sustains life. Amid the hurt of infertility Christians can hold fast to the truth that God is for us.
Genesis 25:21 Leads Us to Pray for Those Walking Through Infertility
So I just want to pray particularly for people who may be walking through infertility right now, in light of this verse. Oh God, I know some of the hurt and pain and struggle that is involved in praying for, pleading for you to open the womb and you not answering immediately, you not answering in the way and the time that I had in my mind, that Heather and I had in our minds, and yet you have shown yourself so faithful to us.
You are indeed the author of life. You’re the one who gives life and you’re the one who sustains life and you’re the one who can be trusted with our lives. So God I pray, I pray for couples who are struggling through infertility right now. God, I pray that you would show your power. God, I pray that you would bring life. Please, oh God. Do what you did for Isaac and Rebekah here in Genesis 25:21, God please open the womb. Please bring life, bring children into families. God, I pray for that. I know you have the power to do that. I pray that you would do that.
Genesis 25:21 Leads Us to Ask God For Trust
At the same time oh God, I pray with trust in you. I praise you for the way you didn’t answer that prayer that Heather and I were praying month after month, year after year for all those years, and how you led us down that path of adoption and you formed our family in a way we never could have imagined since then. All glory be to your name, for not answering our prayers in the way we were hoping at that time. So in the end, God, I just pray, on behalf of all kinds of brothers and sisters who are praying right now, Lord, we trust you. Help us to trust you amidst infertility. Help us to trust you in all kinds of situations in life that seem barren, that seem like there’s no fruit coming, that seem like you’re not listening.
God, we praise you that you are listening. You’re working and you will answer in a way that is good for us, in a way that is glorifying to you. You will show your wisdom, always. We praise you for that confidence that we have in prayer, even now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
