Intercession and Petition for a Child (Gen 25.21, 22)
Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren…
If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
Genesis 25.21, 22
For most people, having children is a desire and a goal. This has been true throughout history and in all cultures. For many, the inability to have children causes great disappointment and even shame. The importance of having children may come from the fact that we are made in the image of God: because He is creative, we desire to create, too. The miracles of conception, gestation, and birth are the work of God, but the fact that two humans can come together, become “one flesh” and create a new being is an ultimate creative act for people. Likewise, the birth of a child gives a parent someone to love and to care for, just as God created us to have someone to care for and love. We have created a “family,” we have someone to carry on the family name, and we find fulfillment through nurturing, teaching, and protecting another human life. In the Old Testament, the concept of “life after death” is not found until the later books. The early stories imply that eternal life was sought through one’s children.
It is true that some people are called to be single, or choose it, and through that they fulfill a different role in the world (1Cor 7.1-7, especially verse 7). Paul wrote that singleness is a gift. Some will not be able to give birth, yet they can adopt the unwanted, or serve others by helping children. The important function of “being fruitful and multiplying” is fulfilled in many ways apart from having children, though that may be the primary way (Gen 1.28, 9.1).
Background
In the ancient world, having children was perhaps more important than today, since they viewed having children as the only way to gain “immortality.” Note the number of stories in the Bible which contain the theme of the “barren woman” praying for a child.1
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