I Quit Praying

In 2018, I got some index cards and wrote prayers on them, asking for different things. I would pray through them every day. One of the prayers was for kids.

Specifically that Casey would have a boy before she’s 35. Why 35? Because I said I’d consider adoption if she wasn’t pregnant before then.

I promised God I would name a son “Samuel.” In 1st Samuel, there was a woman who couldn’t have kids. She pled with God for years to have a kid. When she finally had a son, “She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.” (1 Samuel 1:1-20)’

It seemed fitting to do the same.

Her 35th birthday came and went. I prayed for a little longer. I want to say I was continuing to pray faith-filled prayers while we tried fertility treatments again.

I didn’t. The prayers changed from asking for a baby to asking God to remove the desire to have kids. I moved on, with that prayer also unanswered.

A lot of people were praying for this, and none of them made it to God’s ears.

Or so I thought. But God had heard and answered. Just not on my timetable. Casey found out she was pregnant right before her 36th birthday.

In January, I got to keep my promise. We learned we were having a boy. A boy that we named Samuel because we asked the Lord for him.

The lesson here is you’ll pray, give up, lose faith, pray some more, or quit. But God hears. He’ll answer it in His time, to give you what He knows is best. It may not be what you want; it will be what you need.

Keep praying.