My lifetime has not been childless. I was only without a child for a season, even though I didn’t know at the time that it would only be for a season. So I don’t write this prayer with any sense of truly knowing what’s it’s like to never have a biological or adoptive child. I write this prayer out of my own past memories on Mother’s Day and the feelings I felt. I write this prayer because my heart aches for those of you who do not have children, for whatever reason, and who desperately want them. This is the prayer I’m praying for you.
Oh dear Jesus, today is the day we celebrate motherhood. It is a wonderful day, but even the most wonderful do not negate our feelings when we’re reminded of something our heart so desperately yearns for but does not have. Today I pray for the women whose hearts cry out for a child.
Lord, I think the hardest disappointments to accept are the ones which come from unmet desires you gave us. Motherhood is a good, godly, noble desire that you designed especially in women. But because of our fallen world, we don’t all get to experience it. Today I pray for the women who have not yet experienced, or who will never get to experience, motherhood.
I ask you, Lord, to comfort each of these women. Wrap your arms around them and give them the ability to feel your presence and your love. Remind them that their worth is in you and you alone. The absence of motherhood in their life does not define them.
Lord, you have specific plans for each of these women’s lives. Please reveal your plan to them. Help them not to be hindered by pity or self-doubt that keeps them from accomplishing your plan. Remind them that your plan for their life is just as important as motherhood because your power, the power of the Holy Spirit, is behind it.
Bind the enemy of their minds, Lord. The enemy who whispers lies in their ears, ever so quietly, and tells them that they will always be without, that there is no hope, that they’re being punished, or something is wrong with them. Lord Jesus, replace these lies with truth in the minds of these women! That they are never without, you are our hope, you do not punish us, and they are fearfully and wonderfully made!
I pray, Jesus, that these women see the opportunities around them. Help them to see motherhood as bigger than just being bound by flesh or blood or a legal document. May these women see that in every woman there is motherhood. Whether it’s a niece, nephew, cousin, friend’s child, mentee, student, or even an elderly parent who needs care, will you please give each of these women someone they can love and disciple.
Lord Jesus, remind these women of eternity. This is not our home. Help them keep their eyes on you and what you’re preparing for us – a heaven full of beauty, perfection, and many, many babies who were either never born onto this earth or who were taken sooner than expected.
Lord Jesus, thank you for your love and your mercy. Amen.
Leave a Reply