Every day this week weve examined prayer and the role it plays in infertility. Weve learned how God truly cares about our families and the condition of our physical bodies. We know based on Biblical truths that God wants us to cry out to Him in perseverance when we present our petitions to Him. What are we supposed to think when our prayers go unanswered?
Many times when God doesnt move the way we ask Him to, we become discouraged and wonder why. Does He love us the way we thought He did? Did I do something wrong and anger Him? Will thing ever work out the way I want them to? Lets look to Scripture for a couple of ideas.
Timing
Sometimes what appears to be unanswered prayer is actually an issue of timing. Even though the thought of being told by one more person that its all in Gods time can make you want to vomit or run from the room screaming, there is actually truth in that statement. Abraham and Sarah probably waited around 75 for Gods perfect plan to fall into place. (Isaac was born 25 years after God gave Abraham a promise of a child, but who waits until they were 75 to start wanting a child? Chances are they probably began trying to conceive when Abraham was in his 20s and Sarah in her teens.) We read in Luke that Elizabeth was beyond childbearing age. God lovingly made her wait to conceive her child because the world wasnt ready for him. In fact, even when all of humanity cried out for a Savior, God--in compassion and wisdom--made them wait for Jesus because He knew it just wasnt time. Even though waiting is hard, you really do want God to grant you the gift of the right child, at the right time.
A Greater Plan
My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will. (Matthew 26:39)
Perhaps this is the hardest to understand or accept, but sometimes God has a greater plan. We cry out to God telling Him what we want and what we truly believe we need. However, sometimes the thing we beg and plead for is not what God has in mind. He has something greater. Even as Jesus knelt in Gethsemane and prayed that if at all possible He would be spared from what He was about to endure, God had a greater plan.
Talk to people who have gone through months and years of infertility and then conceived. They bowed their knees and begged God to let this month be THE month. It wasnt--because God had a greater plan. When they finally conceived, they realized that if they had had their way and conceived when they wanted to, they wouldnt have the child God had planned for them. They may have had a totally different situation, and could not have the child they are so passionately in love with.
Talk to someone who goes through so much to adopt. Many will tell you that without infertility they would never have considered adoption. If God had not said no to their repeated requests to conceive, they would not have their son or their daughter. God turned their infertility into a great blessing because through infertility--and not answering prayer the way they asked--they were given the family God designed for them from the beginning of time.
Christy is such a precious friend to Sarah's Laughter. She has written several Daily Double Portions and today she shares what must have seemed like unanswered prayers at the time. When we cry out to God time after time for a child, yet a child doesn't come, we wonder--and worry--what is wrong. Learn from Christy's sweet story of how God built her family and begin to lay your worries down:
I was born a worrier. As a child, my mom affectionately gave me the nickname of v-head because anytime I was worried the skin between my eyebrows formed into the shape of the letter v. Even after I became a Christian, I still carried this bad habit of worrying.
I think this is why I have such a special affection for Gideon when I read his story in Judges 6 and 7. Like Gideon, I am a worried warrior. Every time I read the powerful story of Gideon (a.k.a. the Mighty Man of Valor), I am encouraged to trust God even when He calls me to do impossible things or I am faced with impossible circumstances. And if you are a fellow worried warrior like meyou are in good company. I hope my story encourages you to trust God to accomplish great things in your life through the power of prayer.
I was called to the ministry of motherhood at the most unexpected time in my life. I had been married for a couple of yearsand I was a poor college student in my second year of graduate school. According to my plans, I was not due to become a parent for a few more years. So, you can imagine my surprise when I first heard God began to speak to me in His still, small voice about His desire for me to become a mom.
This desire began to take root immediately within my heart. And it was at this time that I first heard God whisper a beautiful promise to me from Psalm 37:4-5, which says: Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this.
If only I would have mediated on the entire chapter of Psalm 37, especially verses 7 and 8, where it repeats the warning, do not fret. Because instead of praying, being still before the Lord and waiting patiently for His perfect plans to unfold, I endlessly fretted with concerns like, Is this the right time for us to start trying to conceive? Are we really ready to be parents? Somehow in the midst of all these anxious thoughts, my husband and I decided to prayerfully lay a fleece, like Gideon didand God faithfully confirmed that He was calling us to prepare for parenthood.
We had a mixture of emotions after we received Gods undeniable answer to start trying to conceive. But any concerns that we had were quickly overshadowed with our excitement about beginning this new adventure. We naively thought we would conceive quickly. But before long, one year of faithfully trying, turned into two yearsand our arms were still empty.
We finally decided to seek medical advice. Our battle with infertility began with a phone call from my husbands doctor with test results. I knew immediately that something was wrong. My husbands doctor asked him, Have you ever had a vasectomy? My husband was in his early twenties and he answered with a nervous chuckle, No. His doctor went on to tell him that he had a zero sperm count. My husband quietly hung up the phone with the doctorand I silently worried, Will I ever be a mom?
Somewhere along the way during my infertility journey, I began to keep a prayer journal. I woke up early one morning and I was compelled to write this love letter to God in my journal:
Dear Heavenly Father,
This morning, I want to thank you for no other reason than you are God, the Master of the Universe. I want You to be praised and glorified because you are worthy, holy and just. Ive felt separated from You for a long, long time. I have been plagued by fear because I have not put my trust and hope in Your unfailing love. You know all the loss we have suffered. Lord, You know all this suffering has created a gulf between You and me. Im afraid to trust in Your will because of all the pain and suffering. But Lord, I want to change that today! I want to have a love relationship with You without having all my questions answered. After all the pain and suffering, I want to be like Job and say, My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you (Job 42:5). Help me to turn away from false idols (i.e., job, family, marriage, friends, and material possessions) because they are empty and distracting. Help me to stop living a life of fear and to trust that Your ways are the best ways. I want to love and please You above everything else. Please help me to live a life that pleases You every day. God, I am honored to be able to love You and to commit my life to serving You
no matter what happens. Help me to honor this commitment to You. I love you, Lord Jesus! How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you (Isaiah 30:19).
The Lord heard this prayer and He indeed answered my cry for help. About one year later, our God miraculously provided me with a new job and an employer with unbelievable infertility medical coverage. We survived our first (and only) cycle of IVF and my husband endured an invasive surgery. Then, we received news that no one wants to receiveour doctors told us we would never be able to conceive biological children. We deeply mourned for months.
In this time of sorrow and anguish, God reminded me of that beautiful promise from Psalm 37:4-5. He assured me that nothing was impossible for Him and He was making all things beautiful in His time. I decided to fully trust in Gods mighty plans for building our familyand I prayed for His will to be done.
Nine months after we completed our painful IVF journey, God opened another door for usand my husband and I cautiously took our first steps in our adoption journey. I initially had so many fears about adoption, but Gods perfect love cast out all my fears. My husband and I proceeded undaunted through all the adoption requirementsand four months later we were officially on the waiting list. However, one worry still remained for me: Is Gods will for us to be parents?
Five years after we began our walk down the long road of infertility, we finally received the call that would change our lives forever. Two months later, we rejoiced in Gods perfect plan to build our familyit was far better than anything we could have ever hoped for or even imagined! We joyfully welcomed a bouncing baby boy into our family through the beautiful gift of adoption. God answered our prayers for a child!
In actuality, there are no unanswered prayer. It may just be that God loves you enough that He will answer your prayer differently than youve asked. If God has a greater plan, dont believe for a minute that it means He doesnt love you or care what you want. (Remember that He even answered Jesus prayer in Gethsemane in a way other than He prayed.) It means He can see more of your life and future than you can, and knows what will bring true joy and contentment to you.
-Beth Forbus
thanks & God bless 
I'm happy to pray for Iain and Katie. I pray for God to touch Iain's body and to heal him, to bless him with strength and good health that he may continue to grow. I pray for Katie to have the comforting touch of God's arms around her, that she may be granted His peace in knowing that He is watching over them and that His love will see them through this tough time.
. I had some dental work done over the weekend. I looked like a chipmunk so I skipped going to a few cookouts 
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