Asking God to Open a Womb

Written by Kelly Tanis, this story is the eleventh in a series of stories about ways in which prayer has touched people’s lives. The stories will run between now and the CRC Prayer Summit 2015 set for April 13-15 at All Nations CRC in Los Angeles, Calif.

At Searchlight Ministries in Jamestown, Mich., we love to share prayer requests with each other and share the results.

We have an open prayer time during service, and we also try to have special prayer events on occasion.

A few years ago, we were having a week of 24/7 prayer. Sometimes we would spend the time alone with God during this time, but sometimes we chose to pray together with others. 

I had signed up for a slot and Amy Foster, a woman from the congregation, asked if she could share that time slot and pray with me. She shared a prayer request with me. 

She was 38 years old and had never had a child. God gave me a question to ask her. When she answered, we prayed, asking God for her womb to be opened.

Not long after, she was pregnant with a baby boy that she named, Elijah, after the Old Testament prophet who went to heaven in a chariot of fire.

Elijah has been a very special little boy from the beginning; he is very sensitive to God and has such a loving and kind heart.

If you are sad, you can’t hide it from him.  He just walks up and looks at you, tips his head to the side and often will speak words of comfort. 

Whenever I would babysit Elijah, I would pray blessings over him and I expect that all of them have landed in fertile ground.

We have learned through this experience to take our requests to God, that nothing is impossible, and God’s timing is perfect.

We also have seen God’s blessings on all our children in their character and no longer take that for granted. It is never too soon or too late to pray for our children. 

Kelly Tanis is a member of Searchlight Ministries in Jamestown Mich.