I welcome you to a brand new month of November, our Month of No More Barrenness.
“And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” Gen 25:21 KJV.“Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. “Gen 25:21 NLT. I am pleading with God on behalf of someone this month, there shall no more be barrenness in your life in Jesus name. All forms of barrenness physical, mental spiritual academic, entrepreneurial, financial shall come to an end in Jesus name.
Barrenness is not new.
There are at least seven women in the Bible who were initially childless (also referred to as barren). Six of these seven finally did have children after several years, except Mical. In Old Testament times it was a shame for a wife not to bear children (be childless) for her husband. Although many times it was the female in the marriage who was physically incapable of bearing kids, there were no doubt instances where it was the male who could not engender offspring. The first woman listed as being childless (barren) was Sarai, the wife of Abraham, who was later renamed Sarah. She waited until she was in her nineties before she bore Isaac which means laughter. Other women that could not bear children early in their marriages are; Rebecca, Rachel, Mrs. Manoah, Hannah, Michal and Elizabeth. Bareness was not mentioned in the New Testament. It will no more be mentioned in your life.
What is barrenness? Barrenness means incapable of producing offspring, seed, or fruit. Inability to support growth. Unproductive. Unfruitfulness. Lacking in stimulation of ideas. Primary infertility refers to the inability to give birth either because of not being able to become pregnant, or to carry a child to live birth, which may include miscarriage or a stillborn child. Secondary infertility refers to the inability to conceive or give birth when there was a previous pregnancy or live birth. Barrenness is the opposite of fruitfulness. It is beyond having physical children. When somebody’s life does not yield desired result, it is barrenness. Jesus cursed a tree that was barren. Mk 11:12-25.
Types of Barrenness.
When we think of barrenness, most people automatically think of a woman who cannot have a child or of a dry, barren land. But in the Scriptures the term ‘barrenness’ is not limited to the realm of the biological or the landscape. There are different facets and levels of barrenness: Biological, territorial, financial, professional, mental, ministerial, personal, academic, to mention a few. Any field of endeavor where one’s expectation of fruitfulness is not materializing could be regarded as barrenness. I am reiterating this so that we can address them the way physical barrenness will be handled.
Isaac and Ismael Compared
The story of Isaac is well known. He was the promised child. He grew up in a dysfunctional home. His father Abraham was a friend of God. He was called of God with a wonderful promise to form a nation. “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt
be a blessing:” Gen 12:2. Abraham was a pioneer of faith , he had nobody to learn from, he did not understand why God will make a promise now and it will be delayed. He did not realize that there’s a process to receiving the promises of God. Between the promise and the palace, there is the process. Abraham was not taught that between the promise and the promised land there is a wilderness. This led to the costly mistake of having Ishmael before Isaac.
The story of Isaac and Ishmael reminds me of the story of a father who had two sons. The father we were told was a drunkard, who abused his wife severally and did not care about the children. Nevertheless, when the children grew up one was a fine gentleman and the other was a brute and reckless person. When both of them were interviewed the brute said he was into that life style “because of his father” -that his father treated the mum very badly. The second one also responded he is living a clean life “because of his father”. He stated he promised himself he will not follow his father’s ugly life style. It’s true Ishmael means wild and spiritually is not the promised child, he might have noticed the way Abraham treated his mum - drove her away with a bottle of water and so he went and formed a generation of “wild people” many of whom till today sight reasons to abuse their wives.
On the other hand, the Holy Spirit made me to see the life of Isaac who like the other son said I saw the struggles of my father, I will not go through that route. He must have noticed that father Abraham had a little famine in Bethel and ran to Egypt. Gen 4:12; father had a delay in having children because Mom was barren, he married Hagar and had a child through her. Isaac had the challenge of famine, he was tempted to go to Egypt again, God warned him and he obeyed. Today we read in our text that Isaac’s wife also was barren!
God has a cure for barrenness.
We have examples of how God cured the barrenness of many people in the bible. That is where we draw our strength, that from this month there will be no more barrenness in your life. SARAH recovered from the mistake of giving Hagar to her husband, - “Through faith also Sarai herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised” Heb 11:10. Gave birth to Isaac. Your faith will help you overcome barrens. REBECCA became pregnant when Isaac prayed for her. Gave birth to a set of twins- Jacob and Esau. Gen 25:21. RACHAEL had children when God had mercy on her.” And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb” God will remember you! Rachael had Joseph and Benjamin. God will remember you this month in Jesus’ name. Mrs. MANOAH had angelic visitation. “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.” You shall be visited this month in Jesus name.” Judges 13:3. Manoah’s wife gave birth to Samson. HANNAH prayed a peculiar prayer and made a peculiar vow to change her destiny. “And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head” 1 Sam 1:11. Hannah gave birth to Samuel. God’s sovereignty will locate you. ELIZABETH was visited, her husband Zacharias was faithful to God irrespective of the challenges. “And it came to pass, that while he( Zacharias) executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,… the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. Lk 1: 8,13. The master showed up, Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. He will show up for you. The only woman out of the seven that did not
have a child was Michal and it was because she disdained God by making a mockery of her husband. “As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.”2 Sam 6:16 “And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” 2 Sam 6:23.
Notice that the firstborn sons of the above females played a vital role in the Bible and in the history of Israel as a nation. Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Esau, Joseph, Samuel, Samson and John. When healed, the first child produced by these initially childless women were used to fulfill a special purpose in the plan of God.
How to handle barreness
Christendom is full of all challenges today, the divorce rate is high, the abuse rate is astronomically higher, barrenness afflicts our homes and we live our Christian lives as if like Abraham we are pioneering faith and we are staggering “in faith” How should we handle barrenness? How did Isaac handle barrenness?
Let us learn some lessons for our marriages from ISAAC the first product of no more barrenness on how to handle barrenness.
1. You are not the cause of your barrenness. Isaac realized his wife is not the cause of her barrenness. There are many things in your marriage that you or your spouse are nor responsible for. Sometimes the bible says God shuts their womb! Resolve not to allow such things to be sources of tension. Reinhold Niebuhr the American Theologian prayed “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
2. Pray about your challenges. The issue of not having physical children is very challenging. I went through it early in my marriage. You may still need help but you pray first. I mean pray, not pay lip service to praying about it consulting pastors, marabouts or prayer contractors. Notice Isaac took it as a challenge and prayed about it. The family that prays together stays together.
3. Persevere. Between the promise and the promised land is the wilderness. Wilderness experience is tough. That is where many miss it. Resolve to go though it together as a couple. Find ways to tackle it, realize it may not be easy but “when there’s a will there is a way” Robert H Schuller said “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” A success story may be a sentence the experience is usually many years of pain, agony, acrimony, distrust, tension, threats, doubt and frustrations. Don’t pack out, persevere.
4. Don’t let it lead to divorce. At the peak of it bear in mind God has promised children to come from you but the devil wants to prevent it through a divorce. God said “I hate divorce “Mal 2:16.
5. Learn from the process. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands." Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV). It is the test of life. Some people’s test is financial, for some it’s emotional. Learn from your own so that others coming after you will learn from you. 2 Cor. 1:3-
6. Get the help you need. Infertility carries so many emotions and so many struggles. Sometimes individual partners struggle to simply understand themselves, much less try to understand each other. That's where a little extra help comes in. It could be deliverance, it could be counselling, it could be
support from people who have had such experiences, It could be medical help. Whatever help you need get it.
7. Pray for your spouse. Learn the habit of praying for your partner. Sometimes we demonize our spouses because of challenges. Isaac prayed for his wife. Seriously do you pray for your spouse? Cultivate the habit of prophesying on each other. Pray for your wife. Pray for your husband. Pray about your spouse’s career, struggles, business, life, in-laws. Saturate your spouse with prayer in the morning, noon or night. Pray when you are physically together and, on the phone, when you are not together. Pray for each other when things are going well and when it is not too well. Abraham did not pray for Sarah, went after Hagar, caused the whole world unending troubles. Be like Isaac, save the future generation with your committed breakthrough prayer!
8. Don’t deny each other sex. Whether for geographical, economical, or emotional reasons. Imagine couples trusting God for children yet avoiding intimacy because of quarrels. Forgive each other all offences, let nothing provoke you against intimacy, particularly during the ovulation period! Travel long distances if you have to.
9. Don’t assume. In times past people thought only women were the source of barrenness. Scientific research and medical advancement have shown the contrary. Therefore, both should go for checkups and both should be prayed for.
10. Realize that delay is not denial. You will have children. Believe it. We may not be able to explain why some will only have children after 5, 10, 20, even more years. But they do. Some today have through adoption. Some though IVF. Believe the first prayer in the bible – “And he blessed them and said- Be fruitful” Gen 1:28. You shall be fruitful.
11. God always shows up. Remember the three Hebrew boys in the furnace, even if he did not show up the way you expected, your marriage is never barren. We may think of barrenness only in terms of physical children, it’s not necessarily so. What matters is that you are fruitful. There are various areas where your marriage will bless your generation. Identify and pursue them. Write books, invent, innovate. Be fruitful!
Conclusion: Isaac prayed for his wife. God granted his request and they had a set of twins. Receive the anointing to pray for your spouse. All the women that suffered barrenness which I will prefer to call delay in given birth had miraculous breakthrough. Delay is not denial. Expect double blessings. Do what you need to do spiritually, financially, academically, ministerial and physically, put your trust in God He will turn your barrenness to fruitfulness, your sorrow to joy. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it….: Gen 1:28. No more barrenness, your fruitfulness begins right now.
