Pray and Pray Again

Yael Eckstein  |  November 13, 2023

Yael Eckstein praying at the Western Wall

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. — Genesis 25:21

Each week in synagogue, Jews read through the Torah from Genesis to Deuteronomy. The Torah portion for this week is Toldot, which means “offspring,” from Genesis 25:19—28:9.

In the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Scripture tells us that Isaac prayed for his childless wife Rebekah, and she then became pregnant. However, according to Jewish tradition, it wasn’t as easy as it might sound. In fact, Isaac and Rebekah had been asking God to give them a child for nineteen years! Now, after nearly two decades of waiting, God had answered the couple. This was a marathon, and it was no easy sprint to the finish line.

I find this teaching so inspiring because this is often how prayer works in our own lives. Sometimes, God answers us immediately. But, often, we don’t get an instant response. It’s easy to give up after asking God for the same thing over and over again. The powerful lesson that we learn from Isaac and Rebekah is that we must press on. The very next prayer may be the last one—the one that opens the door.

The Hebrew word in our verse that means “to pray” can also mean “to dig.” Praying can be like digging, hollowing out a tunnel between us and our goal. Just because we haven’t reached our goal yet, doesn’t mean that we haven’t made progress—we’re just not there yet.

The image that comes to my mind is of my sisters and me building sandcastles on the beach. After we built our castle, we would dig a tunnel going through it. I would start digging on one end, and my sister on the other. We kept digging, even when it took a long time, knowing that at any moment we would break through and reach each other. And we always did.

Keep Digging

I want to encourage us all to keep praying, no matter how impossible our situation might seem. According to tradition, Rebekah was physically incapable of having children. Yet, after nineteen years, God made a way for her to give birth to twins.

Friends, we must pray and pray again. Some things require only a few prayers, and some require many. Keep digging through until your breakthrough.

Be a Holy Land Hero

As you go to God in prayer today, remember His people.

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