Praying for an Unborn Child

I learned today about unborn twins – one of them died in the womb, the other survived and was born. My heart broke. Not in a way I’ve felt before. I’ve wept for unborn or newborn babies that died, and I’ve wept for their moms and families. This was different. I wept for the twin that lived.

Imagine being the little one in the womb. Just a few months old. One minute God breathed life into you; the next, you are living in this place you don’t understand. You’re helpless in a way none of us can imagine. You feel and hear everything around you. And you’re not alone. You have another little one living right there with you. You’re growing together and that little one is the only one you know who’s familiar. Mom and dad are distant voices. Through generational curses, the enemy tries to wipe out any memory you have of God who created you.

But you have your sweet little companion in this strange, close-quartered, fluid world.

And now your companion stops moving; stops breathing; stops growing. And dies.

There you are – alone.

Can you imagine the terror? The sadness? The longing?

Will mom or dad – a friend – someone – on the outside know to invite Jesus to come to you, to talk to you, to comfort you? Will someone know to pray trauma off of you? To affirm you and call you to life?

Our kids in the womb feel everything. We’re human; we’re not perfect; sometimes we do or say things to upset their little hearts, and sometimes life is cruel and hurts them in ways we never intended. But Jesus can heal them. They won’t carry those hurts into their lives if we invite Him to heal their wounds, right there in the womb.

We have to pray over our kids in the womb. We have to ask the Lord for discernment of things that might be affecting them. Some things – like the death of an unborn twin – will be obvious. At other times, we’ll know that when we raise our voices, or express doubts about our ability to care for our unborn baby, or feel afraid, or think unpleasant thoughts … we have to be sensitive to how those things affect the child, and we need to catch ourselves being human and apologize to the child – repent, ask forgiveness, tell the child how much we love him or her and how glad we are that God created the little one.