‘Thy prayer Is heard’: Lessons from the Bible story of Zacharias and Elizabeth

Read Luke 1 vs 5 – 13

1. Zacharias was a Priest of God, like a Pastor, Reverend father, or Evangelist of these days. (vs5)
2. His wife, Elizabeth was a daughter of a Priest, so she had a godly ancestry. (vs5).
3. The Bible describes the couple- Zacharias and Elizabeth as righteous before God. (vs6).
4. The Bible describes the couple as obedient to God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord (vs6).
5. The Bible confirms that the couple obey all the ordinances of God (vs6).
6. The Bible describes the couple as blameless before God (vs6).
7. In other words, the couple were sinless before God.
8. The Bible further confirms that Zacharias is diligent in his priestly duties, always taking the prayers of the multitude to God (vs9).
9. Yet, the couple had no child, as Elizabath was barren (vs7).
10. The couple remained barren till very old age (vs7)
11. As I meditated on these passages, some questions occurred to me: Who made or What made Elisabeth barren? Why did a blameless man and woman remained barren till old age? Why did God allow His Priest to remain barren? If Zacharias prayed for multitude of people, and I believe God honoured his prayers, why were his prayers not answered? Why did a sinless couple remained childless almost throughout their lifetime?
12. The lesson I learnt from this passage is that not all afflictions are caused by sin, or the enemy. Not all unanswered prayers are caused by sin. And there are times God decides not to answer some prayers for reasons best known to him.
13. The good news is that the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth did not end in barrenness. For the Bible records that at a point in time, an angel of God appeared to him and said: ‘thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name John’ (vs13).
14. John later became a great man of God, a fearless evangelist, and the forerunner to the Messiah Christ.
15. There is a Priest of God, there is a blameless woman, there is a righteous brother, there is a ‘sinless’ couple, there is an obedient servant of God that has remained ‘barren’ in spite of his or her righteousness. It may be spiritual, financial, marital, or academic barrenness. The Holy Spirit is encouraging you to continue to trust, hope, and believe in God in prayers. Zecharias and Elizabeth believed in God and continued in prayer, otherwise the Angel of God would not have told them ‘thy prayer is heard’.
16. My prayer for you today is that ‘thy prayer shall be heard’ over your family, marriage, work, ministry, finances, and destiny in Jesus name.
17. You shall not remained barren in Jesus name.