I love that Christians lead the way in adoption and attempt to come along side those making the tough choice to carry a child they will not be raising. There are any number of beautiful reasons to adopt.
One thing I have noticed, however, is that it can often lead to odd prayer requests.
Here is what I mean.
Under any normal circumstance, we would (as Christians) assert that a mother and a father should step up and take care of their responsibilities. We would urge them to love their children and sacrifice their own wants and time and energies to raise the child they have been given. This is ideally speaking of course.
I understand there are any number of circumstances where this ideal is note achieved.
However, I have a hard time praying that the father of a child potentially up for adoption would forego any paternal instincts and walk away from his child. I know this is easier for the prospective adoptive parents and possible for the child. It may even be that this is the "best" possible outcome given the less-than-ideal circumstances.
It just feels weird to me. It is hard to ask God to harden the heart of a dad or mom toward their child that they might sign the papers more quickly, even if the prospective adoptive parents are Christian brothers and sisters (who may be unable to have children on their own for whatever reason God has determined for them).
I do not presume to have any answers or hard-and-fast opinions on the matter that are well-gounded, Biblically-grounded, and a point of division.
I am merely hoping to raise this as a question of interest. Has anyone else ever been conflicted by this phenomena? Is it right to pray that a teen mom or dad would voluntarily close their heart to their child? Not just give them up, but give up on them? It is a weird thing to pray? Is it possible that somewhere another group of Christians are praying for that prospective adoptive mother to reconsider and raise her child?
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