Question: Blessings, Father. Could you please tell me to whom and how I should pray so that God helps me to start a family?
Answer by Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok: How to pray? We pray the way we can because every person has their own experience in spiritual life. We need attention for prayer, we need to control our mind so that you can keep your mind and your heart together. To pray means not to just pronounce certain words. It is important that these words enter your heart. The Holy Fathers said that praying means spilling your blood. It is a great work. One has to learn for one’s whole life how to pray. Glory to God that you have such a necessity and trust in God. No matter how you pray, God hears us and we must believe in it.To whom should we pray? Perhaps, there is someone who is close to you now – a saint, the Mother of God or the Savior Himself. For example, there is a prayer to St. Peter and Febronia (you can also read their life story); you can pray to martyrs Gurias, Samon and Abibus or any other saint with whom you feel you have a spiritual connection. The main thing is than you have to understand that making a family is not just a matter of luck, but a cross, which you will have to bear not for a year or two, but for your whole life. Family makes people be responsible for one another. It is really hard. May the Lord help you bear it with humility and trust in God.
Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
As a widow with 2 grown, adopted daughters, I look back at our prayers for children. Had I greater spiritual maturity, I would have prayed for Him to reveal His will in this. Many childless couples still live their lives for God's glory.