Childbirth Symbolism: Expecting

Neville Goddard taught that the Bible is not a book of history, but a spiritual pattern — a symbolic unfolding of human consciousness. Each story is a revelation of how to move from desire to fulfilment through the inner act of assumption. Above all, the Bible repeatedly emphasises a principle: expectancy.

To expect the wish fulfilled is to dwell in the state of its completion — to live in the end as though it were already so. This is the essence of true creation. In Neville’s words, it is “assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled.” When we do this, we are as a woman who knows she has conceived: she no longer wonders if she is pregnant; she lives with the quiet certainty that new life is already forming within her, unseen yet real.

This symbolism of pregnancy runs throughout Scripture, quietly teaching us that to assume is to spiritually conceive — and to persist in that state is to bring forth its visible birth.

Hannah: The Shift in Countenance

Hannah, long barren, pours out her soul in the temple. Eli tells her to go in peace, assuring her that her desire is granted.

“So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.”
(1 Samuel 1:18)

Before there is any physical sign, Hannah’s inner mood changes. In self-mastery, she moves from pleading to knowing — from emptiness to expectancy. Neville would say she has conceived in imagination; she carries the feeling of the fulfilled wish as surely as a pregnant mother carries her child unseen. From this new self-conception, Samuel is born.

Abraham: Faith Against All Odds

God promises Abraham a son despite his and Sarah’s advanced age.

“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.”
(Romans 4:20 KJV)

Abraham is not merely hoping; he is living in expectancy. He accepts the invisible reality as fact and persists. In Neville’s teaching, this is the moment of spiritual impregnation — the point at which an idea is fertilised in the imagination and must come to term if nourished by faith.

Elijah: Hearing What Isn’t Yet Heard

Elijah declares, “There is a sound of abundance of rain,” though no sign of rain appears. He persists, sending his servant seven times to look until a small cloud finally forms.

This is expectancy in its purest form — hearing and accepting the inner reality before any evidence appears. In Neville’s terms, Elijah has already conceived the state of rain within; he holds it with unwavering faith until it externalises.

Jesus and the Fig Tree: Assumption as Power

Jesus curses the barren fig tree and teaches,

“Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
(Mark 11:24)

This is not a command to ask and wait with uncertainty. It is an instruction to assume possession now — to adopt the emotional certainty of already having. Just as a woman who knows she is pregnant no longer questions if it will happen, the believer must inwardly hold the feeling of fulfilment.

The Ten Lepers: Acting As If

Jesus tells the ten lepers to show themselves to the priests — an act only done after healing.

“As they went, they were cleansed.”
(Luke 17:14 NKJV)

They act from the assumption of wholeness, and thus the outer mirrors the inner. Neville describes this as living from the end: to act and feel from the desired state rather than toward it, as a pregnant mother lives in quiet preparation for what she knows must come.

Expectancy: The Gestation of the New Self

In all these stories, there is a pivotal moment when the character shifts inwardly. The change in mood, the new countenance, the act "as if" — these are all signs of spiritual conception.

Neville often compared this process to pregnancy: after conception, there is an invisible period of gestation before the birth. So it is with any desire impressed upon the imagination. To doubt during this gestation is to interfere with the process. To persist faithfully is to allow the new state to develop and be born naturally into the world.

Conclusion: The Inner Womb of Imagination

Expectancy, in Neville’s teaching, is the quiet, unwavering knowing that follows assumption. It is not anxious waiting, but serene gestation.

When we read the Bible symbolically, it becomes a record of states — from barrenness to conception, from doubt to assurance, from longing to fulfilment. Every story reminds us: the inner act of assuming the wish fulfilled is the true conception, and to dwell in that state is to carry the new self within the womb of imagination until it must appear.

"To assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled is to be spiritually pregnant." — Neville Goddard (paraphrased)

When the inner world whispers “It is done,” the outer must obey — just as surely as a child comes forth when the time of delivery arrives.