When God Did Not "Hear"

Genesis 30:1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 

The rivalry between Rachel and Leah was intense.  It very much reflected the rivalry between her husband Jacob and his brother Esau.  We also see the same kind of manipulation taking place, trying to control the story to get one's own way. Rachel wanted it to appear like God had heard her and blessed her, judging her as right and good.  She had fooled herself that she could do so.  It is obvious to us that this was not the case, but often we are the same way, proclaiming that God had "answered our prayer," when actually we have sought to manipulate the situation to look or feel good.  As the passage goes on to tell us, the rivalry just intensified, and Rachel's sense of worthiness and fulfillment did not come until God actually did hear and answer, and give her a son.