<p>1:58 <i>And her neighbours and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her</i>- The idea of magnifying mercy is that we live by God's mercy, but in this open answer to prayer, that mercy was magnified, made the more visible before all. We can logically deduce from this that God's mercy is there even when prayer is apparently not answered; it is just that answered prayer magnifies that pre-existing and ever present mercy. We note the emphasis upon Elizabeth here- the time came for <i>her</i> to give birth, and the neighbours heard of God's mercy towards <i>her</i>, and they rejoiced <i>with her</i>. This is typical of Luke's inspired emphasis upon the importance of women; a secular account of those times would have focused upon how the famous priest Zacharias was now having a son etc. To claim the Bible is somehow against women is facile; it was far ahead of its time in being careful to honour both genders.</p>