Romance and Relationships, Part 3

So we're supposed to honor our future husbands by faithfully waiting.  By keeping our hearts pure so that we can give all of ourselves to them.   But there are other things we can do, too - we can pray for our future husbands.  And no, this is not one of those "busywork" activities meant to keep us from finding Mr. Right.  Quite the opposite, actually!  Two amazing things happen when we habitually pray for our husbands. 

Whoa, back up a minute......first let's clarify something.  When I say to "pray for your future husband" I do not mean a "Oh Lord, I'm getting desperate, please send him!" kind of prayer.  No no no.  That kind of a heart attitude will only leave us discontent and anxious.  What I meant was actively praying for his strength, for the development of his character, for the growth of his relationship with Jesus, for his development into an honorable young man.  That kind of prayer is not only effective, but it's downright romantic.  Just think of how he'll feel when you finally meet, knowing that you've been praying for him all these years. 

Okay, so back to the amazing things that happen when we pray this way:  First, when we focus on asking God to grow our future husband into a man after His own heart, we are turning our eyes from the other potentially appealing guys in our lives and instead, focusing on waiting for our future husband whom we assume we have not yet met.  Just saying, "God, I don't know who he is yet, but You do - could you please work on him right now?  Could you prepare him to be a Godly husband for me?"  That's admitting that we are not in charge of our romance - God is.  That's saying that we're committed enough to pray for the man we haven't even met yet.  That's keeping our hearts pure and guarded by not praying for a specific man we know, but for one we don't know yet.

Second - praying for our future husbands right now is laying the foundation for a truly committed marriage.  If we are already in the habit of praying for God to grant our husband wisdom, courage, valor, and manly passion for the Word of God, how much more so after marriage!  What an incredible way to stay true and faithful to our husbands, both before and after marriage.    

 I need to interject here and just say plainly, I'm concerned about my future husband's character.  I desperately want him to be on fire for God and totally in love with His Word.  That's what I'm praying for. 

The guy that has that kind of character will be praying that I have the same character.

Gulp. 

This isn't a one-sided deal, here!  If we want our future husbands to be passionate about pursuing God, that follows that they will want us to be passionate about pursuing God, too.  And that means we probably have some work to do.  (Or at least some maintenance.)

One of my favorite qoutes goes,  "A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her."

I want to be the kind of wife - both before and after marriage - that points my future husband directly to Christ.  When he (whoever "he" is) sees me, I want him to see more and more of Christ, and less of me.  I want to have the kind of relationship that is totally Christ - centered!

In closing.......there is a lot more I could say on the subject, but two things come to mind as I end this series.  First, if we want lasting romance that is pure and authentic, that starts now.  Second, while we faithfully wait, we need to be praying for our future husbands; and meanwhile preparing ourselves.  And thirdly, we can't become so obsessed with preparing for marriage, praying for it, thinking about it, and hoping for it, that we lose sight of our main purpose for even being here in the first place - to love and serve our incredible Creator.  To bring Him glory in all we do.  It's like we need to periodically step back, put away all our distractions, and gain a fresh perspective on everything.  God's perspective.

I want to share a really moving song I found that totally captures what I want in my marriage, if the Lord allows it!

And that concludes this three part series.  I wanted to share my perspective on romance and relationships - I hope it has encouraged you, challenged you, and been a help to you!!