UPDATED BLOG SERIES: Praying for Your Future Husband

Hey, friends!

I first published this series almost five years ago. God’s put it on my heart to share this content again. I pray that these posts are an encouragement and blessing to you. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I write. Most of all, I pray that they point your heart to Jesus, the true Lover of your soul.

Some people may wonder what’s the point of praying for a husband when God may choose for you to stay single. Marriage, after all, is not guaranteed to us. What’s my response? You’re right. And yet…

…God has shown me in so many ways that the dreams He plants in our hearts are there for a reason. Ever since I can remember, I’ve dreamed about being a wife and a mommy. I’ve hoped and prayed for this for YEARS. I’ve surrendered it to the Lord and prayed fervently for His will. And this dream still remains. And so I pray. Not to convince God to follow my plans, but to seek Him for HIS dreams for my life. If you too feel called to be married one day, I invite you to join in this 12-part blog series on praying for your future husband.

This is going to be so fun!

For the next several weeks, I am going to be blogging through the book, "Praying for Your Future Husband" by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer. I first came across this book when I was a senior in college and it was a great encouragement and inspiration to me. I am praying that this blog series will be a blessing to you! God has good plans for each of us and while we wait for the love story He has for us, let's prepare our heart and pray that God will prepare our future husband's heart as well. We may not always understand God's timing, but it is perfect. He is never late. 

I'm 31 years old and waiting for God to write my love story. If you had told me when I was thirteen that I would still be waiting on God for this, I probably wouldn't have liked to hear this! But you know what? God is so amazing! He knew that He had to work on my heart and my dreams before sending the right man into my life. I know that God didn't want me to be distracted or to go through unnecessary heartbreak, and while it hasn't always been easy, it has been SO WORTH IT! I wouldn't change anything. Not having an earthly romance has opened up my eyes to the beauty of a heavenly romance with Jesus. He is the Lover of my soul and while I look forward to being my future husband's bride one day, I know that even though that will be so wonderful and a long-awaited dream come true, it will never, ever, ever surpass the greatness of God's infinite love for me right now in this moment. How I pray you know the love of Christ like this!

The words of Ephesians 3:16-19 are my prayer for us as we get ready to start this journey together:

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:16-19

As I've waited for my earthly “fairy tale,” I’ve really met Jesus and my heart’s realized that it was His love all along that my heart was craving. I share all of this because I want teen girls and young women to know this Truth: Jesus' love is the love that your heart truly longs for; He loves us with an everlasting love. Wow! We can completely and fully trust Him to bring about the right relationship with the right man at the right time - IF THAT’S HIS WILL - because of who Jesus is and who we are to Him.

Instead of grumbling through or wishing this season of singleness away, look at it as time to really discover who Jesus is, how much He loves you, and how much you mean to Him. When you discover this, it will change your life and you'll live with an unshakable confidence and beauty because of Jesus' love for you. Instead of looking for Mr. Right, you'll start looking for those ways that God wants to use you to be a blessing to this world because you know that Jesus is taking care of your heart and your dreams. 

So, let's begin this journey! 

For Part One of this blog series, we will be going over chapters one and two. 

Chapter 1: An Extraordinary Mystery 

In this first chapter, Robin and Tricia both share how they began praying for their future husbands when they were just teenagers. How awesome! They also describe how praying for our future husbands is not just for ourselves, but for our generation. Through prayer, we are asking God for a generation of set-apart men. This is bigger than ourselves and our Pinterest-inspired wedding dreams; this is a battle! The enemy of our souls does not want men to be set-apart, radical followers of Jesus Christ. The devil wants them plagued with compromise, met with defeat, and weighed down by sin. God has specific purposes for men and for women; He designed us to compliment and help one another. There are unique roles He has for men to fulfill as sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, and leaders. We are not just praying for the heart of our future husband here - but for the heart of our future children's father, the heart of the future leader in our home, our church, our society, our country, our world. Whoa. Let that sink in.

Robin and Tricia describe prayer as an "extraordinary mystery." We do not always know all the reasons why we are to pray or all the ways God works through prayer, but we are commanded in His Word to pray as an act of obedience to Him and to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). As we pray, God changes us and our heart begins to reflect His heart. He broadens our perspective from that of one just concerned with ourselves to one burdened for our city, our generation, our world. A heart that doesn't just long for one man to turn to God and live set-apart for Him, but to see a GENERATION of young men choosing to forsake the world and live for God's glory, honor, and praise - even when it's not popular, even if they have to stand alone. To see more men in our generation living victoriously, unashamed of pursuing purity, unafraid of the enemy's schemes, and boldly and courageously doing the will of God - this is WHY we pray. If we as daughters of the King will ask Him to change the hearts of the young men all around us, we would see the world change like we could never imagine! 

Chapter 2: Pray for His Heart

Robin shares the idea of our heart being like a garden and that whatever we plant and nurture there will grow and bear fruit in our lives. When she was just 13 years old away at summer camp, she truly surrendered her heart to Jesus and "opened the gate to the garden of her heart" to Him. She gave up her plans for her life and prayed this prayer to God:

"I want to live the life You dreamed up when You created me."

Wow. Isn't that so beautiful?! Asking the God who created you to help you fulfill the purpose that He created for you. I can really think of nothing greater than this after accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is a prayer that God always answers! Nothing brings greater joy to His heart than when we, because we have been made right in His sight through faith in Jesus, ask Him to work through us to love and bless this world. We give up our will, our plans, our dreams - and ask the Creator of the entire universe and of our very life to empower us to live the life that He had in mind when He thought of us.

Hear this: All of us are here for a reason. None of us are accidents or mistakes. God has amazing, glorious, and beautiful plans for every single person in this world. 

And yet how many of us actually humble ourselves and ask God what we should do with our lives? We so often go after what we think we should do, or what our parents think we are good at, or what our teachers or coaches said we should do.

But what about God? What about His opinion? Surely He knows exactly why He created us and has us here at this moment of history for such a time as this! It's no coincidence. Each of us has been lovingly fashioned by the hands of God to show His love, beauty, grace, and Truth to this world through the lives - the very breaths - He has given to us. Our lives are a gift! Doesn't that thought just overwhelm your heart with the love of God? His love is so amazing - beyond all of my words to describe it. Please go read Psalm 139. You are SO LOVED by Him.

And God doesn't just love you and me this way. But this whole world. THIS WHOLE WORLD! Every person you ever meet. Every stranger you walk by on the street. Every person in the world! His heart for each of us is that we know His love through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and then out of that love, live with a new heart desiring to live the life that He planned for us long ago before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

As we begin this journey to pray for our future husband, no prayer is greater than asking God to lead him to this place also. A place where his heart is open to God's love and Truth through Jesus Christ. And then out of this revelation, that he would allow God's love and Truth to set him free and change his heart so that his greatest desire is to know and love God and thereby live out the purposes God created him to walk in, fulfill, and accomplish. Wow, that's so exciting! Prayer is so exciting! 

God wants to use our hearts that have been changed to cry out to Him in prayer that others' hearts would also be changed. That they would cry out in repentance and experience His forgiveness and salvation. That their heart would be awakened to the great mission and purpose God created just for them to do on this earth. Prayer aligns our hearts with God's heart so that others’ hearts may know His heart.  

Let's conclude with a prayer for our future husband's heart and for the hearts of the young men of our generation:

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank You for Your unfailing love and faithfulness. Thank You for drawing my heart to Jesus, changing my heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, and working in me to accomplish the great and glorious purposes You created for my life. I ask with confidence and boldness that You would do the same work in my future husband's heart, as well as in the hearts of the young men of my generation. Let their hearts beat to praise You and to receive Your praise; let them not be distracted by this world or deceived by the enemy. Guard their hearts and teach them how to guard their hearts as well. Lead this generation of young men into all of Your Truth and inspire them to abide in Jesus and His Word, which brings cleansing, healing, restoration, and new life. Convict them of the areas of their hearts they need to surrender to You and fill them with the power of the Holy Spirit so that they may live radically set-apart lives for Your glory, honor, and praise. Let them be completely unashamed of the Gospel which is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Most of all, fill their hearts with Your great, great love so that they would love You with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength - and out of Your love for them and their love for You - be compelled to love everyone around them. In the strong name of Jesus we pray, Amen. 

You’re so loved by Jesus!!

See you soon for Part 2!

Colleen