Praying for My Prince

Singlehood. That word is so loaded. Talking about “singlehood” can evoke so many different emotions and opinions. The world looks at singlehood as some sort of rare and life-strangling disease that can only be cured by excessive dating! Many young women think that singlehood is a painful burden that you must get delivered from ASAP!

As a young teen, when I made the decision to trust God with my love story, hand Him the pen, and wait for my future husband, I was really excited about the idea. In my young mind, I just knew that God was going to write a most beautiful fairy tale. I knew it my heart of hearts that it would be something far more magical than Cinderella, High School Musical, and the Sound of Music combined! As most girls my age were dating around and suffering through painful breakups, I was totally content to stand by the sidelines and dream about my happily ever after. My first date. My first slow dance. My first kiss. It would all be so, so exciting!
 
Fast forward several years, and everyone on my Facebook friends list is engaged. Married. Having adorable little children. And I find myself standing in the same place that I was when I first made this decision: totally and completely single! Let's just be real. It can be hard sometimes. But I know that the temptation to doubt God’s promises is dangerously entrapping. So I won’t do it. I refuse to listen to the enemies lies. If I’m ever feeling down in the dumps about my lack-of-boyfriend status, I run into God’s presence and hear Him sing His sweet love songs over my soul! He reminds me of who my First Love is. He reminds me why I’m waiting for this unknown mysterious man so patiently, and what the reward will be for my obedience. He so graciously removes any pain or discontentment, and awakens my heart to the joy of the season I am in! Singlehood is so sweet. This time is precious. After I’m married I will never have days quite like these again! The Lord is so good at putting everything back into His gloriously exciting perspective!

Praying for my future husband is something that I do often. But sometimes it can be hard to pray for someone you’ve never even met before! So what are you supposed to pray? How can you pray deeper, more meaningful, and powerful prayers for your future man?

Several months ago, while reading in the book of Daniel, this verse jumped out at me! It immediately made me think of the generation of young men that God is raising up in the earth. 

"Young men in whom there was no blemish, but good looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans." (Daniel 1:6)

I pulled several nuggets from this verse, and started applying them to pray for my future Holy Hunk!

#1. “Young men in whom there was no blemish…”
God wants to raise up a new breed of fearless, humble, kind, and strong men who burn with a spirit of integrity and unfailing love! He wants His sons to be pure and without blemish, washed in the blood of Jesus. I pray that my "Daniel" would be pure in heart, mind, word, and deed. There are so many ways that the enemy is trying to attack and steal the purity of young men…we have to keep them covered in prayer! 


#2. “And good looking”
Oh, what a prayer! That he would be good looking! Can I get an amen?! This particular nugget isn’t overly spiritual, but it’s totally worth something praying into! ;)


#3. “Gifted in all wisdom”
Wisdom is such a vital building block in the Kingdom. The book of Proverbs makes it so clear that wisdom is a key to unlock the revelation, victory, and favor that God has for us!

“I keep asking that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” (Eph 1:17)

#4. “Possessing knowledge and quick to understand”
The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge. The purpose of knowledge is to know God, and to experience His love and His perfect nature, then be part of the beautiful miracle of expressing that love to others! As I pray for knowledge and understanding for my future man, it isn’t for the purpose of being “smart.” Knowledge that doesn’t lead to an encounter with God’s love can puff itself up in pride, and become stiff religion. Knowledge alone cannot change the world. It has to be knowledge and love working together as one. I am praying that my prince will be filled with knowledge and understanding so that he would have a deeper revelation of who God is, what the heartbeat of Jesus looks like, then have the grace to be able to experience and live it out!

“And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in faith, may have power together with all the saints, to comprehend the length, width, height and depth of His love, to know the love of Christ that that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19)


#5. "Who had ability to serve in the king's palace."
Did you know that Daniel and his friends trained for three years before they became servants of the king? They had to be prepared and equipped for it. Isn’t that an interesting thought? I can imagine training for an impressive new job, or an important role, but who trains to become a servant?
Think about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, and what a huge impact that must have had on them when He told them that their job was to go out and do the same thing. Do you think they were surprised to learn that the height of all greatness is to become a servant? When Jesus said, “To be the first in the Kingdom of God, you have to become the servant of all” I’ll bet they never imagined all of the training and process that was ahead of them, to humble themselves and serve their king! God esteems the role of servant-hood so highly! From His perspective, humility is royalty. That verse makes me want to pray all the more that both my husband and I will humbly serve one another, the King, and His people.


#6. "And whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans."
I pray that my husband would have a teachable spirit, and that he would use wisdom to know the “language” of this world. Even though he is a citizen of Heaven, he has to know how to reach the people of earth! I pray that he would know how to relate to other people, influence non-believers, and make a massive impact on the pagan world we live in, just like Daniel did!


#7. Lastly, Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would NOT defile himself wit the portions of the king's delicacies."
This verse was talking about the unclean food that was laid before Daniel and his friends which they refused it and stuck to God’s laws. They wanted to remain pure and faithful in their relationship with the Lord, even though they were living in a pagan, twisted, messed up culture. Today, our men are not being tempted with bacon, but they are being tempted with the world’s “delicacies.” As we all know, the enemy tries to ensnare this generation in whatever way he can. We MUST intercede for our men, that they will purpose in their hearts NOT to defile themselves with the impurities of the world.

“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies, for it is a deceptive food.”  (Proverbs 23:1-3)

Pray for the appetite of your future husband. Pray that he hungers and thirsts after the things of God, and not after the things of this world!

There is a huge battle happening over the hearts of the guys of our generation, so let’s keep praying for them!

Don’t grow weary in the wait, sister! Use this time to be busy about your Father’s Kingdom, and use every single moment to fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus!  Use your time to intercede, seek God, and keep your future husband covered in prayer! I hope this added a little bit of extra fuel to your tank of powerful prayers for your Holy Hunky Man!