A Treasure

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure,

and he receives favor from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22

SOME PARENTS, from the time their children are born, spend time in prayer, asking God to guide their sons to find wives who will be a treasure to them, or asking God to guide their daughters toward husbands who will treasure them over a lifetime. They know how critical the choice of a spouse is, so they’ve made it a matter of prayer.

Others of us may want a good marriage for our child, but we’ve spent little time praying about our child’s developing desires for a spouse, the process of them finding a spouse, or their preparation to be someone’s spouse. We’ve failed to see the gift of a loving, godly spouse as a grace from God.

God doesn’t give a spouse to our child as a quid pro quo for having prayed long enough and hard enough. It is a gift, pure and simple. And yet the Lord is pleased when we do not presume upon him for this great gift or when we don’t take for granted the gift he has given. So we are called to pray for the Giver of all good gifts to grant the favor of a treasured spouse to our sons and daughters.

Lord, we don’t want to presume that you will grant ________ the favor of a treasured companion for life in this world through the gift of marriage. Perhaps you will call and equip ________ to be single. We want to trust you with that. But, Lord, if marriage is what you have for ________, we ask that even now you would be preparing ________ to be a faithful and loving spouse. Give ________ eyes to look for and to see in another person the qualities that wear well over a lifetime of daily life together. Work in ________ to begin now the process of dying to self so that ________ might be able to love selflessly and sacrificially. Give ________ great wisdom and insight into potential spouses, great restraint in the midst of loneliness, and great joy in accepting this favor from you.