Much of my time during the past year seems to be centered on care for the elderly slice of my sandwiched life, but recently my energies have been split between my kids and my parents.
For the wedding of our son Tim, besides a weekend trip to Boston to help him clean, pack and move, as well as shopping for my last “mother-of” outfit, I stepped out of my comfort zone (into Arthur Murray’s) to prepare for a mother-son dance.
Of course, the real preparation for both my children’s weddings began years before. As their individual personalities began developing, I began praying for their future life partners. The results were wonderful, and the experience prepared me for something I’d never have predicted: writing my first book review! I’m a fan of writer Robin Jones Gunn and her lighthearted Sisterchicks novels. So when I learned that she’d jumped into nonfiction with coauthor Tricia Goyer to write Praying for Your Future Husband and I discovered that bloggers qualify for a complimentary review copy in exchange for a complimentary review (just kidding, the review should be honest)....hmm, why not try a new genre?
In Praying for Your Future Husband, I found personal, practical and encouraging ideas aimed to address the concern of Christian females over the lack of God-honoring guys to marry. These two fiction authors share their own less-than-fairy-tale romances and then reveal, step by unexpected step, how God led each of them to an enduring, far deeper relationship. They show how specific, proactive prayer unleashed God’s power in their lives and in the lives of their future spouses.
Make no mistake, this is not a sit-around-and-wait-for-the-perfect person-to-show-up book. Emphasis is placed on prayer for the development of godly character traits and heart attitudes, first in self and then in a yet-unknown potential mate as evidenced by the full title of the book Praying for Your Future Husband: Preparing Your Heart for His. While I thought I'd prayed comprehensively for my children’s spouses, I learned many more specific ways to pray from Robin, Tricia and others they quote. This small book expanded my appreciation for the power of prayer!
Twelve chapters each focus on a topic to pray for (such as patience, understanding, protection, contentment, etc.) with detailed guidelines on how to pray. Thankfully, they are guidelines—not some magic formula to produce a husband. To personalize these concepts, there is space for the reader to write her responses, as well as questions about the content to consider individually or in a group discussion. Woven throughout are on-target Bible verses and inspiring real life stories of God’s answers to prayer. This information is so relevant and useful that many prayer suggestions for a mate could continue to be prayed for after a wedding!
This book reminds that God wants us to have a different value system than our culture. In the chapter “Pray for Strength,” for instance, the focus is not on glorying in superficial physical attributes but on strength of character, of spirit, in leadership, to resist temptation and in reputation. Throughout the book, the reality of spiritual warfare, particularly for one growing in Christ, and the need for prayer to unleash God’s supernatural power are clearly articulated.
No guarantees are made that reading and responding to Praying for Your Future Husband will automatically dispense a marriage proposal, let alone one worthy of a “Yes.” Yet, I heartily recommend this book to any woman looking for love and intimacy. The authors declare, “The mystery of it all is that you don’t know if your life story will have a grand love story in it. But you do know that you’re part of a greater, eternal romance. A very real Bridegroom has promised to one day come riding in on a white horse and to take you away to be with Him forever.” Meanwhile, the character traits you’re encouraged to embrace in this book will serve you well in all earthly relationships.
Read Chapter One of Praying for Your Future Husband
WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided this book to me for free in exchange for my review as part of their Blogging for Books program.
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