Preparing To Be A Help Meet Book Review – Part 1
When I was about 12 or 13, I read an excellent article in a Christian magazine about waiting for Prince Charming. At the end of the article, the author pointed out that it is never too early to start praying for your future husband.
The article included a sample checklist of prayer requests. I don’t exactly recall all items included on the checklist, but my prayer requests were something like this:
- That God would keep him safe, away from harm or a terrible accident.
- That if he wasn’t saved yet, that he would come to Christ soon! And if that he was saved, that he would keep growing in the knowledge and wisdom of God.
- That, if at all possible, he would keep himself sexually pure (I knew this was a long shot).
- Finally, I prayed for his family. That God could work through any challenges that they could be facing (of any sort), and that one day, they would accept me and love me as much as their son.
Well, I cannot fully explain the gratitude for all answered prayers. Yes, God answered each and every single request.
I met Abe when we were 16. He was not saved. I shared the Gospel with him and invited him to youth group and church. He hasn’t stopped growing as a disciple of Christ since. He grew up in a family that did not carry Biblical values, yet Abe had never had a girlfriend or even kissed any girl before! Do you see God at work here, answering my prayers!? His family has gone through struggles, but his parents are still together, the whole family knows Christ now, and they immediately accepted me into their family (and they ADORE our kids, of course).
As time goes by, I am still in awe of how God was so faithful in answering a plain girl’s simple and innocent prayers.
ARE you specifically praying for your future husband?
A few months ago, I read Debi Pearl’s Preparing to be His Help Meet. As expected, it is an excellent book. And talking about praying for your future husband, Debi addresses this issue on the very first chapter. My prayer life has forever been changed, once more!
Debi tells the story of how she met Michael, her husband. She was just a young teenager and he was a young preacher. She knew in her heart she would one day marry him. He did not have a clue she was the one God had for him until a week before they got married (a lovely story you have to read). She says,
“Michael was God’s man, a preacher that needed a faithful prayer warrior. He was in the thick of winning thousands of soldiers to the Lord…Hot females chasing after him would be a constant threat to his ministry… This could have been an extreme temptation to his flesh… God was looking for a help meet that would pray, not for herself to have a wonderful prince, but for a help meet to start HELPING this warrior of God to do the job God had for him to do [through her prayers].”
She says that she prayed and prayed and prayed for this man of God. And God answered.
“Do you sit waiting for God to give, yet never ask for the laborer’s strength, honor and boldness? What young warrior NEEDS your faithful prayers?”
“We can and do make a difference in eternity when we pray. If that were not true then it would be pointless to pray.”
“Does your future beloved languish because you do not pray for him and those over him?”
Back to Debi’s story, this is what she now thinks about all the other girls that through the years chased after Michael as a fine prospect,
“Maybe the other girls prayed amiss, not for the warrior, but for themselves to get a wonderful husband.”
HOW are you praying for your future husband?
Like I said, after reading this chapter, my prayer life has changed. I have been challenged to a new level! Thinking back, I could have definitely prayed selflessly for God’s worrier, instead of praying for my prince charming.
