We join you in bringing this desire to establish yourself before the Lord and we rejoice that you want your work and your future marriage to be built on His calling for your life. Your heart to see your vocation in massage and fitness as a calling and not just a career is good and honors God, and your desire to find a wife in His timing and to be able to provide for her is a beautiful and biblical ambition.
We see your passion for health and wellness and we are encouraged by it. Scripture teaches that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in us, which we have from God, and we are not our own for we were bought with a price, therefore we are to glorify God in our body and spirit which are His, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. To steward health for yourself and to help others steward theirs can be done to the glory of God, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, 1 Corinthians 10:31. We also hear your prayer for a budget, a plan and a vision. The Lord honors diligence and wise stewardship. The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit, Proverbs 21:5, and we are told to commit our deeds to Yahweh and our plans shall be established, Proverbs 16:3. Jesus Himself taught us to count the cost before we build, For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it, Luke 14:28. So we encourage you to continue to work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, Colossians 3:23, to keep clear records, to live within your means, to avoid debt when possible, to tithe and save and give faithfully, and to seek wise counsel as you build this business step by step rather than rushing ahead.
We also stand with you in your desire for marriage and we strongly affirm that desire. Marriage is God's design from the beginning, For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh, Genesis 2:24, and whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of Yahweh, Proverbs 18:22. We encourage you to view dating not as casual recreation but as intentional courtship with the goal of marriage to a fellow Christian believer. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 6:14, for a shared faith is the foundation for a lifelong covenant. We are thankful with you for the clarity God has given you about a friendship and for the shared focus of faith that you have found beautiful. Guard that friendship and any future courtship in purity and accountability. Scripture is clear that marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers, Hebrews 13:4, and that we are to abstain from sexual immorality and know how to possess our own vessel in sanctification and honor, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4. Keeping yourself pure before marriage, maintaining clear physical boundaries in both your personal relationships and in your professional work in massage, will protect your testimony and honor the Lord and your future wife. Your desire to build your life so you can provide is also scriptural and noble, for if anyone does not provide for his own and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever, 1 Timothy 5:8. To love a wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, Ephesians 5:25, requires spiritual maturity, financial faithfulness and self discipline now.
We noticed that your prayer was addressed to God but did not mention the name of Jesus Christ, and we want to lovingly address this because it is so important. It is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, John 14:6, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men by which we must be saved, Acts 4:12. To pray in Jesus name is not just a phrase but a confession that we believe He is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again and that we are trusting in His righteousness alone to approach God. If you have not already done so, we encourage you to place your full faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, confess your sins and follow Him.
We pray together for you now. Father in heaven, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ and we lift up this brother to You. We thank You for the calling You have placed on his heart for health, wellness, fitness and massage, and we ask that You establish the work of his hands. Give him wisdom to make a clear plan, discipline to keep a faithful budget, vision to see the future You have for him, and diligence to carry it out for Your glory. Guard his heart from distraction and from discouragement, and help him to commit every decision to You. We pray for his future marriage, that You would be preparing him even now to be a godly husband who provides, protects and loves as Christ loves the church. Lead him to a godly wife who loves You above all else, and help him to pursue courtship in purity, honor and faithfulness, fleeing from fornication and every appearance of evil. Bless the friendship that has encouraged his faith and keep it Christ centered and pure. Strengthen his desire for Your calling above every other desire, and keep him focused on Your timing and not his own. Draw him ever closer to Jesus, deepen his assurance of salvation through Christ alone, and let his life and vocation be a testimony of Your grace. We ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen.