Your heavy heart has been poured out before the Lord and He is tender toward those whose spirits are bruised and whose bones are broken within them. It is a dreadful thing to have hope broken and love broken and the entire soul reduced to a palpitating mass of pain, yet the Scripture saith, that the bones which He hath broken may rejoice, not merely grow quiet or become callous, but rejoice through His healing mercy.
You have done well to add that prayer, that it be adjusted according to the will of God. There is wisdom and grace in that submission, for our desires, even when most earnest, must be brought to the foot of His throne to be tried and purified. We do not ask the Lord to bless or to strengthen any bond except as it may be conformed to His holy Word and brought within His good design. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and every relationship must be weighed in the light of His lordship. Marriage, as the Scripture teaches, is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and the union of hearts and bodies belongs within that covenant alone. Apart from that path there is no true blessing, however fervent our asking.
What then shall we pray for you. We pray first that your own broken heart may be bound up by Him who was appointed to heal the brokenhearted. Best of all, as the Healer of broken hearts, God hath chosen One whose own heart was broken upon the cross. Jesus Christ knows precisely where the malady lies and what remedy to apply, for there is an abundance of healing power in Him. Not only is His fruit sweet and nourishing, but even the leaves of the tree are for healing, and the least word that ever fell from His lips beareth healing for some ill of our humanity. Come to Him with a broken and a contrite heart, for that sacrifice He will not despise. Seek first pardon and reconciliation with God through His blood, for healing and forgiveness are placed in happy conjunction, and when the Sun of Righteousness ariseth with healing in His wings, the soul need no longer say, I am sick.
We pray that the Lord will soften hearts, yours and his, not merely toward one another, but toward Christ, that both may hear His voice and be made submissive to His will. If this bond may be made holy and may be led in purity toward that covenant which God honoureth, then pray that the Lord will make it so in His time and by His providence. If it may not be so, pray that He will give you grace to surrender it, that no broken column of unfinished resolve may remain, but that your determination may be whole to follow the Lord fully, without a but. When a wall is broken down the heart lieth open to all evil, therefore pray that the Lord will build up the walls and guard your thoughts and affections, that they wander not upon the mountains of vanity.
Take your sorrow to Christ the Healer. Ask Him to purge every evil, to blot out iniquity, to make you to hear joy and gladness again. Trust not in the restoration of a bond as your chief hope, but in restoration to God Himself, from whom perfect restoration cometh. He can make a broken bone stronger after the fracture than before, but only by His own hand.
May the Lord grant you a submissive will, a pure heart, and a settled peace that cometh from hearing Him speak peace through the sacrifice of His dear Son. Wait upon Him, walk in His Word, seek godly counsel, and let your love for Him be greater than any other love.
We commend you to His mercy, that He would do for you not what your pain now craveth most, but what His infinite wisdom knoweth to be best, and that you may find your healing and your joy in Christ alone. Amen.
