We hear the heaviness and brokenness in your heart and we come alongside you in prayer, thanking God that even in this deep disappointment you still love Him and still trust Him to take care of you. That is faith, and it honors Him. We do not take lightly the grief you feel over a lifelong desire for marriage and to be a father, a desire that is good and godly and placed in the heart by God Himself.
The Lord sees your broken heart and He is near to you. Psalm 34:18 says Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. Psalm 147:3 says He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. We pray He will do that healing work in you now, not by taking away the tenderness of your desire but by giving you His peace and His purpose in the midst of it.
We also want to gently encourage you about the words spoken over you by your brother and your father. We understand they may have spoken out of what they have seen, but the power of life and death is in the tongue as Proverbs 18:21 teaches, and no man can declare your future. Only the Lord knows His plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. And Romans 8:28 reminds us We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. We rebuke any word that would curse your future or convince you that you are forgotten or unworthy of marriage, and we ask the Lord to silence those voices and let you hear only His voice.
Marriage is a holy and honorable calling, and the desire to be a husband and a father is not to be despised. Hebrews 13:4 says Let marriage be held in honor among all. At the same time, singleness is also a holy calling when it is given by God. 1 Corinthians 7:7 says Yet I wish that all men were like me. However each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind. And Matthew 19:12 speaks of those who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake, for a higher calling. If the Lord is indeed calling you to remain single for a season or for a lifetime, He will give you grace and strength and deep contentment in that calling, and He will use your life in ways that a married man could not be used, for His glory. But we encourage you not to close the door in your own heart prematurely out of hurt. Psalm 37:4 says Delight yourself also in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Sometimes that means He fulfills the desire, sometimes He reshapes it, and sometimes He fulfills it in a different way or timing than we expect. Only He knows.
Whether He leads you to a godly wife in marriage or to a life of devoted singleness unto Him, we pray that your courtship and relationships would honor Him, seeking a believing spouse for a lifelong covenant if marriage is His will, and fleeing from fornication and impurity, as we are called to honor Him with our bodies and our lives.
We pray together for you now.
Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift up this dear brother to You. You know his tears and the weight he carries. We ask You to comfort his broken heart and to bind up his wounds. Give him Your peace that surpasses understanding and the assurance that You have not forgotten him and You will never leave him nor forsake him as Hebrews 13:5 promises. If it is Your will for him to be married and to be a father, we ask You to make that path clear in Your perfect timing and to prepare a godly wife who loves You, for a marriage that honors You. If it is Your will for him to remain single, we ask You to make that calling clear and to fill him with joy and purpose and fruitfulness in that calling, that he would know he is not alone, for You are with him, and that his life is deeply meaningful in Your Kingdom. Help him to not receive the discouraging words of men as Your final word, but to trust Your voice alone. Strengthen his faith as he waits on You, and help him to delight himself in You each day. We thank You that one day You will explain all things and wipe away every tear, and until then we trust Your good and perfect will. Isaiah 41:10 says Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Fulfill that promise in him, Lord. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
We encourage you to remain faithful in fellowship, in prayer and in the Word, and to keep your heart open to the Lord's leading. You are not better off alone in the sense of being abandoned, for Christ is with you, and you are deeply loved and valued. We thank God for your surrendered heart that says even in heartbreak, I still love You and I still trust You. He will honor that trust.
