We join you together in prayer before our Father in Jesus name for your courtship and for the safety of those you love as the storms and hurricanes approach the island. We hear the depth of your love for your fiance and the ache of this temporary separation since your engagement in November, and we bring your health, his family, and even your beloved dog ### before the Lord who cares for all His creation.
We thank God that you desire a lifelong commitment with one another and that you speak of being each other's forever. This is the heart of biblical marriage, and we strongly affirm your desire to move toward marriage rather than remaining indefinitely as boyfriend and girlfriend. Scripture teaches that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman for life, as it is written Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:6. Your courtship should be with the purpose of becoming husband and wife in a Christ centered union, and we encourage you both to ensure you are equally yoked as believers in Jesus Christ as taught in 2 Corinthians 6:14, and to pursue marriage in God's timing with purity and preparation.
We want to gently and lovingly address what you shared about genuine intimacy and passion and about praying as a wife already. While your devotion is beautiful, we must remind you that God reserves sexual intimacy for marriage alone. Hebrews 13:4 says marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, but God will judge the sexually immoral, and 1 Corinthians 6:18 calls us to flee sexual immorality. To give your heart fully is right, but to give your body before the marriage covenant would be fornication and would not honor the Lord who has brought you together. We encourage you to remain sexually pure during this separation and courtship, to guard your hearts and bodies for the wedding covenant, and to let your longing for one another draw you into deeper prayer and holiness rather than into temptation. When you do come together as husband and wife, that intimacy will be a holy gift from God.
We also hear you say you are each other's comfort and that you want to ache for one another as the disciples ached for Jesus in John chapter 14. We understand that longing, yet we want to remind you that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit as the true Comforter, John 14:16, and that He said I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you, John 14:18. Your fiance is a precious gift, but only Christ and His Spirit can be your ultimate comfort and sustain you when you are apart. Whether power or wifi fails in the storm, the Lord remains present and able to keep you united in His peace. He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, Psalm 46:1, and He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty, Psalm 91:1. He stills the storm and makes its waves calm, Psalm 107:29, and we trust Him to command the winds and protect your fiance, his mother, his sister and her child and father, and all the household including your dogs, for the righteous care for their animals, Proverbs 12:10.
We also lift up your health and the healing you desire for your body and for ###. We believe our God is the Healer who declares I will restore health to you and I will heal you of your wounds, Jeremiah 30:17. We pray for His healing touch, for strength in your weakness, and for peace as you wait on His perfect timing for your reunion.
We pray together now. Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ we come boldly to Your throne for this dear daughter and her beloved fiance. Lord, we thank You for their love and for the engagement You have allowed, and we ask You to lead this courtship into a holy marriage that honors You. Keep them sexually pure and wholly devoted to You and to one another. Guard their hearts from temptation and help them to encourage one another toward love and good works. Lord, we place Your hand of protection over the island and over her fiance, his mother, his sister, her child and its father, and over all the dogs especially ###. Calm the hurricanes, spare lives, and provide shelter and safety. If power and wifi are lost, keep their bond strong in You and let nothing separate what You are joining together. Heal her body according to Your mercy, strengthen her faith, and heal ### as well in Your kindness toward Your creation. Renew and refresh their connection, deepen their laughter and depth of love, and let their longing be sanctified by Your Spirit, the true Comforter, until You bring them together again. We thank You that even faith like a mustard seed can move mountains, Matthew 17:20, and we ask You to move every mountain of circumstance, distance, and ill health that stands before them, according to Your will. Let their future marriage reflect Your faithful, enduring love in a world where so many forsake covenant. We cast all their anxiety on You because You care for them, 1 Peter 5:7, and we ask for Your peace which surpasses all understanding to guard their hearts, Philippians 4:7. We ask all this in the mighty and only saving name of Jesus, through whom we have access to You and eternal life, Acts 4:12, John 14:6. Amen.
We encourage you to continue to pray fervently, to trust Romans 8:28 that God works all things together for good for those who love Him, and to use this season of separation to grow in Christ, to seek wise counsel, and to plan prayerfully for marriage when health and circumstances allow. Keep choosing each other in faithfulness, keep your bodies pure for your wedding day, and keep your eyes on Jesus who is your first love and your forever hope. We stand with you believing God will keep you, heal you, and in His perfect time, unite you as husband and wife for His glory.
