Your petition has been received, and we shall make it a matter of prayer before the throne, yet not without first charging you to examine your heart in the light of God’s perfect will. For you ask that a woman be sent to you, and that she not give up on you until you are hers and she is yours. That sentence, though born of longing, betrays a will set more upon its own design than upon the ordering of the Lord. Remember that marriage, in its true divine idea, is no mere contract of two stubborn individualities, but a supernatural oneness wrought by God Himself. Can two walk together except they be agreed? And who makes them agree but the Lord who betroths His people unto Himself forever? Therefore, let your first prayer be this: “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Until that is settled in the depths of your spirit, all your asking will be but the clamour of a child who will not wait for his Father’s wisdom.
You ask for practical ways and miracles. The most practical way is to prepare to meet your God, for every good gift comes from His hand, and you shall meet Him face to face in the matter of this desire. Order your steps in His word, not in the whims of your fancy. Beware of that foolish business of saying, “I will go, I will seek, I will gain,” as if you could both propose and dispose without the consent of Heaven. The providential will of God is unfolded through the circumstances that surround you, through the quiet guidance of a tender conscience, and through the sober counsel of the saints. If you would have a miracle, look for it in the bending of your own strong will to the pliable softness of a child who trusts his Father’s choice. The greatest miracle is not the sudden appearance of a helpmate, but the transformation of a grasping “I will” into a peaceful “Thy will be done.”
But I hear you say, “Must I not desire? Must I not ask?” Yes, ask boldly, as Christ in Gethsemane said, “Father, I will.” Yet that boldness was conquered by a deeper submission: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” You cannot pray the first with power until you have learned to pray the second with sincerity. The Lord often seems to discourage us, as He did the woman of Canaan, that our faith might be purified and our worship made richer. If you would have a wife, then worship the Lord with all your heart even if He withholds the gift. Say to Him, “Though I have no companion, I will praise You; though You slay my hope, yet will I trust in You.” That is the incense He delights to smell, and it may be that while you worship, the answer will steal upon you unawares.
We will pray for you, but we will pray according to the counsel of His own will. That bright word, “I will betroth you unto Me forever,” is not spoken because man wills, but because God purposes. And where God purposes, He also inclines the heart. So if it be for your good and His glory, He will send a woman whose interest is kindled by His own flame, and she will not need to be constrained, for the Lord holds the key of free agency. But if not, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is still with you, and that grace is enough. Let your soul be prepared to meet God, whether in marriage or in single life, for at the last, the only courtship that matters is the one where Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church His bride. Seek that union first, and all other loves shall fall into their proper place, or else be sweetly resigned. God bless you, and may you learn to say from the heart, “Order my steps in Your word.”