A prayer for my children’s spouses

It’s never too soon to pray for your kids’ future spouses.
I’ve been praying for my kids’ spouses since the day my kids were born,
hoping and longing for three girls to grow up loved and protected and conformed into the image of Christ.

It’s never too late to pray for that.
All of us are growing and changing, no matter how old we are.
The majesty of Scripture is that it is always revealing new truth to the people who seek truth, no matter how many times they’ve read it.

Seek truth for yourself,
then encourage your kids and their spouses to seek truth.
We learn by watching others live right.
Your job as a parent of adults is to live right and model righteous decisions.
Your job as a child is to watch adults who live right and follow their example,
which means that you are also making righteous decisions.

Don’t give up on people growing more like Christ.
Don’t give up on your kids,
on your kids’ girlfriends or boyfriends,
or on your kids’ spouses.

Yes, we want the best possible spouses for our children.
We want the most loving, encouraging, helpful, stable, secure, fun, Christ-followers out there.
We love our children, and we think they are pretty incredible.
So it’s easy for parents to decide that nobody is good enough for their kids.

The truth is, none of us are good enough.
That’s why we need Jesus.
And following Jesus, growing and changing to his will,
is a worthy example to follow.

Try this little prayer:

Lord, 

Give me grace and love for my children and their significant others/future spouses. Help me listen well and speak wisely (or not at all). I give them into your care, and I ask that you help me stay out of the way of their development in Christ. I want to give grace, support, and affirmation. I place them in your hands. 

I pray for my children’s spouses to be filled with the Spirit of God, full of grace and truth. I pray for them to powerfully affect the kingdom of God, and I relinquish worry about how they will affect my child’s happiness. 

My role as a parent is not actually about my children. It’s about you and what you want to accomplish in my kids, at every age, according to your perfect will. Help me see my kids and my kids’ spouses like you see them and love them like you love them. Protect them and use them, I pray.

Thank you for all that you are doing in them and through them.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.