Have you asked yourself lately where all the good men are? When I was a single mother contemplating the idea of getting married, I was fully aware that there was not an abundance of handsome, responsible, independent, and spiritually sound men of virtue just sitting around waiting for me to accept his invitation to woo me. In fact, I was hard-pressed to find even a few that were all that plus single, of age, and desired to be married. The dating scene seemed pretty grim; it lacked integrity and seemed to promise a mentally & emotionally laborious journey.

I decided to not be discouraged but proactive. I was crazy enough to believe what God said was true: that life and death were in the power of my tongue and that He could call things into existence that were not so. So I stopped dating and began to exercise my faith (because faith is doing, not just believing). I began praying over my husband every day--even though we had never met. I had no idea who he was, where he was, or when we would meet. I didn’t pray for a husband, but I prayed favor over his health, career, spiritual health, character, and well-being. 

Before I met my husband, he did not exist. I mean, he was alive and well (I suppose), but not with the character, mind, and spirit of my husband today. I faithfully prayed for him for two years, not knowing who he was but confident that God knew him and would honor my prayers. When we finally met, he was everything God knew I needed in a husband. I was everything he needed in a wife because I was also working on myself while I was praying. 

To confirm what God had already done, my husband told me that when I started praying for him, God started working on him. He began to change things in his life that, for the life of him, he couldn’t explain why (like becoming celibate before knowing God). During this time, he came to know Christ, discovered the Truth in God’s word, and ran with it!

We have no other way to explain how he became who he did when he did, except I loved him enough (even before I met him) to cover him in prayer. Make no mistake, God hears our hearts and our prayers. If you are frustrated with the lack of “good men” to choose from, maybe God is waiting for you to call him forth; you may be the only one praying for him. 

Have you ever prayed diligently for someone you’ve never met? What kind of feelings do you get when you think about implementing this practice? Why?