GOT a date?
Pray about it! Like right now.
If you’re a child of God, He’s very interested in how your date goes. That’s the way a good heavenly Father is.
Why?
Because He knows when you’re dating you’re dealing with your heart and that’s the most important part of you (not the blood-pumping thing, but the thing He died to redeem). He doesn’t want to see you endure needless hurt, or carelessly hurt someone else.
God may not be particularly focused on planning the funnest or most romantic evening of your life (then again, maybe He is), but you can be certain He wants it to be a night you look back on and see how He led you.
You want that too. (Don’t you?)
What should you pray about?
Chances are you already know a specific issue that jumps out at you right away – you might not even want to pray about it, but start there. And then here are some other suggestions:
- Pray for safety
- Pray for topics to discuss and questions to ask (and don’t forget, God already knows what topics your date will raise, and questions they will ask and can help you be ready with honest, gracious responses)
- Pray for ears that listen
- Pray for discernment (If the person you’re dating isn’t someone you would want as a friend, how long do you want to wait before breaking things off?)
- Pray for a continual awareness of His presence
- Pray for the peace and courage His presence provides to rest on you ahead of and all through your date
- Pray for a heart that wants God’s very best for your date instead of what YOU want from your date. (A lot of times I don’t WANT God’s very best. I think I know better. If that’s true for you, ask God to put the desire for His will in your heart.)
- Pray against temptation. (Again, if that’s not where your heart is at, honestly confess that.)
- Pray for the awareness that you’re dating, not only a child of God, but a brother or sister in Christ. And then pray for the ability, the desire and the determination to act accordingly.
Oh! And if your date isn’t a brother or sister in Christ, right now would be the best time to call them back up and politely cancel the date.
You may not want to offend your date, but you ought to be more fearful of offending your Heavenly Father – NOT because he’s got a spanking waiting for you when you get home – but because, when it comes to God and the person you’re dating, God’s the one who truly wants, knows and can bring about your very best.
That’s the person you don’t want to offend. (Am I making sense here?)
