“Are You the Man I’ve Been Praying For?”

I am writing this note on Sunday evening from our room at Cannon Beach Conference Center on the Pacific Coast of Oregon. We’re here for a Senior Adults Conference that starts on Monday night and runs through Thursday morning. Coming back to Cannon Beach reminded me of something I heard here this summer.

I was having a conversation with the father of several daughters in their early 20s. Various young men have shown an interest in his daughters, and the father said that one of the girls was likely to be married soon. He then told me how he had decided whether or not to approve of a young man’s desire to date his daughters. Starting before they were born, he has prayed faithfully for God to send his children godly mates. Over the years he has brought that request to the Lord many times.

If a young man shows interest in one of his daughters, he of course wants to meet the young man at the beginning of the relationship. If down the road, the young man comes to him and asks for permission to marry one of his daughters, the father asks him one question:

"Are you the man I’ve been praying for?" 

Then he waits for the answer. That’s an unexpected question, and it falls to the young man to give such evidences as he can that he is indeed the Lord’s answer to a godly father’s prayers. 

As he told me the story, the father said that he had had such a conversation a few months ago. When he asked, “Are you the man I’ve been praying for?” the young man didn’t flinch but said, “Yes, sir. I believe I am,” or words to that effect. “We talked for a while,” he said. “Then we both sort of wept, and I gave my approval for him to ask my daughter to become his wife." 

I pass that along for the benefit of fathers of young daughters. Keep this question in mind. When the time comes, ask the eager suitor, “Are you man I’ve been praying for?" 

It will probably scare him to death.

But if he is the man you’ve been praying for, he’ll have a good answer.