Prayer for a friend

[Professoralstad]

Hey all,

Just wanted to ask you to pray for my friend. His girlfriend just broke up with him, and he feels really beaten up about it. He is really only a casual church goer kind of Christian, but as far as relationships go, he has always had a relatively good viewpoint on them (he is still a virgin, and doesn't believe that dating should be "just for fun" but for determining whether or not the person is suitable for marriage). He wasn't necessarily planning on proposing anytime too soon, but he definitely saw himself spending his life with her in time. She basically told him after 8 months of dating (in addition to over two years of being friends) that she wasn't ready for anything serious, she wanted to experience life on her own, and be free to date other people. He wasn't prepared for that at all (just last month they both came with my wife and I to celebrate our first anniversary and seemed happy as could be together). Personally, I'm not too disappointed about the break-up, as I had seen things in her that I didn't think would be a good fit with him (her reasons for breaking up are evidence of that), but I am pained for my friend, who feels lonely, angry, hurt, and betrayed. Worse yet, he saw (thanks to Facebook) that she is now dating another guy, less than a week after the break up. This has caused him to feel even worse, thinking he wasn't good enough, that she never felt anything for him, and worst, that maybe sticking to his values was a bad idea (a notion that I did my best to refute).

So my prayer request would be for two things: first, that he would turn to God more than he ever has. Like I said, he would call himself a Christian, but his faith isn't the most important thing in his life, and he strives to just be a good person more than a Christ-like person. I've invited him to many church events and gatherings, but he's always been hesitant. I'm hoping that I can help direct him toward God to fill the emptiness he's feeling, but there are definitely other forces that are working against that. Second, I would like prayer just for healing. He feels like he gave a lot to the relationship and now he feels like it was time and energy wasted. The stress of what's going on has caused him to become physically sick, mentally exhausted, depressed, and anxious.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you can join me in lifting him up. My hope is that this hardship can be used as a turning point, but I know that these kind of hardships can go either way as far as which way a person turns. I just pray he turns to God, and away from what other friends are suggesting to "rebound".

[SomeKittens]

These can be some of the most messed-up times of our lives.  I'll be praying for him, and I'm glad that he's out.  Sometimes everyone can see it's a bad relationship but the people who are in it.

[Professoralstad]

Update:

My friend came with me to the college/young adult gathering at my church last night, and it couldn't have been a more perfect night for him to come. Two testimonies were shared, both about the power of God in tough circumstances, and afterwards the pastor said that he felt there were some people there that had been going through a particularly tough situation recently and in need of prayer. Being new, my friend was a bit hesitant to raise his hand as one of those people, but afterwards he told the pastor that it was still very true in his life. Overall, I saw his countenance vastly improved from the past few days, and I feel like he'll be much more apt to come to future gatherings with me. I'm praying that this could be exactly the turning point he has needed for his life, and while it still hurts, my hope is that the hurt will cause him to turn toward God. I feel like he took a good step last night.

Again, thanks for praying. I can see God working in him, and I am excited to see what might be in store.