In the sermon titled 'The Proverbs 31 Man's Wife', Peter Allison explores the characteristics and significance of the virtuous wife described in Proverbs 31. The sermon is part of a concluding series that has spanned five years. Allison highlights that the passage is an acrostic using the Hebrew alphabet and also a tight chiasm, emphasizing the central theme of the husband's role. The virtuous wife is depicted as invaluable, industrious, and wise, contributing significantly to her husband's trust and success. Her worth is not based on physical beauty but on her character and fear of the Lord. The sermon also addresses the cultural context of gender roles, comparing the Proverbs 31 woman to the Athenian ideal of a woman, and emphasizes the biblical view of equality in personhood but differences in roles. Allison draws parallels between the virtuous wife and the church as the bride of Christ, highlighting the high calling of the church to display God's wisdom to the world. The sermon concludes with a prayer for the congregation to embrace these truths and be sanctified by God's word.

Please turn in your scriptures to Proverbs chapter 31. If we finish this passage, as I hope we will do today, then This will be the concluding sermon in our Proverbs series, a series that has been going on now I think maybe five years or so. Please turn Proverbs 31 beginning at verse 10. Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships. She brings her food from afar.

She also rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it. From her profit she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good and her lamp does not go out by night.

She stretches out her hand to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing. She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praises her. Many daughters have done well but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing.

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates." May we rejoice at this His Word as one who finds great treasure. Heavenly Father, I ask that you might sanctify my lips, that from a vessel of clay the riches of your grace might be brought to us this morning that the glory may belong to you and to no man. We ask Lord for your Holy Spirit to open our heart and our eyes that we may discern those things that are spiritually discerned only. We ask, Lord, that you would speak to us this morning.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, one of the most despised truths of scripture today that is under very concerted attack from within and without the Christian Church is Paul's statement to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 11, where he told them that, man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for woman, but woman for the man." It goes on to say, for this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, man is neither is man independent of woman nor woman independent of man in the Lord. For as the woman came from man, even so man also comes through women, but all things are from God." These verses that we just read, these 22 verses from verse 10 to 31, are an acrostic.

That means that each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And beginning in verse 11 with the first letter, Aleph, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and ending with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet in verse 31. And since there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, there are 22 verses in this section. There are many other passages where this is true. There are Psalms like this, Psalm 112, there are Lamentations.

The first chapters are an acrostic and then I think chapter 3 goes through the acrostic three times. So there are other many other places in scripture where this is done. I mean, if someone 19 is very well known because it has eight verses that begin with that, let the letter and then the next date versus the next letter and so on. But, and I'll have a comment about that in a minute, about this crostic in a minute, but this passage is also a very tight chiasm. And we've seen this chiastic structure a number of times in our walk through Proverbs.

And we've seen how they provide, how this structure provides a lot of insight into the message of the text. And often we saw in Proverbs, this chiastic structure helps to explain repetitions in cases where verses are repeated. And this chiasm here is no exception. A chiasm, if that's a new structure to you, if you haven't been with us throughout the five years in our walkthrough Proverbs, a chiasm is a literary structure seen many many times in Scripture where the first and the last have something in common. There's a connection between them.

The second and the second to last and so on. And the principal theme of the passage is right in the middle. And that's what gets the emphasis. That's a chiasm. Those commentators that have ignored the chiastic structure in this chapter or not seen it tend to think that this passage is rough.

It doesn't flow well. It's not connected very well. And many find this verse 23, right in the, this verse sitting right in the middle of this passage about the husband to be completely out of place. What does this passage statement about a husband sitting in the gates have to do with this beautiful description of a woman who fears the Lord? Why this seeming out of nowhere jump?

But see, the chiasm shows that that verse, verse 23, is a theme and main point of the passage. That verse is, and I've given you a copy of the Chias. Hopefully you have one in front of you. You can see in the middle there, between the F sections, is verse 23. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

Now we've seen as we've been looking through this chapter and Proverbs that this was a prophecy given by Lemuel's mother to him, which he wrote out. It's his words. And it is, he's speaking about this characteristics of a godly man, of a godly ruler. And we've looked in the first nine verses at what those characteristics are. But this passage is now continuing.

The context is in this prophecy of Lemuel's mother that she taught Lemuel that she has written down. And this is simply a continuation of that. This is telling him about what a godly wife is like. It's describing a godly wife. A virtuous wife.

You see, through her godly character and labor, is uniquely, uniquely qualified to help her husband in his calling. And with her virtuous help, she makes him far more prosperous and respected than he could ever have been without her. She will increase and enhance what is good in her husband and reduce what isn't. She will bring a joy that he would have never known without her. And so the first meta-theme I'll call it of this whole passage is that this Proverbs 31 woman was created for her husband as his helper.

As his helper and that she is an indispensable help to him, indispensable help to him as he fulfills his calling to be fruitful and multiply to subdue, to fill the earth and to subdue it. That's His calling. That's the cultural mandate that God gave to Adam before he had a wife. And then you remember the passage how Adam began this calling and there wasn't found among all the animals that God had created to that point, there wasn't found a helper that was suited to him. And so God then created Eve and brought her to Adam.

So I think that that is the larger context in which this passage is set. So that's why I have called this sermon, The Proverbs 31 Man's Wife. But she, this woman, is a woman of faith. She fears God in everything. And I think this is where the A to Z aspect of this acrostic comes in.

This isn't, although this talks a lot about her work, this is not a comprehensive listing of the calling of a wife. Even though it covers many, many things, it's not complete. It says nothing about a woman's bearing children and raising them, which for most wives that have families is a big part of their daily labor. And even once the children are grown, the grandchildren then become a part of that labor. And this passage says really nothing about it.

She has children because they rise up and call her blessed, but it says nothing about those aspects of her labor. It says nothing about the physical relationship with her husband. The Song of Solomon and 1 Corinthians 7 touch on those areas. But this passage is describing the character of a godly wife. And that character is somebody who from A to Z, to put it in our alphabet, from A to Z fears the Lord and believes the Word of God and trusts in him.

So what are the details now of this amazing and in some ways you might say challenging description of the character of a godly woman or wife. Well the first there in what we've called section A is the inestimable worth of a virtuous wife. Who can find a virtuous wife, for her worth is far above rubies. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates." See, her worth here is not tied to her physical appearance.

And it's not even tied to the fact that she's a great cook and a wonderful seamstress who can make beautiful clothes. That's not why the basis of her worth. It's her person that is of inestimable value. And you see, the wife is, this wife is comparable and wives are comparable to their husbands. While she is a helper, yes, she was created to be a helper for her husband.

She is also comparable to her husband. It means she's equal in her person and in her worth. Her husband isn't worth more than she is. There is an equality of personhood, of a being. Of a being.

And this woman is valiant. She's industrious. She's precious. She's trustworthy. She's resourceful.

She's strong. She's kind. She's wise. She's productive, she fears the Lord. You see, where one kind of ungodly woman wants to be like man, to imitate his work, and to find her own vision independently of her husband's.

And another kind of ungodly woman is consumed with winning male attention through physical beauty and aids to beauty. And another kind of ungodly woman is just a homebody who is not productive, or an equally unproductive busybody. See, the virtuous woman here is described as very productive. And not in the Victorian stereotype of woman. Somebody who wears white gloves and hoop skirts and attends teas and high parties all day.

Or in our day maybe watches TV all day. And sits at home and is a kept woman. That's a ungodly, unbiblical vision of a woman. This passage and description of a woman and a godly woman as a helper to her husband and capable is really just as countercultural today as it was in Solomon's day. Xenophon wrote a book called Oikokonomics, meaning household.

Oikonomikos, I guess it's called. Now, he's better known for his memoirs, but he wrote a book on the management of an oikos, a house. I haven't read it, but Bernhard Lang has. He says he has anyways, and I believe him. He described it as one of the foremost primary sources on social, economic, and intellectual history of classical Greece.

He wrote this probably a few years after Solomon wrote his work. But he said that while women, Bernard Lang said that while women, the work of women in both cultures was similar, their cultural situation was not. The work was similar, but their situation was not. The Athenian woman ideally did not leave the home. The virtuous woman, on the other hand, brings her food from afar.

She sells the clothes she made. She considers a field and buys it. The Athenian woman would not engage in buying property. The Proverbs 31 woman does. And she not only buys it, but then she turns it around and makes it profitable.

See both men and women are made in the image of God, and as people there is an equality, but there is an inequality in gifting and function, in calling and in roles. People have a lot of problem with this in the family and in the church. They don't have any problem with it in the corporate culture. Women don't think twice about being equal to a man in the corporate culture and being someone, a man's helper in the corporate culture. They're very gladly do it thinking that they are being free, freed of their home responsibilities.

This equality shows up in several different ways. One is in the language of a military heroism, a military valor. This word virtuous, that's used here, who can find a virtuous wife? It's a military term. It's used a number of times in 1st and 2nd Samuel and in Joshua and Judges to describe the valor of soldiers in battle.

Everywhere you read about valiant soldiers who did great feats on the battlefield, that's the same word that's being used here to describe this woman. It's a military term. It's used, it's translated into some places, army and strength. And so some translations call this, this is a strong woman. She's a woman of strength.

But see, the difference is that her strength is used as a helper that's suited to her husband. And her strength is focused upon her home. It's used, I said to describe army. So it's a very, this is what you would use to describe a valiant warrior like David. It's saying that this woman is the same thing.

She's comparable to her husband. Her strength is different. Her roles are different. Her calling is different. But there's an equality of her person.

And so this whole passage uses these equal terms that are used to describe valiant men to describe this woman. Boaz interestingly describes Ruth this same way when he called her a virtuous woman. He knew she was a virtuous woman. He's saying, I know you are a valiant person like a man who's won a great victory in a battle. See, this is clearly paralleling men and women.

See feminism destroys femininity and it destroys women by making them do the same things that men do and by measuring them by male metrics. And women in this mold are often very frustrated because they never seem to achieve that equality that they're looking for. They don't realize that they have it already, and that their fulfillment comes in faithfulness to the role that God has given and created for them. It is through that, in fulfilling that role as a helper to their husband that they earn the praise of society, the praise of their children. Her children rise up and call her blessed as we'll see later.

Now what is the reward of the virtuous wife? This strong woman. The heart of her husband safely trusts her so he will have no lack of gain. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters, this is his praise, many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.

Every husband can say of a virtuous wife that she is the best. She is the best for him. There is nobody better on the face of the earth than her. And it's interesting, as I've talked with other men that have been married for several decades. That seems to be a common theme and recognition.

You know, my wife is so uniquely suited to my weaknesses and strengths, and she's just what I need. And I can say that of my wife. And it's maybe taken too long to realize that but but that's true her husband trusts in her her husband trusts in her I have to tell you an example that in my own family that many years ago we early on in our marriage I was going to see a lot and one of the customs and it was for wives to send along a gift. So you have no real communication for about three or four months while you're at sea. And so the wives would send along a gift to be opened halfway through the time at sea called halfway night.

And things were taken on board the boat and kept there until that halfway night. And I remember, I don't know which patrol it was, but one of her gifts to me was a t-shirt and and on the back was a picture of the family now there's just two children at that time and it said on the back it said we are behind you 100% that was that was a precious gift but it's it's speaking that's what this passage is speaking of. Her husband trusts in her. He knows that she has his back. See, the wife's loyalty like this leads directly to her success and he realizes that this loyalty is a direct basis of his success and that's why he trusts in her and that's why he praises her.

His well-being stands, relies on her reliability. You know, outside of Judges 20-36 where the men of Israel relied on an ambush in their battle with the children of Benjamin, the scriptures actually condemn anyone who trusts in man. The Lord says, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength whose heart departs from the Lord. But this statement says that a husband trusts, safely trusts in his wife. And so this little phrase here really elevates a woman to the highest level of spiritual and physical significance.

This statement implies that there is a robust spiritual and physical relationship. That there is a deep connection between the husband and the wife. To trust in her means that he opens his heart to her. He confides to her. He's transparent with her.

That they share their life together. They're not two people living in the same house and sleeping in the same bed sometimes. But rather there is a close connection. He values her input and he listens to her wisdom. He trusts her with the fruit of his labors and his wealth.

He trusts her to manage it. He brings it home and entrusts it to her because she's capable of it. Phil Kaiser quotes two non-Christian authors who recognize this. One of them is George Gilder, who compares changes that happen in men after they get married to a loyal and devoted wife. And George Gilder says, as Phil Kiser quotes him, when a man gets married, the changes in his life go far beyond his immediate relationship.

Strategically, his college grades summarily climb above those of more talented singles. His crime rate plummets. He pays his bills and qualifies for credit. He drives more carefully and qualifies for cheaper insurance. His income as much as doubles.

He becomes more psychologically stable. And contrary to the theory that bread-winning duties account for high male mortality, he lives much longer than his counterpart who stays single. And of course, in most cases, he devotes himself to one woman." Another author, Dr. Peter Blitchington, who has also done research on this, says, No such important change takes place in married women. This is not to say that men don't have an influence for good on women, but male influence doesn't appear to be so intense and profound.

The man who finds himself firmly entrenched within the safe haven of a family, secure in the love of a good woman will find his role as a provider and protector uplifting and ennobling. His mental and physical health will be assured by her commitment and loyalty. Under her encouragement, he goes on to say, and support, he will work harder, love more fully, and live longer than his single compatriots. Her influence upon Him will be profound, blessed by her presence. His work and earnings will take on a new meaning.

His existence will seem purposeful and His tie to society firmer as His life merges with her life. He will give her protection and she will give him a home. He will make her a living, and she will make him a man. That's a summary of this passage of a virtuous woman whose heart, the heart of her husband, trusts her. And he, and he will have, the husband will have, no lack of gain.

Now the third characteristic that's described here is in C, is the diligent work of a virtuous wife. Now maybe there's two, before we look at this, there's maybe two errors that are easy to fall into. And one would be to look at this description of everything that she does and just give up and say I can't do that. Can never do that. Consider a field and buy it, plant a vineyard, bring food from afar like a merchant ship, turn a profit on a piece of land.

And that would be to misunderstand this passage. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And where we are weak and where we fail, we look to the Lord to forgive our shortcomings and to strengthen us and equip us for the work that He's called us to do. So this should not be a cause of despair or anxiety whether you measure up to this, because in Christ our works are acceptable. On the other hand, someone might be tempted to think, well, I do all these things in some way and and and yet that would be probably a another error that there is something here to learn, that we can always improve what we do.

We can grow and do better. And so this passage should not be a cause for pride on one hand, or a cause for despair or lack of confidence on the other. So this woman, what does she do? Well, she does him good and evil all the days of her life. That's a summary of her calling.

Her calling as a woman, as his wife, is to be a helper who is comparable and uniquely suited to help her husband. And so this phrase summarizes all of her labor. See, it is done for the home. It's done for the family. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

And then in verse 27, the other part of that, is she watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of alimony. Those are the two capstone statements. Those summarize her calling. What is her job? It's to do good to her husband.

That's her job. How does she do it? She seeks wool and flax, and she willingly works with her hands. That word willingly is really significant. This is not drudgery, this is not a prison that she's confined to.

She does these things willingly. She willingly seeks wool and flax. Those are the things that you make clothes out of. Those are textiles. And she's willingly working with her hands in these things.

She is like the merchant ship. She brings food from afar. This is her joy to do this. And because it's her joy, she excels at it. She grows in it.

She rises as well as yet night and provides food for her household and a portion for her maid servants. So she's a manager of the home. She considers a field and buys it. And from her profits, she plants a vineyard. So she's entrepreneurial, again, but it's from the perspective of her home.

She girds herself with strength. She's a strong woman, physically fit, and strengthens her arms. None of this white glove can't put my foot on the ground kind of thing. Deuteronomy 28 describes that woman who's to delegate a foot to put her foot on the ground. It's not a complimentary description because it's in the section dealing with curses.

It says that that woman is going to be forced to eat her own children. She will, it says. And history shows that that's true. This woman, on the other hand, isn't like that. She's very content and willing to get her fingers dirty.

She's strong. She perceives that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out at night. Now, that does not mean that she works all night. She's up early, yes, but she doesn't work all night. The idea of a lamp not going out refers to...

It's a mid-eastern proverb that... Where somebody who says... It's a metaphor. And in the mid-eastern proverb is that somebody that sleeps in the dark means he doesn't have another penny in the house. And so her lamp never goes out means she's not, there's always money in the house.

It's in a well ordered house, the lamp burned all night. It's a sign of life, extinction of the lamp, according to Bruce Walkie, marks calamity. So this is simply saying, this is simply speaking of her enduring Prosperity that through her planning and through her provision. There is always money available. There is always, the needs are always met.

She's not running out of things. And to use another submarine example, there was somebody called the chief of the boat. He was the senior enlisted man over the whole boat. And he had a lot of responsibilities, but as I heard one say one time, his greatest responsibility was to make sure the submarine never ran out of toilet paper. Because once you go to sea, you can't just pull into Walmart and get some.

But that describes this woman. She ensures that her home is always supplied with the things that are necessary. The management of the home falls to her. Her husband has entrusted the management of the home to her, and her husband respects her by following her rules in her domain. He's given her this domain, and he trusts her to manage it, and then he respects that domain.

He doesn't walk through the house with muddy boots and leave footprints through the house. Unless there's an emergency or something, of course. But there's a respect for her domain and for her rules. Where does she want things? Where does she keep things?

How is the house set up? Her husband follows her in this. Verse 14 there speaks about She brings her food from afar That word is the word for prey You only think of husbands is going out and and bringing that food in But this is another example of the militaristic language of this passage that equates this woman with her husband. So it may mean that she butchers food. I don't know, but it's very possible.

Many women have done that, butchered food. Certainly she's not averse to it. The next, She stretches out her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. She's productive. She's making clothes.

This is the process of making clothes for people. And then she's also able to, later on we'll see, sell that food. Okay, the next set there is D, the kindness of this virtuous wife. Verse 20, she extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy." Now we saw just last week that this is a characteristic of the Proverbs 31 man. He opens his mouth for the speechless and pleads the cause of the poor and needy.

Here she is comparable to him in this in that she is also extending her hand to the poor. She is reaching out her hands to the needy. She is known outside the home for her service and her kindness. So she opened, verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. That word kindness is chasad, that blessedness, that happiness.

Blessed is the man. It's a rich word and it means far more than simply kindness. She's a blessing. She's a blessing. She is known for blessing people.

She's also able to teach and to advise. People come to her seeking her counsel and wisdom, and she's able to give it. She's competent in it. She opens her mouth with wisdom. People look at all that she's doing and they come to her and ask her how show me how you can do this.

And that's what Titus to Titus passage speaks about. It's these kinds of women teaching the younger women how to love their husbands and how to be keepers at home. Section E. Is the confident future outlook of a virtuous wife. A confident future outlook of a virtuous wife.

She is not in fear. She's not living in fear of the future. She's not afraid of snow for her household. Why? Because she's gone to the ant.

She's learned the diligence of the ant. She's learned how to prepare, how to gather the things that are necessary for the winter or for other disasters that may come. She shall rejoice in time to come. She has confidence, she has humor, she shares a lack of stress. She's not given to anxiety.

She's not always worrying about whether the money is going to run out or what's going to happen, but she fears the Lord, and as such she lives in faith. She's able to rejoice in the future. And then, section F, it's 21B, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

She makes linen garments and sells them and supplies sashes for the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing. Proverbs, one type of proverb is called a synthetic proverb where the second line expands on and elaborates on the first line. I didn't mention it earlier, but a number of these sections, the first section and the corresponding second section often do that. And the second section often elaborates and fills out the.

What the first section is talking about, the first section here talks about her clothes and they are Beautiful clothes. She's well clothed. It's functional, right? Because it keeps them warm in the winter. She doesn't fear the snow because her clothing is functionally good.

And it's also aesthetically beautiful. Why? Because other people want to buy it. They're coming to her asking for the clothes that she's designed and made. But the bigger view here is that is that she's clothed with beauty inside.

The beauty of holiness. Strength and honor are her clothing. Strength of character. Her character is beautiful. She's clothed with dignity.

That's something that's said of wisdom. She's clothed with these things. She's dignified. And I think this section, remember, as we get closer to the middle, they increasingly summarize what the main theme is. And this is saying here that she is a woman of beautiful character.

She's clothed with beauty, both the outward adornment and her inward adornment, which Peter tells women, not your adornment be merely outward, but let it be that inward beauty. That's what's being described here. The inward beauty of a woman who is clothed with strength and honor. She's a godly woman. She's a woman of faith.

She's a woman of the Word. We talk a lot about being a man of the Word of God, but this is a woman of the Word. We talk a lot about being a man of the Word of God, but this is a woman of the Word. She is a woman whose husband has washed her with the water of the Word. She's a woman who's been protected by the strength of her husband to Free her.

And then the central theme here, this message, this verse that seems so out of place is really so in place. Her husband is known among the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. This is the fruit. This is the fruit of her labor. This is her mission.

And it's been accomplished through her labor, through her fear of the Lord. The husband, you see, is highly regarded at the gate. That's the gate is the speaking of the courts of the land, the center of the culture. The woman, his wife, through her faithfulness and through her obedience to her calling to be a helper to her husband has put him there. I think it's interesting as we close.

We saw last week that Christ is the Proverbs 31 man. But Christ's bride is is the church. This bride is the church. And Ephesians tells us something very similar about the church as this passage has said about about a godly wife. It's Ephesians three.

Breaking into the middle of this. Speaks about the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Christ Jesus to the intent that, this is the reason that God created all things through Christ Jesus, to the intent that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. That God has chosen His bride, the church, as the way that His manifold wisdom will be displayed to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. You see, it's an amazing statement that God would choose weak sinners who at one time were at enmity against Him, who He would redeem them, and then through them choose to display His manifold wisdom to the powers and principalities in heavenly places. But that's what Jesus Christ is doing with His bride, the church.

We, as a bride of Christ, are called to display the manifold wisdom of Christ. And we do. Through Christ who is at work in us. Just like this woman is given a very high calling. That's a very high calling, an amazing calling for God's people.

But one that we should embrace and recognize and praise the Lord and pray for. Let us pray. Let us pray. Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wonderful truths of your Word, that though they are so counter to our culture and to the wisdom of this world, yet Lord they are a sure and certain guide. They are a truth that endures forever.

And they are certain, unmovable, unchangeable. For you Lord are immovable and unchangeable in your being in your wisdom in your power in your justice in your goodness and in what is true your truth so father we ask that you would sanctify us by your word today, that you would equip us to answer the wisdom of this age with the truth and the wisdom of your word. We ask that we may be a bride who is made ready, made perfect in holiness, ready for her bridegroom. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.