Skip to main content

Marriage Monday -PRAY



This sweet photo popped up in my Facebook memories.  I smiled as I thought back to the day and moment.  It was the day of my firstborn son's wedding and all of the girls gathered around the beautiful bride to say a prayer.  That day the prayer was one of rejoicing and thankfulness.  God had answered the prayer of both sets of parents when they asked for the perfect mate for their child.  We thanked God for this couple and prayed for a beautiful ceremony and a blessed marriage.
This photo was taken 2 years ago and every day I still pray.  Early every morning with a cup of coffee and the Bible close by, I ask God to bless their marriage, to keep their hearts towards Him and to love one another.  This is done while I daily pray for my own 27 year old marriage. 
Why keep on praying?  Because after the glitter and glow of love and the years of newness, those two lives merge into one, but it does not happen overnight.  Daily choices have to be made as we face differences in personalities, the way we handle situations, how we spend money, what we like to eat and most importantly, how we deal with these differences.

Years go by and there is always a time of being chiselled into one.  Those touchy areas that don't want to conform, like pride, selfishness and desiring things our own way. It may be easy to find fault, lay blame and fight tooth and nail for our own way. But ultimately, pouting, hollering, nagging or any other tactic will not change the other person. The only part of the team we can change is our self. 

That is why we pray.  Only God can change the heart.  Marriage takes a huge dose of daily love, patience and kindness.  Grace is a beautiful thing to breathe in and fill up on.  With a heart filled with grace we understand we are not perfect, but God loves us greatly.  What we receive, we can more freely give out. When we pray for our life to pour out grace, we are kinder, more loving and more gracious.  We learn to think of others instead of automatically thinking of our self.  God does a work in our heart that affects our marriage, home and family.  When we pray specifically for our spouse, for their best, our love and the desire to do them good grows.  If we want a happy marriage, this is a great starting point...prayer.

A few resources I've found about praying for our spouse and good marriage books are:


Thirty One Prayers For Your Husband










Praying God's Word for Your Husband  


Letters to My Daughters - The Art of Being a Wife




There are many great resources about prayer for your spouse.  But nothing is more powerful than making the investment to daily spend time and pray!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing your commment. It is a joy and blessing to hear from you and your words are appreciated.

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes We Score, Sometimes We Block

Our family is in the midst of little league soccer season. My youngest son is playing and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is pretty good at the sport, but what makes it so great is that he loves it! He counts the days until the next game or practice. He loves his coach and teammates. He has moved up an age level this year and the players are working more like team, passing to each other and watching out for each other during play. During the last game, my son scored two goals, they were the only goals of the game. In today's game the team scored eight goals. My son came up afterwards to me and said, "I didn't score today, but I blocked". What a powerful truth those words can hold. In life, sometimes we score, sometimes we block. Sometimes we do great things, we excel, we achieve, we meet our goal - we score! There are also times we see the needs of others, sometimes they are sad or hurting, we block their hits. We look out for them so they can score. We
17 comments
Read more

Relationships and Redemption

In every friendship or relationship, there is a common hope that they will grow and flourish. There is something inside of us that longs for a 'happy every after' story. We dream about it and work to make that happen. But in reality, relationships are a challenge. The bridging of values, lifestyles, interests and sacrificing for another are simply hard things to do! No matter how much we dream of the perfect fit, some relationships will not endure the stress.  When differences appear and tensions arise, prayer can change situations, attitudes and ourselves. For the Christian, we know God can transform, change, heal. We cannot change others, but prayer opens us the door for God to step in and answer. God desires transformation, but does not demand it. The gift of free will allows us to choose to say Yes or No to Him.  Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Take notice of the first two words: “If possible …” This implies that some
Post a Comment
Read more

A Blank Page - A Great Way to Fill It

A blank page - that is the first view of a new blog post. It has been a while since I have faced the blank page of my little blog! A blank page can bring a variety of emotions - emptiness, anxiety, pressure to perform or emotions such as inspiration, encouragement or simply bursting to share something. But there is always something fresh and exciting about the blank page of a New Year. Happy 2023! This is always a time in my life where inspiration and plans are formed and ready to be implemented for greater change. Aspirations may start strong, but alone do not make a difference. It takes consistency to create change. The changing or adding small habits is a key to great changes. A habit that has been beneficial in my life for many years is rising early. It began when the children were small and was the only pocket of time I had to myself. Through the years, mornings have become my favorite time of the day. Now that my husband and I are empty nesters, we go to bed early and rise early.
Post a Comment
Read more