A Prayer for Your Marriage
Lord, thank You for the gift of marriage! Through this very special relationship, You give us a glimpse of Your faithful love for Your bride, the Church. By Your grace, help us to mirror that love in our own marriages, and help us to paint a beautiful picture to the world of just how cherished and precious each one of us is to You.
God, grant us right priorities. May every husband and every wife love You with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. May every husband love his wife as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. May he sacrifice time, energy, resources, time in Your Word, and prayer to make her feel cherished. May she feel safe and secure under his godly leadership. May every wife respect, support, encourage, and build up her husband. It’s a brutal world out there. May her arms be a refuge to him as he returns to the haven of their home.
May every husband and wife love their neighbors, friends, families, and co-workers – as individuals and as a ministry team. May they love the people in the world where You’ve sovereignly placed them, and may they love the people in the world beyond them. May their prayers and resources take their ministry where they can’t be physically. But where they’re present, let their lives and marriages shine as a bright light for Jesus and for the gospel.
Within each marriage, let there be committed love, care, kindness, service, and affection. May each husband and wife strive to outdo each other in faithfulness, tenderness, gentleness, help, and understanding. May there be unity – each husband and wife standing back to back to protect, support, and defend each other.
Give them margin. Life is finite. May each husband and wife spend their lives wisely – in ways that honor and glorify You. May the events on their calendars confirm that You, Your people, and Your ministry are their top priorities. May they enjoy exercising their spiritual gifts to bless others and to introduce the lost to the God Who made and loves them.
Let husbands and wives pour encouragement into the souls of their spouses. May they delight in each other and appreciate the unique and wonderful ways You’ve created them. May each husband be his wife’s biggest fan, and may each wife be her husband’s greatest cheerleader.
May every marriage everywhere be committed to a lifetime journey of walking hand in hand in Christlikeness and in joyful obedience, “spurring one another on to love and good deeds” until they fall into the embrace of Jesus. God, You are worthy of our best efforts in loving our spouses and in loving You. May Your Holy Spirit equip and enable us. In the beautiful Name of Jesus, amen.
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“‘The most important (commandment),’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’” – Mark 12:29-30
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” – Ephesians 5:22-27
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.” – Colossians 3:12-14
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12
“‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”’” – Revelation19:6b-9a
