I have been burdened for the last few years to pray about marriages. The marriages of our church elders, of Christian leaders in the public focus and more. Every year I feel more and more burdened.
Marriage is under attack from many directions.... there are those who want to change the meaning of marriage... there are those who want to destroy marriage... there are those who want to encourage living together without marriage... and then there are those everyday stresses on marriages.
When I talked with my children the other day, I encouraged them to pray for married people in our church... or our neighborhood, family, friends, etc. No, not because we know or suspect there is a "problem", but because every marriage faces stresses. Some of those stresses may be busyness, fatigue, money worries, expectations, illness - serious or minor, child training issues, work schedules, extended family issues, and more. Maybe it is insecurity in the relationship, maybe addictions are hardening hearts or a wandering eye is being fed. Maybe there is a lack of contentment with things... or the spouse. Maybe there is nothing "big", maybe there are just lots of little irritations from everyday life - laundry, meals, dishes, cleaning the bathroom, and more. Whatever there might be, there ARE stresses that affect us and those stresses can also affect marriages.
How can we help that? We live in this world and there will be stresses. Christian are not immune to being affected. So what can we do?
I have been greatly saddened to hear of several marriages that are being torn apart just recently. I am praying for reconciliation and I hope God grants that, but realistically... some of the people involved have already "moved on". They are "done". God can still soften their hearts and convict of sin... and I will pray, but I don't want to wait until the breakdown happens.... and ask God to "fix" it. Maybe we should pray even before the breakdown of the marriage happens.
Though there may be other things we can do, in this post, my focus is prayer. We can PRAY. We can pray for God's protection around our own marriage and the marriages of others. We can pray for strength in difficulties. We can ask God to lead us in the way we should go, to alert us to any areas that are not pleasing to Him, and more. We can thank God for marriage... and for the marriages around us. What a blessing to see marriages... and especially marriages that last. We can ask God to bind husband and wife together, knitting their hearts together and helping them to remain committed.
We can be careful to be thankful for our spouse... and be thankful to God for His work in our marriage. The way we pray for our own marriage, is also a way we can pray for others.
It is easy to look around and see that everyone else has a perfect marriage..... but we are all sinners married to sinners and there are no perfect marriages. May we renew our commitment to live for the Lord in all things... even in marriage... and may we pray the same for others. Let's hold each other up in this way. The world is working hard to tear marriages apart... let's not sit back and wait for it to happen. I hope you will be praying for marriages of those around you. I know I will.
Thank you ... and I hope you have a great week. :)
Shared on:
Counting Our Blessings
Marriage is under attack from many directions.... there are those who want to change the meaning of marriage... there are those who want to destroy marriage... there are those who want to encourage living together without marriage... and then there are those everyday stresses on marriages.
When I talked with my children the other day, I encouraged them to pray for married people in our church... or our neighborhood, family, friends, etc. No, not because we know or suspect there is a "problem", but because every marriage faces stresses. Some of those stresses may be busyness, fatigue, money worries, expectations, illness - serious or minor, child training issues, work schedules, extended family issues, and more. Maybe it is insecurity in the relationship, maybe addictions are hardening hearts or a wandering eye is being fed. Maybe there is a lack of contentment with things... or the spouse. Maybe there is nothing "big", maybe there are just lots of little irritations from everyday life - laundry, meals, dishes, cleaning the bathroom, and more. Whatever there might be, there ARE stresses that affect us and those stresses can also affect marriages.
How can we help that? We live in this world and there will be stresses. Christian are not immune to being affected. So what can we do?
I have been greatly saddened to hear of several marriages that are being torn apart just recently. I am praying for reconciliation and I hope God grants that, but realistically... some of the people involved have already "moved on". They are "done". God can still soften their hearts and convict of sin... and I will pray, but I don't want to wait until the breakdown happens.... and ask God to "fix" it. Maybe we should pray even before the breakdown of the marriage happens.
Though there may be other things we can do, in this post, my focus is prayer. We can PRAY. We can pray for God's protection around our own marriage and the marriages of others. We can pray for strength in difficulties. We can ask God to lead us in the way we should go, to alert us to any areas that are not pleasing to Him, and more. We can thank God for marriage... and for the marriages around us. What a blessing to see marriages... and especially marriages that last. We can ask God to bind husband and wife together, knitting their hearts together and helping them to remain committed.
We can be careful to be thankful for our spouse... and be thankful to God for His work in our marriage. The way we pray for our own marriage, is also a way we can pray for others.
It is easy to look around and see that everyone else has a perfect marriage..... but we are all sinners married to sinners and there are no perfect marriages. May we renew our commitment to live for the Lord in all things... even in marriage... and may we pray the same for others. Let's hold each other up in this way. The world is working hard to tear marriages apart... let's not sit back and wait for it to happen. I hope you will be praying for marriages of those around you. I know I will.
Thank you ... and I hope you have a great week. :)
Shared on:
Counting Our Blessings
Well said! Let's all pray for marriage!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, it is important. :)
DeleteI feel the same way you do at this time. Very burdened and on guard. So many couples are crumbling in the church and it breaks my heart. Thank you for this reminder to keep our covenants strong.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for sharing all your edifying and helpful homemaking posts on the Art of Home-Making Mondays this past few months. You have been a blessing to me!
Praying that all goes well with your family and taking care of your father.
Such a great and encouraging comment, JES, thank you so much. I am praying and I am so glad to know that others are also... the crumbling continues to escalate and the apathy continues.
DeleteYes, please pray for marriages everywhere! As a pastor's wife, I know all too well the target the Enemy places on our backs, especially it seems in the area of marriage. I love this call to prayer! Thanks for sharing at Grace and Truth this week.
ReplyDeleteJen :)
It seems that satan continues to make many inroads in tearing down marriages bit by bit..... and we aren't always wise enough to see it happening.... praying for marriages is so important... thank you for your wonderful comment... and for visiting. :)
Delete