A PRAYING COUPLE IS A STAYING COUPLE MINI-SERIES: PART 3

So we are coming to a close with our study A Praying Couple is a Staying Couple. This week we are going to address the ever difficult topic of application. How do we create an environment where prayer as a couple is not just something we occasionally do, its not just done at the dinner table or at night before bed with the kids? How do we make prayer together an actively pursued desire in our homes?

My advice in this area comes as I am putting these things into practice myself. Start, stay consistent, and stay simple. While you can really tear apart the Lord’s Prayer and dig into its deeper meaning, the truth is even with its deeper complexities, the Lord’s Prayer is simple and straight forward. “This, then, is how you should pray:

           “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Christ gives us a short prayer. He gives us exact words to say and He does this knowing that the more consistently we pray this simple prayer the easier it will be for the Spirit to move us and aid us in our concessions to God. Romans 8:26 tells us, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

Sometimes all we need to do in order for prayer to become second nature is to start treating it like it is even before we are fully comfortable with the idea. So start simple and stay consistent. Ask your husband to pray with you at a regular time each day that isn’t a time you would typically pray, i.e. dinner, bedtime. If he isn’t ready to pray when you are together, ask if you can pray over him and over your relationship while he is present. Finally for those of you who are facing and feeling this need alone, begin by simply praying for your husband. Pray for him to become the leader that God has been and is continually preparing him to be. Pray that God’s will and timing be your focus as you wait for your husband to take on his role as spiritual leader to its fullest extent.

Father God, we come to you asking for your help,  asking that you continue to call us and our husbands to a deeper relationship with you through prayer. Bring us closer together as we draw near to you. Give us a desire for your timing and your will within our marriages especially when it comes to the rate in which our spouses excel in the same areas that we are excelling in. Give us the same patience and grace for our spouses that you have for us Lord. In your precious name Jesus, Amen.

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