Pray in 2017: Day 21- Praying For My Spouse
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV)
Day 21- Praying for my spouse
Note: If you are not married, you could use this day to pray for your future spouse, or for a close personal friend.
Yesterday we prayed for our home, now today we will pray for the main person we share that home with. God gives marriage as a gift, yet we seem to need His help with this relationship more than any other. Sometimes marriage is smooth and sometimes challenging, but regardless of the season of our relationship, we should be praying for our spouse. The marriage covenant God instated transforms two people into one. So every blessing my husband receives effects me, and every struggle my husband endures, I share.
- My beloved is mine, and I am his… (Song of Songs 2:16 ESV)
My husband and I belong to each other. That makes my prayers for him the most personal of the whole 31 days.
- And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness…to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 ESV)
I ask the Lord to grow my husband’s love for the things of the Lord so that he is fruitful and God is glorified. I also ask Jesus to make our love for each other overflow so we could see what was excellent in each other, rather than focus on faults.
Let’s look a Scripture that guides our prayers of blessing for our spouse:
- The LORD bless you and keep you; (Numbers 6:24 ESV)
I ask the Lord to bless and keep him: keep him safe, keep him from evil, and keep him close.
- And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2 ESV)
This is God’s promise to Abraham, and I ask Him to extend these blessings to my husband. God blesses men and women so that they can turn and be a blessing to others.
- Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!" And God granted what he asked. (1 Chronicles 4:10 ESV)
The prayer of Jabez has become popular over the last few years, but I have found it as powerful to pray for my spouse as well as myself.
- For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. ... For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. (Psalm 21:3-4, 6 ESV)
This Psalm refers to what God will do for King David. I ask the Lord to richly bless my spouse with honor and long life; I pray that he will experience gladness and joy that will spill over into all his relationships.
- Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)
How we treat each other drastically effects the peace of our home, which we prayed for yesterday. As a couple, when we trudge through a long valley, we need intervention from the Spirit to be loving, tenderhearted, and forgiving.
- Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ... Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ... Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, …Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, …. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:10, 12, 16-18 ESV)
This list from Romans 12 directs us to act opposite of our inclinations. For that, we both need Jesus. As I pray and invite Jesus into our interactions, the possibility for transformation occurs. We don’t have to act or react like we feel.
- and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 ESV)
Day 21 Prayer-
Dear Lord,
Thank You for designing marriage from the beginning. Today I come before You bringing my spouse and asking Your blessing upon him/her.
Lord I ask You to go before him/her and behind, and surround him/her with Your protection and covering. May he/she be infused with Your presence and be kept safe from evil.
Please bless the work of his/her hands and extend his/her influence beyond what seems possible. Cause his/her work to be fruitful and multiply, and that others would be be blessed by him/her. May his/her life to be used to build Your kingdom and magnify Your name.
Please bless his/her physical body with strength, energy, and health, and grant him/her many days to enjoy You and make You known. I ask that the joy and gladness derived from Your presence would spill over into all he/she does.
Lord, please cause our love for each other to overflow. May our marriage proclaim Your reality. May it bless those You bring us in contact with and may we demonstrate Your truth. We need Your help to be forgiving and tenderhearted and to not pay back harm.
Jesus, I invite You right into the middle of our marriage. I ask You to bless my husband/wife so much this year that he/she would wonder what happened. I ask You to use me as an instrument of that blessing. Help me to bring him/her honor, love, and tenderhearted affection. Help me shower words of life in his/her heart and to live at peace with him/her.
I confess I don’t always understand the mystery of the marriage covenant, but I agree with You that it is good. I ask You to bless our oneness that it would proclaim Your truth to a hurting world. Bless us so that we can bless others to the glory of Your name.
Amen
I pray that 2017 is a year your marriage grows deeper, your love becomes stronger, and your joy shines brighter. Our world needs godly marriages now more than ever.
- The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 28:8 ESV)