A Prayer for the Presence of God in Your Marriage - Crosswalk Couples Devotional - April 11
Crosswalk Couples Devotional
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Crosswalk.com
A Prayer for the Presence of God in Your Marriage
By Gina Smith
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. – Mark 11:24
Today’s devotional is a little different – will you pray this prayer with us for God’s presence in your marriage?
Father, marriage is truly a gift from you, meant to bring you glory and point others to you. Like any other relationship, marriage can be challenging, but since marriage is a unique picture of your relationship to the Church, we know that you want to work miracles in and through us and our marriage relationship. We know you are able!
I pray that our focus would be you alone and that we would be careful in how we speak about our spouses, even when we are going through difficult times in our marriage, “letting our speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt ( Colossians 4) and may I show myself in all respects to be a model of good work… show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (Titus 2)
I pray that we would turn to you before we turn to any person, becoming totally reliant on you to meet our needs in a way that only you can do, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness… (Matthew 6) seeking you, your strength, and your presence continually!” (Chronicles 16)
I pray we would never forget that our accountability is ultimately to you, an all-powerful God who is ever-present and all-knowing; each of us will give an account of ourselves to you (Romans 14). We know we will give account for every careless word we speak, so let us speak words of tenderness, faithfulness, sincerity, and love.
Help us to remember that our first and most important responsibility is to pour out our hearts to you before we pour out our hearts to a person or group of people. To seek your face before we call a friend. To know your word, to fellowship with you, and to allow you to renovate our hearts and renew our minds.
As we are in the Word please, renew our minds. Change us from the inside out. We are desperate for you and your presence. I know that we will only see our spouses through eyes of grace if we have taken the time to know your heart, asking you to give us the eyes to see our spouses in that same way.
Help us to know you so well, that we go out into our day with our expectations focused on you and not on our precious, flesh and blood spouses.
Please cause us to cherish each other in a way we never imagined and knit us together from the heart in a way that only you can knit two people together. Please grow in us a loving relationship that will weather the storms that come as we continue to learn how to walk this marriage journey together.
Please change me on the inside. I never want to be set in my ways. I want to be constantly changing, growing, being renewed, and becoming more like Jesus. being transformed by the renewal of my mind (Romans 12).
Help me not grow cold or to take my spouse for granted. With that in mind, help us to see ways to connect and grow closer in our marriage relationship.
Please enable me to see my blind spots, show me what I need to see. Cause me to be grieved by any sinful habits, attitudes, and responses that have grieved you. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me…and see if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139). And as those habits and attitudes that don’t glorify you are exposed, I am asking you to change me. Help me to grow in practicing being in your presence and cause my marriage to become more God-centered.
We know Satan is on a mission to kill, steal and destroy marriage and that His attacks are constant. I pray that I would be sober-minded and watchful. Because “my adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He wants to cause confusion, division, and conflict. I know our only hope is found as we sit in your presence, interrupting Satan’s attacks, and allowing you to flood us with your perspective, grace, and love for our spouse.
I pray that we will bring you into all of our marriage ups and downs, no matter how big or how small, and that we will purpose to bring You into our everyday lives as a couple, taking the time to stop and acknowledge Your presence to each other,
Remind us to come to you before we picked up the latest marriage book. Please change our defensive, prideful, stubborn, and easily offended hearts as we come into Your presence, our all mighty God!
We want you to be the center of our marriage. Help us to choose to do what it takes and turn to you throughout the day. Not just at the beginning or end of the day – but moment by moment, with every task and interaction. Help us to remember that you are with us every second and are present as we live out your calling as married people.
Never let us forget how very desperate we are for you and how needful of keeping your presence central we are! As we practice your presence, cause us to hear your voice leading us through the daily life we have been given, and cause us to trust that you are working in our lives. Enable us to experience and intimacy with you, and with our spouses, that can only happen when we practice being in your presence in all that we do.
In Jesus’ Name, we pray,
Amen.
Gina Smith is a writer and author who has been married for 31 years to Brian, a college professor and athletic trainer. For the past 20+ years Gina and her husband have served on a Christian college campus as the on-campus parents, and her husband has been a professor and dean of students. They have lived on the campus where they raised both of their now married children. In her spare time, she loves to write, writes for several websites, and recently authored her first book “Grace Gifts: Practical Ways To Help Your Children Understand God's Grace". She also writes at her personal blog: ginalsmith.com.
Related Resource: 3 Simple Ways to Feed Your Spouse More Praise
How often do you intentionally stop to praise your spouse? To recognize and affirm their character or actions? Many of us probably cringe at answering these questions because we know we could do better! If you struggle to feed your spouse praise regularly, this episode is for you. Listen in as we share some practical steps we all can take to criticize less and affirm and build up our spouse more. If this episode helps your marriage, be sure to subscribe to Team Us on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode.
