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 one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Col. 3:12-14
Heavenly Father, failure to nourish and pray for marriages is like failing to drink water, get sleep, or breath air. The outcome is predictable and not good. There’s no other relationship on earth with greater power to expose our brokenness and reveal your grace, fill us with joy and frustrate us beyond measure—all at the same time. And there’s no other relationship Satan is more determined to diminish, distort, and destroy.
So we come to you today, praying for marriages—friends’ and ours. Father, forgive us for thinking there was only one person in history we were “supposed” to marry. No spouse can carry that burden. Forgive us for thinking if we’d married the “right” person life would be easy. And forgive us for thinking any marriage is beyond the need or reach of your grace.
You’ve made us for yourself; and our deepest, most powerful and insatiable longings for intimacy can only be met in you—not in any human being. You’ve presented Jesus as our Ultimate Spouse, and no other spouse can take his place.
So, our prayer is simple and essential. Once again, Father, inundate our hearts and marriages with the riches of the gospel and the only love that is better than life—your lavish, liberating love for us in Jesus. Immerse, inundate, and saturate our marriages with your grace.
Precisely because we are “chosen, holy, and dearly loved” by you, fill our hearts with your “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” For the rest of our days on earth, help us cultivate a culture of kindness and encouragement in our marriages.
Help us to outdo one another in humility and repentance, forgiveness and servanthood, life-giving words and heart-nourishing presence. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
