It's Marriage Prayer Friday!

Today's prayers for marriage are based on Ephesians 5.

A prayer for your own marriage—

ALMIGHTY GOD, You have challenged me to consider my marriage as a reflection of my relationship with You. While this is a tall order, I know it is a worthy one and I want to trust in Your help to accomplish great things in my marriage. When my hope for this relationship is shaken, please remind me that all things are possible in You. First and foremost, Lord, help me and my husband/wife to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Help me to love and respect my spouse as a spiritual act of worship. Strengthen me by the power of Your Spirit within me to fulfill my God-given role in this marriage — strengthen this husband who heads our family and strengthen this wife to honor her husband in everything. Help us both to better understand the relationship You have with Your church so that we can model our marriage after that kind of love. Teach us how to hold each other in high esteem, to accept each other as our own bodies. Show me new ways to love, treasure and serve my husband/wife so that our intimacy is strengthened. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us a picture of what it looks like to forgive and live in victory. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

ALMIGHTY GOD, You have challenged us to consider marriage as a reflection of our relationship with You. While this is a tall order, I know it is a worthy one and I want to trust in Your help to accomplish great things in my friends' marriages, no matter how challenged they seem to be. When my hope for any of these relationships is shaken, please remind me that all things are possible in You. Help me to be a light in my friends' marriages and keep me from doing anything that would undermine progress or healing in their marriages. First and foremost, Lord, help my friends to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Help them to love and respect each other as a spiritual act of worship. Strengthen tehm by the power of Your Spirit to fulfill their God-given roles in their marriages — strengthen the husbands to be the head of their families and strengthen the wives to honor their husbands in everything. Help them both to better understand the relationship You have with Your church so that they can model their marriages after that kind of love. Teach them how to hold each other in high esteem, to accept each other as their own bodies. Show them new ways to love, treasure and serve each other so that their intimacy is strengthened. Thank you, Jesus, for giving them a picture of what it looks like to forgive and live in victory. AMEN