It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Whether you are praying for your own marriage or standing in the gap for a friend, thank you for joining us in seeking the Lord for the protection and fruitfulness of this sacred union.

A prayer for your own marriage—

CREATOR GOD, I come to You right now very grateful that You have the power, vision, and creativity to make all things new. Thank you for the first sparks that triggered attraction between me and my husband/wife. Thank you for all the ways you have created beauty in and through our marriage. I pause to think about some of those ways right now and am amazed by your goodness to us. Thank you that when anything or anyone makes an attack on our marriage, you have warriors ready to defeat every arrow, every sting. I confess that sometimes my marriage feels stuck and I hunger for something fresh. You intimately know the burdens my spouse and I carry every day. There are times when the burden is deep in our hearts as each of us has needs aching to be met. There are also times when the burden involves a crisis of circumstances, some that are within our control and many that are not. Then there are times when the burden is simply that we need a break from the routine, some refreshment. Romance even. Lord of the heavens, will You please fall afresh on my marriage today? Logistically, emotionally, and spiritually, please bring refreshment and renewal in my relationship with my husband/wife and give me new insight about my role in making sure we receive that gift from You into our marriage. Help us to be in a process that moves us toward the Light where healing, health, restoration, and inner joy are easy for You to create and re-create in us. I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ who was, and is and is to come.

AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

CREATOR GOD, I come to You right now very grateful that You have the power, vision, and creativity to make all things new. Thank you for creating sparks of attraction that lead to the covenant union of marriage. You know that I have several friends with precious marriages and each faces different joys and struggles. Thank you for all the ways you have created beauty in and through those marriages. Even when my friends struggle, You have everything needed to bring them through it thriving! If any of my friends is facing

an attack on their marriage, please keep Your warriors ready to defeat every arrow, every sting. Help those marriages to stand firmly in You. I am grateful that you intimately know the burdens my friends face — heartaches, crisis circumstances, and even mundane routine. Lord of the heavens, please fall afresh on my friends' marriages today. C

reate refreshment, romance

and renewal. Give each of those spouses insight about their own roles in receiving the good gifts You have for their marriage. Keep them in a process that moves them increasingly toward healing, health, restoration, and inner joy. God, these things are easy for you to do! I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ who was, and is and is to come.

AMEN