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

The LOOK that Makes Us Radiant

This verse brought both encouragement and challenge to me recently. May it spur you on also!

"Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." Psalm 34:5

As we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, there is NO CONDEMNATION (see also Romans 8:1, Hebrews 12:1-3).

Because of the Holy Spirit, we are RADIANT (see also Psalm 19:8)!

Thank you, Almighty God, for giving such good gifts. Help us to keep our eyes (perspectives, vision, plans), heart (emotions and attitude), mind (thoughts and beliefs), and body (activities, priorities, habits) fixed on You. Today's verse reminds us that what makes us attractive and appealing to others — both physically and in character — starts and grows from looking to You. We want you to have our undivided attention, Lord! AMEN

It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Once again, we are praying for marriages to be refreshed, renewed, healed, restored and thriving. 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—

MERCIFUL GOD, it is marvelous for me to contemplate your infinite wisdom, love and power to form me in my mother’s womb and then keep transforming me daily into Your image (2 Cor. 3:18)! Thank you for having such tremendous patience with me when I struggle with weakness, imperfection and sin. Help me to have that kind of grace for my spouse. He/she, like me, is on a journey that is bumpy. Each of us is new creation from the first moment we embrace relationship with You (2 Cor. 5:17) and yet our sanctification and spiritual growth is a process — a race that feels like a grueling marathon sometimes, Lord (Acts 20:24)! Help me to respect my spouse’s personal process and faith journey. It is different from my own but no less precious to You. Forgive my impatience and high expectations. Show me how to keep You, Jesus — not my spouse — as the supreme object of my hope and expectations. Jesus, You are the author and perfector of our faith both personally and as a couple (Hebrews 12:1-3). Please increase our unity in the faith and help us grow more and more into a couple and family that brings glory to You. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

MERCIFUL GOD of infinite wisdom, love and power, thank you for forming me in my mother’s womb and then transforming me daily into Your image (2 Cor. 3:18). Thank you for doing an ongoing sanctifying work in me and in the marriages around me. Help me and my married friends to grasp the enormity of the privilege that it is to be saved in Christ even as we all struggle with weakness, imperfection and sin. Strengthen my married friends to have Your grace for their spouses. Show them how to demonstrate respect for one other as each of them grows in their own faith. Show them how to keep You, Jesus — not their spouses — as the supreme object of their hope and expectations. Jesus, You are the author and perfector of our faith as individuals and couples (Hebrews 12:1-3). Please increase my married friends’ unity in the faith and help them catch a vision about how they can grow in their relationships with you TOGETHER. Please empower my friends’ marriages to bring glory to You. AMEN