It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

This online dedication to praying for marriage is becoming a cherished weekly event here on the Walk Right In Ministries blog! It started out of concern and compassion for struggling marriages along with conviction that God WILL bring BREAKTHROUGH. Larry and I want to thank you for coming alongside one another in this way. It is really a privilege to witness the power of the Holy Spirit using Christ-centered community to encourage, comfort and strengthen marriages and families. Even when we don't know one another's name or situations, God hears our collective voices and delights that we stand in agreement that this is a valuable process and we, together, TRUST HIM!

A prayer for your own marriage—

HEAVENLY FATHER, thank you for the abundance I inherit as your adopted son/daughter. You have purchased my freedom, you reveal the mysteries of Christ to me, and you shower me with kindness, wisdom and understanding. As a child of God, I enjoy certain rights and privileges to experience Your blessings, Lord. But as a spouse, I often need to waive my rights and be a servant of grace to my husband/wife. Sometimes that seems to come at great cost, pain or sacrifice, Lord, and I desperately need Your wisdom and strength. God please help me to be clear in my understanding about healthy, godly boundaries while trusting You to be my Protector and Advocate when I feel hurt, violated or misunderstood. Your word reminds me that I can be quiet and still because You are at work on behalf of your precious children (Exodus 14:14). Season my attitude toward my spouse with respect. Show me how to yield to Your ways of loving my husband/wife and keep me from stubbornly holding onto my own perspectives about what I might “deserve.” Bring new freedom of expression and affection into my marriage, Lord Jesus, that I might be both a giver and receiver of Your good gifts through my relationship with this precious man/woman given to me in marriage. I say this in Jesus holy name. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

HEAVENLY FATHER, thank you for the abundance inherited by Your sons and daughters. You have purchased our freedom, you reveal the mysteries of Christ to us, and you shower us with kindness, wisdom and understanding. As children of God, we enjoy certain rights and privileges to experience Your blessings, Lord. But in marriage, it is often necessary to waive rights and be a servant of grace to a husband/wife. I carry names of married friends to You right now, Lord, knowing that some of them are experiencing great loss of things they deserve in their marriages. God, please grant clarity, discernment and discipline where healthy, godly boundaries are needed. But also reassure my friends that they can trust You to be their Protector and Advocate. Your word reminds us that we can be quiet and still because You are at work on behalf of your precious children (Exodus 14:14). Season my friends' attitudes toward their spouses with respect. Show them how to yield to Your ways of loving each other and keep them from stubbornly holding onto their own perspectives about what they might “deserve.” Bring new freedom of expression and affection into these marriages, Lord Jesus. Help my friends, both husbands and wives, to be givers and receivers of Your good gifts through their relationships with each other. I say this in Jesus holy name. AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

We are so thankful for how God is using Finding Glory resources to stretch and strengthen people in their relationship with Jesus while cultivating their experience of Christ-centered community with others. Your comments in these online discussions and within one-to-one relationships or small groups are so valuable! Because we have readers from Canada to England, Australia, and Belize, your contribution to these discussions helps spread growth and encouragement throughout the world.

We hope you’ll listen to God’s promptings to post a comment or engage a friend in Christ-centered conversation today so that more and more people might experience God's tangible expression of love in their life.

Today’s scriptures and discussion questions are:

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 CORINTHIANS 4:15-18

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." COLOSSIANS 3:2-3

How would having a Kingdom perspective change the way you feel about and/or respond to your circumstances right now?

How is God enlarging your appreciation for the fact that something much bigger than your circumstances is unfolding in your life?

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Today's reflections are copyrighted excerpts taken from Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide.

How Are You Indulging Your Freedom?

It’s a happy 4^th of July here in Minnesota and our family is at the lake. Just as we’re deeply grateful for the many freedoms we have as citizens of the United States of America, we’re appreciating countless freedoms because of our faith in Christ and we’re even enjoying a few special freedoms simply because we’re on vacation.

The weather has been perfect for plenty of swimming and boating which is especially important to us as a family with a child who has Angelman Syndrome. To say that Carly loves the water is a huge understatement. Such a gorgeous weekend at the lake means hours of freedom for us relaxing on the dock while Carly entertains herself endlessly in her life jacket.

Along with the life jacket, a boundary is another thing we critically need in order to enjoy freedom with Carly around the water. We use a rope with floats on it to create a large “swimming area.” It keeps her from wandering into unsafe waters and allows us to supervise from some distance without having to constantly chase her back to the safe zone. The little rascal tests the boundary from time to time but has generally learned to respect it.

It’s ironic that creating a boundary actually creates freedom. How many of us tend to chafe at boundaries instead of appreciating what safety and rest they might have to offer!

What freedoms are enticing you today? Are they all they’re cracked up to be or is there just an illusion of something great out there when the reality is that pushing beyond the boundaries would bring danger, chaos or simply something you’re not ready for yet?

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

Lord, thank You for the grace that saves me! Help me to grow in my appreciation for the eternal privileges and blessings I enjoy because of the ultimate sacrifice You made. Forgive me, God, for pushing the boundaries of Your good gifts and perfect design. Help me to trust You with all of my heart and avoid relying on my own understanding. I want to acknowledge the value of Your ways and live forever in the perfect peace and rest of Your presence. AMEN