It's Marriage Prayer Friday!

Let's pray our marriages into the Christmas season!

A prayer for your own marriage—

IMMANUEL, thank you for revealing Yourself to us and demonstrating Your nearness. During this Christmas season, I ask that you would break through any obstacles in my marriage that keep me and my spouse from experiencing the season with joy as a family. By the power of Your Spirit, please stop the crazy patterns of things like neglect, complacency, criticism, ingratitude, disrespect and lack of healthy boundaries in my marriage. Strengthen our commitment to grace and help both of us to honor, not abuse, each other’s expressions of grace. Increase our capacity for tenderness towards each other. Help us in other practical ways too, Lord. For example, help us to laugh more, express gratitude more, invest more in the relationship, and maintain a Kingdom perspective when we are tempted to sin, be discouraged or get stuck in minutia.  Show us how to experience freedom and joy in our marriage, Lord, so that no day is a grind but every day is an adventure of anticipation in seeing Your presence at work among us.  AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

IMMANUEL, thank you for revealing Yourself to us and demonstrating Your nearness. During this Christmas season, I ask that you would break through any obstacles in the marriage of these friends I love — obstacles that keep them from experiencing the season with joy as a family. By the power of Your Spirit, please stop the crazy patterns of things like neglect, complacency, criticism, ingratitude, disrespect and lack of healthy boundaries in their marriage. Strengthen their commitment to grace and help both of them to honor, not abuse, each other’s expressions of grace. Increase their capacity for tenderness towards each other. Help them in other practical ways too, Lord. For example, help them to laugh more, express gratitude more, invest more in their relationship, and maintain a Kingdom perspective when they are tempted to sin, be discouraged or get stuck in minutia.  Show them how to experience freedom and joy in their marriage, Lord, so that no day is a grind for them but every day is an adventure of anticipation in seeing Your presence at work among them.  AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

God’s ways don’t always make sense to us. The experiences and resources He sends our way can come in some pretty unusual packages. Reflect on the scripture and questions below as you consider what it means to surrender to God’s unusual ways.

Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” Joshua 6:1-5

Do you now (or have you ever) sensed a prompting from God to follow unusual strategies towards a goal or dream?

What do you think God is asking you to do right now — march patiently and quietly or shout?

These “Finding Glory Wednesdays” posts are an online discussion series based on the books Finding Glory in the Thorns and the companion Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide by Larry and Lisa Jamieson. For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

What? Christmas Time and NO JESUS?

When people come into our home this time of year, the first thing they see is a small nativity scene set up on a table in the front hallway.  There isn’t anything particularly unusual about our nativity scene except for one thing:  there is no Jesus in the manger. 

No, it didn’t get lost over the years.

No, my kids didn’t break it when they were little.

No, Carly hasn’t chewed on it (at least not yet).

Every year when the decorations are brought out, someone in our family has responsibility for hiding the baby Christ child — until Christmas Day.  The empty manger helps re-create the sense of anticipation in our home throughout the month of December.  It’s a fun tradition and a practical one from a spiritual perspective.

In this day and age, when we are part of an impatient culture, it’s easy to miss the opportunity to be still and ponder the anticipation of Jesus’ coming.  There is so much opportunity for worship and to experience joy and peace in this rich season of anticipation!

Life is, in fact, a process of anticipating Jesus’ coming AGAIN.

Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

LORD ALMIGHTY, thank you for being God with me — Immanuel.  I don’t want to live a single day without you and yet I want to spend this Christmas season re-learning what it means to anticipate Your coming. I am so grateful that you came and that you will come again, once and for all.  Please keep deepening my understanding of and appreciation for who You are and for the reality that You are coming soon!  AMEN