I am totally convinced that the best gift that we can give our spouse is our prayers.  Let’s consider what we should pray about when we pray for our spouses. 

The Importance of Praying as a Couple

Perhaps the best starting point on this journey is from the place of thanksgiving. We are able to come together to speak with our Father because He has given us life, health, peace, and daily blessings including the air we breathe, the earth we reside in and the food we eat. 

His protection and provision in numerous ways are unceasing, His blessings towards all our loved ones are worth thanking Him for and even more importantly, His gifts of affection, companionship and love which flow between us as husband and wife have brought us to this point. Put succinctly, spending time to think about and talk to God about the many reasons to be thankful to Him helps us maintain the heart attitude necessary to sustain our communication with Him in the place of prayer.

But beyond this, we can spread the tentacles of our rapport with God to cover our individual needs and to do this effectively we need to spend time sharing and communicating about what we are going through in our individual lives. This way, we can keep the prayer altar alive; as we discuss our mutual needs and challenges with God as one.

 Apart from the freshness that a daily routine such as this can bring to our prayer lives, it strengthens our trust and reliance on each other as we become aware that whatever is important to me is a priority to my spouse and he or she is committed to taking this issue to God for a resolution.

Apart from our personal needs, it is important that we connect with God’s heartbeat for souls in our prayer time together. I am certain we don’t have to search far to find unsaved loved ones, friends and acquaintances. This is a good platform to pray together for their salvation asking for tenderness of heart for them and that as God has declared in Matthew 9: 37  will bring labourers to them to share Christ with them so that they may receive the gift of salvation. 

We can also pray for other current issues which God brings to our hearts to pray about at this time. It is in fact a very good idea to ask Him to tell us what He is concerned about and I’m sure we will find ourselves on a very interesting journey once we do so. 

Committing our Marriage to God’s Hands

It is also vital that we commit our marriage to God’s hands so that He might strengthen us to be obedient to His will in our conduct, choices and decisions as we continue on the journey each day. We must realise that we will only live out our marriage relationship the way God expects us to and see the good fruits He has promised as  we live lives that are personally submitted to the dictates of His Spirit and He alone can continuously fill us with the grace and power to do His will. 

The moment we remain outside the covering and influence of His Spirit in all we do and say, we become liable to act and speak in the flesh rather than by the Spirit and this can have a negative influence on our relationships with our spouse. Constantly committing our relationship into God’s hands means that we invite Him into our day to help keep us in check by the power of His Spirit and this is a crucial catalyst for a successful marriage relationship. 

As we all can imagine, from here on we can mention a thousand and one other points we can take up in prayer. I however want us to keep our focus on praying for our marriages in this article. To achieve this, I thought to take the liberty of adding a practical tool to kick start your prayers for your marriage …

1. Pray for each other that you will both draw closer to God in a personal relationship and that this will reflect on your relationship with each other. Ephesians 1:17-19, Isaiah 40:6 -8, Matthew 6:33  

2. Pray that God will impart you with wisdom so that you may both apply it in dealing with everyday challenges you face. Colossians 1:9-11  

3. Pray for the preservation of unity in your marriage, that God will bless your home as you remain obedient to His will. Psalms 133:1-3, Ephesians 5:31  

4. Wives – Pray that your husband will be able to love you as Christ loves the Church. Ephesians 5:25, Colossians 3:19

5. Husbands – Pray that your wife will submit to you as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18  

6. Pray for the gift of patience and all the manifestations of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in your lives and marriage. Ecclesiastes 7:8-9, James 1:4, Galatians 5:22-23  

7. Pray that God will place a hedge of protection over your marriage.  Hebrews 1:13-14, Zechariah 2:5,Psalms 34:7

Yes, you guessed right, above is a list of prayer points and supporting scriptures to stand on as we fight to keep our love for God and for each other alive. My prayer is that God will make this a fruitful experience, filled with numerous testimonies to share of His faithfulness on your marriage journey.