Why Our Spouses Get Our Leftover Prayers (And How one can Change It)
By: Jennifer Waddle
“Rejoice all the time, pray frequently, give thanks in all circumstances; for that is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
On a latest kayak journey with my husband, I paddled slowly throughout the lake, praying for my youngsters and grandkids. Naming them one after the other, I requested for God’s overlaying and blessing. That’s after I noticed my husband coming towards me with a small wave and a smile. The check-in jogged my memory that I’d forgotten to cowl him in prayer—one thing that occurs extra usually than I’d prefer to admit.
Why do our spouses get our leftover prayers? It’s not as a result of they aren’t essential to us, however maybe we’ve grown so snug with them that we overlook they want our intercessions.
As we loved our time on the lake, I made it a degree to thank God for my partner, itemizing the issues I cherished most about him and figuring out to make him extra of a precedence in my every day prayer life.
If, like me, your partner tends to get your leftover prayers, listed here are a couple of methods to alter it.
Pray in Order
Together with my husband in my every day prayers turns into straightforward after I bear in mind the order of issues. After my relationship with God, my husband is my subsequent precedence. Nonetheless, I discover it straightforward to place my kids and grandchildren first, pondering of their wants above my partner. Are you able to relate?
For girls, particularly, it’s straightforward to get issues out of order—to focus extra on ourselves or our youngsters as an alternative of our husbands. To vary this, preserving a prayer journal with a listing of requests is useful, deliberately placing our spouses on the high. Even when there aren’t particular issues to hope for, thanking God for them and asking for His divine overlaying is simply as highly effective.
Right here’s a easy prayer so as to add to your every day routine: Lord, please bless my partner at present – coronary heart, thoughts, soul, and power. Put your hedge of safety round them, blessing them with love and favor. In Jesus’ identify, amen.
As soon as this follow turns into routine, your partner will now not get your leftover prayers; as an alternative, they may be prioritized within the lovely approach God meant.
Pray with Gratitude
After I do bear in mind to say my husband in prayer, the very first thing I do is thank God for him. He’s light, sort, thoughtful, and reliable. Itemizing these attributes grows my gratitude for him, reminding me to hope much more for the superb man he’s.
If you happen to’re struggling to checklist optimistic traits about your partner, begin with only one. Even the smallest factor can spark prayers of gratitude and open up extra avenues of thanksgiving and reward.
Maybe your partner works exhausting to offer for your loved ones. Perhaps he’s a very good dad to your youngsters. Or it may very well be he offers nice shoulder rubs! No matter involves thoughts, thank God for large issues and small. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to much more praise-worthy attributes and purposely pray with a coronary heart of gratitude.
Proverbs 18:22 says, “He who finds a spouse finds what is nice and receives favor from the Lord.” With this verse in thoughts, thank God every day for offering you with a partner to like, cherish, and canopy in prayer.
Pray in Obedience
As Paul mentioned to the church in Thessalonica, “Rejoice all the time, pray frequently, give thanks in all circumstances; for that is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Think about what may occur if we utilized this similar follow in praying for our spouses!
We’d not all the time really feel like praying, however after we decide to it in obedience to God, our emotions usually observe. Praying frequently for our spouses turns into a straightforward behavior after we strategy it with function and devotion. On this, God sees our faithfulness and blesses our efforts.
From a coronary heart of obedience, prayers for our spouses could make all of the distinction. Mountains can be moved after we decide to praying for them repeatedly, making them a precedence and thanking God for them. Think about the marital blessings but to return as you pray on your partner before everything.
Heavenly Father, thank You for my partner, who has many superb qualities and traits. Forgive me for overlooking them in my prayers, persistently giving them my leftovers. Please assist me prioritize my partner and take into account their wants above my very own. Assist me be diligent in prayer, purposeful in gratitude, and trustworthy in obedience. Remind me, every day, to think about them as the primary particular person on my prayer checklist, overlaying them with intercession and reward. I’m grateful for the partner You’ve given me, and I’m able to prioritize them in new methods. I belief You to guide and information me as I renew my dedication to hope for them. In Jesus’ holy identify, amen.
Photograph credit score: ©GettyImages/bernardbodo
Jennifer Waddle is the creator of a number of books, together with Prayer WORRIER: Turning Each Fear into Highly effective Prayer, and is a daily contributor for LifeWay, Crosswalk, Abide, and Christians Care Worldwide. Jennifer’s on-line ministry is EncouragementMama.com the place you could find her books and join her weekly put up, Discouragement Doesn’t Win. She resides together with her household close to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains—her favourite place on earth.
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