Praying With Your Spouse

   by  Keith Riley-Whittingham 

The children are still asleep and the sun is starting to stretch it's first rays across the sky when he holds me in his arms and bathes me in prayer.  He instills in me peace, strength, and love.  He prays for my day, the children, and the tasks we have ahead of us.  He thanks God for me and for my specific talents. He prays blessings and protection over me, and in doing all of this he shows me that he loves and cherishes me.

Every morning, before my husband goes to work or before our weekend begins, this is our routine.  To stand together in the kitchen in the gray, dawning light to bring each other before God's throne room.  It began with a simple prayer that then grew into something deeper and more complex as we surrenderred ourselves before our Savior together, hands clasped and hearts poured out.   It is a beautiful, intimate time... a time that is sacred to us.

Do you pray with your husband?  I encourage you to do so today.  It helps your relationship with your prayer partner grow deeper, allows your relationship with the Lord to strengthen and become more intimate as well and gives joy/peace to the soul.

It all began when my husband attended an Iron Sharpens Iron conference and received simple prayer cards to prompt us to pray over one another as husband and wife.  The card has a short, simple prayer to pray out loud with your spouse... it was a great spring board for us.  Are you craving a prayer time with the one you love?  Are you wondering where to start?  Here is where we began... give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

Here is the basic prayer we say each morning...
"Father.  I said, "Til death do us part" - I want to mean it.  Help me love You more than him, and him more than anyone or anything else.  Help me bring him into Your presence today.  Make us one, like you are three-in-one.  I want to hear him, support him, and serve him - So he would love You more and we can bring You glory. Amen."

Once we became comfortable and familiar praying out loud with one another daily we started to really make the prayer our own by praying specifically for each other.  Do not get me wrong, we have prayed together in the past and it has been wonderful but we have never been really regular/diligent about our prayer time with each other.  This simple card has changed our lives, for the better.  My prayer for you is that you will begin today by setting aside a few minutes to pray with your spouse so you can also have the joy that comes with such a sacred/treasured time.

In His Grip,
Dawna