Monday, June 6, 2011

prayer and marriage


This framed verse was recently featured in an article I wrote for Ella Publishing eZine. I wanted to share a little bit more about where these verses came from. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is from Galatians 5:22-23 . . .which talks about the Fruit of the Spirit. Basically, these are ways that God wants us to act toward anyone we come in contact with. The passage I have written out has been tweaked a bit to make these traits specific toward our spouses. I pulled this passage from the book, The Power of Prayer to Change Your Marriage.

This book is for the couple who has a good marriage, but wants to make their marriage a great marriage and it is for the couple who is talking about divorce--and everyone in between. This book discusses communication, rudeness, forgiveness, depression, finances, addictions, infidelity, separation and divorce--just to name a few things. She discusses the issue and then walks you through a prayer that you can pray regarding that specific area of your marriage. She also backs up every topic she writes on with Scripture. You don't have to read the book cover to cover, you can just turn to the topic that applies to your marriage.

Another favorite book of mine that I have used for several years is The Power of a Praying Wife.


Before I started using this book, I would pray for my husband, but they would be pretty general prayers like, "Please help Tim to have a good day at work," "Help him to get over his cold soon," and "Please keep him safe as he travels on business." There was nothing wrong with these prayers, but this book showed me things that I hadn't thought to pray for often. Things like his affection, his temptations, his mind, his fears, his purpose in life, his choices, his reputation, his fatherhood, his past and his attitude . . . there are more too!

She writes a few brief pages on the topic and then she writes out a prayer that you can pray and insert your husband's name into the prayer. Who doesn't love a prayer guide? Prayer is not something that comes naturally to many people--myself included--and this book teaches you how to pray for the man in your life. If we aren't praying for our husbands daily, who will?

I can't say enough about how these two books have revolutionized my prayer life in the area of my marriage. Go and check them out!



4 comments:

Donna Jannuzzi said...

I think that Glen and I do have a good marriage, so I often forget to pray, or I take that blessing for granted - which I shouldn't! A great reminder that we should be praying for our spouses everyday.

Cassie_lu said...

both books have been on my to-read list and the framed art is a great gift of an annv gift too.

5Bazocs said...

Yeah Brenda! Great post! Truly great reminders to follow God's Will in loving our husbands daily.

Jenni said...

brenda i love your fruits of the spirit project- so wonderful!! I actually have Stormie's book "the power of a praying wife" but have yet to read it!!! It looks so wonderful and this reminds me of how much i want to read it! I often struggle with praying those same "Simple" prayers for Todd... thanks for posting this!!xoxo