God is continuing to restore our marriage.
Marriage has been difficult for Dan and I over the past 24 1/2 years. Sadly, we have come close to getting a divorce. But God stepped in, changed our hearts and saved our marriage. Watch our testimony here.
We have been though many difficult days and I have cried countless tears. We had gone to many different counselors, but none of them seemed to help at the time. All we would do was to point our finger at the other person. Then in April of 2018, we joined a Re/engage marriage group through our local church in Denver and it started to turn our marriage around!
Each week, the leaders walked us through what God says about our marriage and we were encouraged to focus on our relationship with the Lord. We had to come clean with ourselves and our spouse. We had to "stay in our own circle" and admit that, "I am the biggest problem in my marriage." This ministry gave us the tools we so desperately needed to use in our marriage.
God put us in an amazing group with 4 other couples and I can't tell you how much of a blessing they were at that time in our lives! The Bible clearly says that we are to be in community with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And I can honestly say that that group was the most encouraging and rewarding blessing of all!
So, I highly recommend joining a Re/engage group near you. Whether you rate your marriage a 1 or a 9 on a scale of 0-10, I promise, you won't be disappointed! And to help you get started, I wrote weekly prayers that coincide with the Re/engage book and I am happy to share them with you. Just email me a note.
I encourage you to pray these prayers over your marriage each week as you go through your Re/engage book together or on your own, or as a couple OR on your own without the book.
Or, if Re/engage is not available in your town, ask your church what marriage classes or counseling help that they provide and commit to working through your issues. Remember, "I am the biggest problem in my marriage" and divorce is never an option!
One more tip: Pray together daily! God can soften your hearts and He can restore your marriage! I promise, we are living proof of this! When we spend time with the Lord together, it draws us closer together and we find hope and the strength that we need to keep fighting this ongoing battle against the evil one!
Marriage Prayer Points
As I stated above, our marriage has not been very easy for us the past 24 years. There are days that we struggle and I want to walk out, but I continue to pray that God will mature and grow us both spiritually. We live in a broken world and we are both broken people. It's not just one of us, but it is both of us. Fortunately, we are both committed and I will not give up. I believe God has great plans for our marriage and that He will use our mess for His kingdom and for His glory.
But like I mentioned before, the most important thing you can do is pray for your marriage.
Here are some pray points to start your conversation with God today:
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God, please change me and help me to love my spouse like you do.
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Pray that you can except your husband/wife for who he/she is, remember, you can't change him/her!
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Be respectful to your husband and love your wife as Christ loved the church.
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Pray that God will protect your marriage during the different seasons of life.
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Pray for honesty in your marriage.
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Pray for wisdom to be the godly wife/husband that God designed you to be.
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Pray that you can treat your husband/wife with love and respect.
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Pray that each of you would avoid tempting situations and only have eyes for one another.
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Pray that your marriage will be fun and enjoyable.
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Pray that you will both stay committed to the covenant that you made before God.
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Pray that it will never be hard to say: "Will you forgive me for...", and "I'm sorry, I was wrong," when you've hurt the other person.
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Pray that God will help you to hold your tongue (ladies) when he's driving or in other situations. (I'm really bad at this one!!)
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Thank God for your husband/wife and for your family daily! He/She is a gift to you from God.
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Pray that you can be an encouragement to your husband/wife.
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Pray that you can love him/her in the way that God loves you...unconditionally.
I will be praying for you, but please send me a prayer request so I know how to pray for you specifically.
Your Sister in Christ,
Jen