Devotional

Scripture: (Psa 32:6, 7 NKJV)  For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him.  7You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

 

Observation: This a Psalm of David.  In it he claims God’s protection during times of crisis.

 

Application: I love the words of this psalm and see it as an invitation for couples to pray together.  If anything, or rather Anyone, can help us and protect us when the floods of challenges, problems, and difficulties threaten to overwhelm us and destroy our marriage, it is God.  When the economy threatens to take our job, our house, our financial stability and security away from us, where do we turn for help, the government?  To the very institutions that have brought us to this place?  And when we argue more time than we spend in enjoyable conversation, and when the thought of divorce swim in our heads like a piranha threatening to devour any romantic thoughts we may have toward our spouse, who are we going to turn to?  To secular psychology which tells us to look for the solution within us?  If we’re in water up to our eyeballs, and don’t know how to swim, nothing inside us will help us float or keep us from getting eaten alive.

But praying as a couple, praying for each other, and praying together is our salvation.  I have advised every couple that has come to me for counseling to do just that; it’s one of the assignments I give couples in trouble if they are to receive the help they need for their problems.  There are many benefits for couples when they pray:

1. As we come close to God we are also drawn to each other.

2. It is a good time to pray for your spouse – it’s hard to not have a good, positive attitude toward your spouse when you’re praying for them.

3. It’s good to know that your spouse is thinking about and praying for you.

4. It’s a good time to confess to God, and to each other, our faults and frailties, to apologize, to forgive the other, and to receive forgiveness.

I have advised couples who have not or are not praying together, and who may even be in great conflict, to begin by praying at opposite sides of the bed, but to pray out loud, and then to gradually move closer together as time goes by.  Also, to pray for their spouse’s success, safety, and for everything good for them.  I tell them not to use prayer as a weapon or a finger-pointing device, to not pray for their husband, “Make him a good husband,” or “make her a good wife,” or “change his nasty attitude,” or “help her to see what a good husband she has,” or anything like that.  Rather pray that they may enjoy good health, that God’s greatest blessings fall richly on them, that they will enjoy God’s protection, that they may have a great day at work, that they may have a good, restful sleep, and things like that.  Those prayers, verbalized by your spouse, can bring great healing the each and to their relationship.

 

A Prayer You May Say: Father, bless our spouse, this very moment.  Bless them with life and health, with joy and peace, with the assurance of salvation and with the knowledge of Christ.  Make them successful in their job, in their studies, and in their life.  Protect them, and save them, and have them ready for the second coming of Jesus.