Prayer Warrior Wife

So how did this week go for you? Did you have fun thinking about your dating days and planning what special something to do with your spouse this week? I sure did!

Like I mentioned in my last blog post, Matthew's birthday was this week and we headed to Portland for a date night on Thursday. Benihana's was super yummy and we go there once a year because they give a $30 off voucher during your birthday month. My birthday is in December and because the month is usually crazy anyways it is hard to find time to go for my birthday. We usually just go sometime in March to celebrate Matthew's. 

Dinner took longer than I thought it would so we didn't get a lot of time at our special spot. It ended up being ok though because it was a clear night, super cold and really windy :-). We basically jumped out of the car, walked up to the top, sat down on the bench, looked at the view for a minute, kissed and then walked right back to the car. We were both freezing. Didn't realize how much I would love the heated seats in our new car but man it sure comes in handy when the weather is cold :-).

As I was praying last week and this week about what I could do to improve my marriage, the Lord laid on my heart one word- PRAYER. I will admit that I am not in the habit of praying for Matthew or our marriage on a daily basis. When our relationship is going smoothly, I find that I don't pray about it very much. When we hit times that are challenging, hurtful and hard, I tend to pray about it multiple times a day. Anyone else like that?

I realize that prayer is a powerful tool and there are certain things that I constantly pray about but why do I not add my marriage as one of those things? I have looked up a few verses on prayer and wanted to share them with you. 

Matthew 7:7  “Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Ephesians 6:18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

These verses remind me that prayer should be something I am constantly doing and about everything. I love that the Lord speaks to us not only through His Word but also through prayer. 

Back when I was in College and for a few of my single years I used to keep a prayer journal. I have been spring cleaning my house this month and I came across my hope chest which hold all of my most sentimental possessions.  I decided to purge my hope chest of a few things in order to make room for some new things I want to add to it. I happened to come across a few of my old prayer journals. I took a couple minutes to open them up and scan the pages. It was so awesome to see the many ways the Lord has been faithful to me and my prayers to Him. Almost all of the prayers that I had written down the Lord has been faithful to answer. Some not in the way I had wanted at the time but for my good in the long run.

I tell you that story because I think it would be good for me to start keeping a Marriage Prayer journal. My mind can tend to wander during prayer and writing helps me focus my thoughts. The great thing about writing down your thoughts/prayers is that you can look back years from now and see how the Lord answered that specific request.

Some of you might not need a prayer journal to stay focused and that is totally ok. The goal here is to commit to praying for your spouse and marriage daily. I might not write in my journal every day but I am committing to praying everyday for either my spouse and/or our marriage. 

I love quotes and found a few good ones on prayer. So I will leave you until next week to mentally chew on a few saying on prayer. As always, thank you so much for reading!

Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

 “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” -Soren Kierkegaard

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of 'good time' is seldom in sync with ours.” - Oswald Chambers

 "No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack." E.M. Bounds