Standing in the Gap - Praying for Your Spouse

I Timothy 2:1

“First of all, then I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men…”

By the time you read this blog Gina and I will have celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary! We married in 1988 and have enjoyed 35 years of God’s blessing on our marriage. And, like any marriage, we have had challenges, joys, disappointments, and victories. And in every step, God has been faithful to bless and strengthen us.

Recently a thought occurred to me: what is the best thing we have ever done for each other? Truthfully, there is a long list of things so picking just one is probably not the best approach; however, I know this one thing to be true. Praying for one another is one of the most important things we have done for our marriage.

And that leads me to today’s Standing in the Gap challenge. I encourage you to pray for your spouse. Remember the encouragement of I Timothy 2:1, “pray on behalf of all men” and that certainly includes your spouse. So as this Standing in the Gap challenge comes to an end, here are 3 ways you can pray for your spouse.

Pray for Their Spiritual Growth

Don’t miss the opportunity to pray for your spouse’s spiritual growth and personal faithfulness to Christ. In fact, when you are praying for your spouse’s spiritual growth, you are actually praying for a stronger marriage. As we grow closer in our relationship with Jesus, we also grow closer in our relationship with one another. So, in a sense, when you pray for your spouse to grow spiritually, you are also praying for your marriage to flourish. Just like you, your spouse faces the attacks of the enemy. Your spouse faces the flesh and its temptations, just like you. And your spouse also faces the world and its vanities. One of the greatest ways you can serve your spouse is to pray for spiritual growth.

Pray for Their Daily Needs

Just like you, every day your spouse faces needs, responsibilities, commitments, and decisions. Each of these represents an opportunity for your spouse “to work as though it all depends on them and to trust as though it all depends on God.” Some of those needs may be things you can influence and some you may not be able to influence. However, the greatest thing you can do is pray for those needs. For example, if encouragement is needed, pray for something or someone to come along and encourage. Or strength may be a need, so pray specifically for strengthening. And if it’s wisdom your spouse needs, pray for divine guidance.

Pray Scripture Over Your Spouse

Another way you can pray for your spouse is to pray specific Scripture over your spouse. Here are some examples:

Anxiety

Phillippians 4:6-7 “ Be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Fear

Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Sorrow

I Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Praying specific verses of scripture over your spouse can be one of the greatest ways we encourage them.

As we bring this series to a close, let me remind you that standing in the gap is how we can appeal to God on behalf of our spouses. And that will certainly strengthen your marriage.

Have a great week praying for your spouse and strengthening your marriage!