Day 33: Spiritual Growth

Head: If you could make a list of all the things in your marriage that comes between you and your husband, would the list be long?  Short?  Every list will be different and yet still be similar in many ways.  Most couples would agree that financial struggles, children, careers, etc; put a rift between them.  Not many lists would include God.  Why?  Because when we talk about what comes between our husbands and ourselves we only think of all the negative and we do not think of the one thing that can come between you and your husband in a way that makes your relationship stronger.

O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you.  Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.  Isaiah 33:2

What better place for God to be than all up in your marriage, right between you and your husband to simply bring the two of you closer.  It is undeniable that the connection between you and God and God and your spouse is the one connection that can not be broken and is stronger than any force in our universe.  Even our own children can cause stress in our marriage but not God.  God is the one factor that we can surely depend on to make our marriage stronger.  As a matter of fact, God should be of a higher importance in your relationship with your spouse, than your spouse himself.  

God is the glue, sure but He's much more that that, He is a model of how we should be.  We should be forgiving, patient, thoughtful, loving, and kind.  What a role model we have in our Father.  Not only is God a force in your marriage but you can not underestimate the power of prayer.  

Heart: God always has your marriage on his heart and mind.  God wants for you to have the marriage you dream of and He wants you to willingly include Him.  Your hearts desire for your marriage is shared by our Father.  It's important to include God in your marriage through prayer.  He wants you to come to him with your needs and to let him handle them.  If you are failing to communicate your needs to Him, he is going to wait on you.  He loves you and He is there for you and your husband and will be there to protect you and help you prosper even if you aren't aware of His works.  What God wants is for you to include Him in your marriage through a conscious choice.  Coming to Him because you chose to is so much more precious than coming to Him because you were forced to.

Prayer is an open communication between you and God and your husband and God.  The lines are always open.  Prayer is effective because God is the One who wants your marriage to succeed far more than you want it to.  Pray together as a couple and God will lift you up above the daily stressors in your lives so that you have a marriage that is good and is not being brought down by worries of life and our world.  

A husband and wife who have a Bible that is falling apart probably has a marriage that isn't.

I love that quote and for the life of me can not find who said it but it's true.  Now that I have talked about having God and prayer, I want to mention His Word.   The foundation of your marriage is only made stronger when the Word of God is read for the purpose to discover spiritual principles that will strengthen both your relationship with God  and each other.

Hands:  Try to find a time during your day for daily prayer and Bible study with your husband.