Pray for Marriages (Trust in the Author)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Marriage may be waning in popularity, but its importance will never diminish, as God is its Author. Marriage is not of human origin, which must be why Satan tries so hard to destroy it!

Interestingly, the Lord started creation with a married couple. He commanded that they continue to get to “know” each other so that family would become the center of their lives. The Lord made marriage so special that he even willed that His own Son be born into a family unit. What a mystery is this sacramental union that bears fruit!

Unfortunately from the earliest days of marriage when free will was used for the good of self and not the other, trouble began. Millenniums later, free will is still tripping up marriages.  However with faith in our Lord, hope in his promises, and receptiveness to the gift of His love, all may come to know within their marriages that:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness”.

Dear Lord, the Author of all good things, make our faith abundant, increase our hope, and boost our capacity to love in spite of disappointment, hurts, hardships, insults, emotional or physical abandonment, or betrayals .  May your grace cause all to proclaim:

I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Holy Spirit, shower your grace upon marriages making them beacons of your wisdom and power so that all glory and honor may be yours both now and forever.  Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

May your marriage be a tribute to it’s Author. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Friends of the Heart)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Not everyone is lucky enough to have family that lives nearby, but many are blessed to have friends who fill in the gap and are just as special as family. Let us ask the Lord to bless our friends and let us pray a prayer of thanks and praise to the Lord for the gift of good friends.

The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!  Numbers 3:24:26

Praise the name of the LORD! Praise, you servants of the LORD, Who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good! Sing to his name, for it brings joy!  Psalm 135:1-3

Do good, LORD, to the good, to those who are upright of heart. Psalm 125:4

Thank you Lord for the gift of family and friends!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

With a heart full of gratitude, praise Him and pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Gratitude causes growth)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, let us slow down to contemplate the true purpose of the day: gratitude.  To truly be grateful, we have to slow down long enough to take an inventory of our lives. Take a break from your busyness to consider all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon you, both tangible and intangible.  Don’t negate your crosses because those are often blessings in disguise Then let us praise our generous and loving God!

Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15

It’s also important to carve out time to consider all the things your spouse does for you, that can often be taken for granted.  Dwell in that space for a while and make a list.  Write a note of sincere, heartfelt appreciation to your spouse.  Combine the spoken word with the written word, and take notice of the power of appreciation. 

 

And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.  Philippians 1:9-11

Pray for married couples, that they grow in humility, gratitude, and love.  Then let your gratitude to God burst forth like a flower reaching to the Sun.

 Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

When we express our gratitude, the kindness of others grows.  Water the flower of kindness and pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Words of Encouragement)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Returning from a week in DC, whether it was marching and shouting in the streets or accusations of hate on the TV, I witnessed misdirected energy everywhere. How can one speak of love, yet spew hate?  Perhaps it is because they have yet to know Love?

For those distraught by uncertainty, a lack of control, the future unknowns, I offer you words of encouragement. 

The Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. John 16:13

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. 2 Thessalonians 16-17

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.  Matthew 6:34

Whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. 1 John 5:4

Let us pray for one another.

Lord, may our hearts be open to an encounter with You, Love itself.  May Your love transform our hearts and minds, helping us to live a life where in faith, we cooperate with your will.  May we love each other by always speaking the truth in love and being respectful toward one another.  We are one in you Lord.  Make us all one.  Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Everyone needs encouragement. Pass it on.

Pray for Marriages (Tolerance)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

It amazes, amuses, and saddens me that everyone voices that there should be more tolerance of our differences in the world, yet often those who preach tolerance the most are intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them!  Positive change is a result of one thing: Loving someone in spite of our differences.  Since opposites attract, marriage can be a wonderful training ground of tolerance.

Lord, help us to cherish our differences especially when they help us to grow in love and understanding. When we speak, help us to always be grounded in the truth, Your Truth. Be the Lamp that illuminates the darkness in our relationship.  May your Spirit guide us now and forever. Amen.

Until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ. Ephesians 4:13-15

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray for more tolerance of your marital differences, then pass it on!  

Pray for Families (Peace begins with you)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Considering how many people are off kilter as a result of the election, let us pray.

PRAYER AFTER AN ELECTION

God of all nations,

Father of the human family,

we give you thanks for the freedom we exercise

and the many blessings of democracy we enjoy

in these United States of America. 

We ask for your protection and guidance

for all who devote themselves to the common good,

working for justice and peace at home and around the world.We lift up all our duly elected leaders and public servants, 

those who will serve us as president, as legislators and judges,

those in the military and law enforcement.

Heal us from our differences and unite us, O Lord,

with a common purpose, dedication, and commitment to achieve liberty and justice

in the years ahead for all people,

and especially those who are most vulnerable in our midst.

Amen.

For those not at peace, remember who is the Author of Peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.  John 14:27

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Share the peace, and pass it on! 

* USCCB

Pray for Marriages (Comfort and Empower)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Marriage is like an election; you never really know what you are going to get, you only know what you were promised.  This is why it is important to know your fiancé’s core beliefs and values and one’s personal history.  Just as a nation does better when it puts itself “under God,” so does a marriage.  Let us continue to pray for the wisdom of engaged couples, the strengthening of our marriages, and the health of our nation.

His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. 2 Peter 1:3-7

Lord, help us honor our marital commitments.  Deepen our faith, trust, and dependence on you.  Help us to live up to all we have promised. Help us to overlook the shortcomings of our spouse, as we also pray that they overlook ours.  We know that you will always fill in the gap between us, so may we never hesitate to welcome your presence. We trust in you, so help us grown in trust!  Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer is a comforting balm, a powerful energy, and a faithful praise.  Pass it on to comfort and empower a loved one, and to praise our God! 

Pray for Families (Loving Perfectly)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Parents have a hard job, and most would agree that raising kids is no easy task.  Sometimes loving them isn’t either!  No matter how hard one may try, there will always be some type of challenge.  If only children were born with instruction manuals that covered from birth to adulthood!  But we are not called to be perfect parents, but rather we are called to love perfectly.  While it may seem like an impossible task, we know that if we look to our Heavenly Father who loves us perfectly, he will help us to perfect our love, if only we allow him to.

You have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for you would not fashion what you hate. How could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Ruler and Lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things!  Wisdom 11:23-26, 12:1

Come Holy Spirit; fill us with your love, that we may learn to love more perfectly!

Pray for the grace to love your family perfectly.  Action will always speak louder than words.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

The first step to perfection:  Encourage more people to pray for the ability to love more perfectly.  Pass it on!