Pray for Marriages (Saintly Inspiration)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

Sainthood may be your desire (and should be!), but no doubt at times it seems so unachievable!  Have you considered that you were given the spouse you have so that you could grow in holiness?  All those challenges are opportunities to grow in the virtues! Not laughing? No one said the virtuous life would be easy!

On this All Hallow’s Eve, I can think of nothing better than to call upon all the saints for their heavenly intercession for marriages!  Think of them as your personal coaches.  Call upon your favorites to pray on your behalf, take time to read about and be inspired by their lives, and develop a greater prayer life so that you may persevere in love within your marriage and continue in prayer for others! 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Praying that you will all become saints!!

Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace. Act 20:24

Be an earthly witness to his grace!!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Be a saint and pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Sacrificial Prayer)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Praying in supplication seems to be a daily task. Is there not always some desire for self or others that we are petitioning the Lord for? Often, it is for other family members as we walk alongside them prayerfully and carry their pain in our hearts. Yet endless prayers aren’t the only way to implore for another. Our actions also have great spiritual power. Have you considered offering sacrifices to the Lord on behalf of your loved one? 

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit. John 12:24

Are you willing to die-to-self in some manner for their good? For example, skip a meal, dessert, or cherished beverage and offer that sacrifice to the Lord on their behalf? Consider denying yourself something you love, and offering it to God for them. Sacrifice some television time and use it for prayer.  Only you know what is sacrificial to you. Sacrificial love can bear much fruit. 

But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:6-8

Lord, when we rely too much on ourselves, we produce little for much effort. When we give you our lists of God “to-do’s”, again we miss the mark. Help us to quiet ourselves, come into your presence,humble ourselves, and ask with a contrite and loving heart. Hear our prayers, acknowledge  the longing in our hearts, and bless us, our families, and our friends. Give us the grace to die to self through sacrifice, so that we can elicit much for the intended, and as a byproduct, realize that we too have profited. May we forever praise your name! Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer has many forms. Use them all! Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Healing Old Wounds)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

Forgiveness is easy.  Forgetting is not. If you have been married long enough, there will be moments that have left scars, wounds of the heart.  Perhaps there were key moments when your spouse wasn’t there for you either physically or emotionally.  Maybe there were words spoken that were soul-crushing and pierced you to the core.  Alternatively, maybe there was a crucial time where they abdicated their co-parenting responsibility.  The question is, why are you holding on to all the hurt and pain, keeping it in a figurative box?  While the weight of holding on may be exhausting, who do you think you are benefiting?

God wants you to open your wounds to him, that he might heal them, restore you, and help you journey to a new place in your marital relationship.

Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. Ephesians 4:2-24

Lord, our woundedness can feel like a comfy old shoe, supportive, familiar, reliable.  Stepping away can make us feel vulnerable to potential new pain. How we need your grace!  Lord, help us to trust that you will journey with us toward restoration. Release our grip on any unforgiveness and help us to surrender our will by giving you our “box”.  Open our hearts to be mindful and compassionate about our spouse’s own woundedness including them in our prayers for healing.

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. [And] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Ephesians 4:31-32

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these... John 14:12

Come Holy Spirit, increase our faith in Christ, renew our wavering hope, and help our marital love grow and flourish!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Encourage another to seek healing graces. Pass it on!

Pray for Families (Sweet Surrender)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Only with time do we realize that our children are not ours, but the Lord’s. They are a gift, and we are to be their earthly shepherds. This is a huge responsibility if we contemplate the role of a good shepherd, which is to nurture them and lead them to Christ. It would be too easy to focus on all the ways we have failed, but the point is to not rely on our own strengths, but to surrender ourselves to the Lord. We can never succeed without His help. Reaching that point of understanding however, can take decades. 

Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding, those who find fault shall receive instruction. Isaiah 29:24

Our journey is one from pride to humility. One where we come to understand our absolute powerlessness and total reliance on God. It is a wonderful awakening, bringing us to a new life. Yet we yearn for the good of our children who often wander on paths we wish we could have blocked. If we pause to contemplate, is this not exactly how our heavenly Father must feel when we choose wayward paths? Are we somehow being drawn into the heart of our Father, so that we may learn how best to parent, with patience, unconditional  love, and mercy?

I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them. Hosea 14:4

In our powerlessness, we come to understand that our power lies in our prayer.  

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Philippians 4:6

Lord, we give to you our children, whether they be young or adults. Their choices may not have aligned with your will, but in your goodness, give them the grace to change course. Hear our humble prayers and gather them collectively for the good of all of our children. You love them even more than we are capable of! Guide them on the path to life everlasting. Amen!

Those who pray have hope. Those who pray little are in great danger. Those who do not pray are lost.  -St. Padre Pio

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer is the answer. Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Perfect Crosses)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Did any of you enter marriage asking yourselves, “Is this where the Lord wants me to be?  Is this my vocation?  Perhaps some of you may have prayed about it, but either way, it is your vocation now!  Don’t worry if you feel unequipped at times because the Lord doesn’t call the equipped but equips the called!

We are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. Ephesians 2:10

We are created for good works.  How might you live that in your marriage, especially on the rough days? Hint: Begin with prayer.

Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians 5:10

Keep your eyes on the Lord always.  In pleasing him, you will please your spouse; by pleasing your spouse you will be pleasing Him.

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. John 12:26

The Lord never promised us an easy life. He beckons us to a holy life, in imitation of Christ. The crosses he gives us are the instruments of our sanctification. With new eyes, embrace your cross as it is a gift from God.

Lord, help us please you through our kind and loving actions toward our spouse. Help us to love, especially when it is uniquely challenging. May we embrace our crosses, as you use them to strengthen us in patience, endurance, charity, and humility. May we never neglect to pray for our spouses, being mindful that we may be the cross you have given them! Lord, shower your grace upon us and bless us abundantly. Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Love, it’s never meant to be kept, but passed along. Pass it on!

Pray for Family (Belief in His Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

We are a people constantly in search of love, yet we are for the most part, ignorant of the depth of love the Lord has for each of us. Let that sink in. Do you understand how much the Lord truly loves you??  If not, spend some quiet time meditating on Christ’s Passion on the cross. That is an authentic picture of love. 

Do you have family members you worry about, especially those who never have or no longer live a Christian life?  The Lord loves them too! 

For I put water in the wilderness and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, The people whom I formed for myself, that they might recount my praise. It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.  Isaiah 43:20-21,25

How encouraging! He wipes out our offenses for His sake?!!

Lord, wipe away our worries and fears and increase our trust and faith in your unfathomable goodness. Hear our prayers of atonement for ourselves and our loved ones. Heavenly Father, build our confidence that you, who love them even more than we do, will give them all the grace they need to assent to receiving your love and changing their lives.  Jesus, we trust in you!

“I do believe, help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray for greater faith and trust.  Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Listen and Love)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Have you ever been accused of not listening? Perhaps from your spouse??  A response is typically defensive.  For example, “You never said that!”  “You should have gotten my attention first before speaking.”  “Are you sure I was in the room when you had that said conversation with me?” “ No, it’s you that doesn’t listen to me!”  

Building any relationship towards deeper intimacy requires listening.  When we listen to others, they feel valued.  When we are listened to, we feel heard and cared about.  We all need to be better listeners in our marriages, but as we pray for help, are we listening for the Lord’s guidance?  Perhaps we do have a listening problem? Do we blather on with Jesus, give him our list of “to-do’s” and never wait for an answer?

Listen to my voice. Jeremiah 7:23

Lord, thank you for always listening to us. Teach us to be better listeners to others, especially our spouse. Keep us from all desire to “tune-out” and empower us to “tune-in”. Help us to hear. May we humble ourselves and not put our needs first in every conversation. Draw us closer together as we make the time to be present in all dialogue. Give us the grace to understand the needs of our spouse, especially when we don’t grasp what is being communicated. Blessed Mother, help us to ponder situations and words as you always did, versus react as we often do.  Pray for us, that the Lord may grant us the grace needed to grow in deeper intimacy in our marriage.   Simultaneously, may we find that we are also growing closer to the Lord, the Word made flesh.  May his word sustain us, edify us, uplift us, encourage us, and release us from all that limits our ability to love.

The word of God is not chained. 2Timothy 2:9

Listen. Unchain your love, by encountering Love. His love is unchained. 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Listen and love. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (A Healing Presence)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

When we were growing up, it almost seemed like a right of passage to be ridiculed and cajoled by our siblings, but not without reciprocity. Yet, we never doubted that they loved us and it often was an odd source of endearment. Years pass and the banter continues yet softens, until real illness halts it completely.  

My husband and I returned from a trip to visit his sister who is fighting cancer.  It was a reminder of not only how precious life is, but how very precious our relationships are.  It highlighted the gift of family and each member in ours.  Most of all, it made clear how little control we truly have over our life-breath and how deep our love runs for family, irregardless of the trifles of the past.  Jesus, truly directs us when he reminds us to 

“Love one another as I have loved you.”  John 13:34

Contemplate his words while reflecting on his compassion and actions toward the sick, vulnerable, weak, and disabled. Not holding back, he even shares his mother with us, as he knows the comfort only a mom can bring. 

Pray for your relatives who are struggling with sickness and infirmity.  Where possible, spend time with them, listening and being present. Your mere presence will be a source of comfort.

Lord, receive our prayers for our families and one another.  With complete humility, we call upon you, the Divine Physician, to heal what is unwell in each family member, be it spiritual, emotional, physical, or mental.  Fill them with your Spirit of Love to comfort them, uplift them, and sustain them. Finally, teach us how to love as you have loved, with an unselfish presence, tenderness, compassion, and with heavenly patience. Jesus, we trust in You!

Peace, Joy and Love,

Janet

Share words of kindness and the gift of your time with someone who is suffering. Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (A Journey of Blessing and Hope)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

For those called to marriage as a vocation, it is such a blessing, as it calls us to mirror God who loves man unconditionally.  Each of us who were called to this vocation, were challenged to follow Him, accepted, and somehow are surprised when He hands us a cross! Such a calling is a journey of adventure, challenge, difficulty, and humility. We are most challenged when we try to rely on our own strength, rather than asking for Christ’s. Yet in due time as we are humbled, we fall to our knees and beg the grace of God. 

The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him. Lamentations 3:25

Through Him, the weak are strengthened and the strong are humbled! He challenges us to love, especially when it is difficult. He also sends us friends and family to support us in the journey. Need a comrade?  Ask the Lord to send you one. He never disappoints!!

The Lord is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Lord, each prayer warrior has been given a unique journey, one that is part of your master plan for their own sanctification and  the salvation of the world. Fortify them for their journey. Build them together as a couple equally yoked, but until that time, strengthen their faith so it may not waver, build their hope in your unfailing assistance, and give them all the graces needed to be a light in their marriage and a light for others’. Bless this special group who have committed to pray for marriages, even if it was just once. Send your angels to protect them, guide them, and illuminate their daily path. Jesus, we trust in you! Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Encourage one another and pass it on!