Greetings Prayer Warriors,
We naturally gravitate toward people who share similar values and ideas, as well as those whose personalities are complementary to ours. But whether we marry opposites or similars, we quickly realize they don’t really know us because they aren’t us! Our spouses didn’t have the same upbringing, didn’t have the same childhood traumas, didn’t have to put up with the same family dynamics, and may have learned different ways to face conflict. In time, those differences continue to reveal themselves. We begin to see that each of our unique histories unfold and our stories continue to evolve and shape us. We can’t possibly remain the person we were at the start of our marriage.
This, however, is where the marital challenges emerge. Sometimes we don’t recognize the person we share a life with anymore. We desire to be understood, but do we understand our spouse? We want our partner to adapt to our personal growth, but are we adapting as a partner? Are we willing to die-to-self in order to live out God’s plan for our marriage?
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
How much time do you spend in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you why He brought you and your spouse together? What are you to bring to one another? How are you to be present to one another? As your marriage evolves, what is the Holy Spirit asking of you?
Come Holy Spirit, come! Reveal the will of God and show me the way!
You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you. Acts 1:8
Lord, when left to our own devices in marriage, we often seek the path of least resistance, not the narrow path, the holy way. Send your Spirit upon us to strengthen us in our weakness and spark our desire to be true witnesses to love, living as you did, with perfect patience, gentleness, mercy, compassion, and understanding. Purge our selfish desires, that we may focus on the other.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
