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Post 3 of 3: Praying through Galatians 5 and 6 with your spouse

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When it comes to marriage, I firmly believe praying for each other (and with each other) plays a vital part in strengthening the husband-wife bond!

The following prayers can be prayed as a couple or separately. I hope that you and your spouse will be blessed and encouraged through these prayers based on the book of Galatians!

Here is a link to the PDF of the following prayers.

Prayer #1 based on Galatians 5:1, 4-5, 7-8,13-18, 22-26

Dear Lord, we praise You for Your Holy Spirit. May we recognize the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives and the incomparable freedom that a relationship with You promises. Please help us to realize that attempts to justify ourselves through legalism prevent Your grace from doing its beautiful work in our lives.

Lord, help us be vigilant in preventing anyone from hindering our obedience to You. We pray that the freedom we have in You compels us to serve others humbly and never as an excuse to make selfish choices that reflect poorly on You. We pray that we will never interfere with anyone else’s desire to live according to Your will. May we consistently follow Your command to love our neighbors as ourselves. May we be sure to pursue Your wisdom when we are in a situation where we do not know how to express that love in a Christlike manner.

Lord, we want to be led by Your Holy Spirit and walk confidently on the path You have laid out for us. There are numerous temptations in the world. We need Your help to discern between desires of the flesh and desires of the Spirit. Set our hearts on pleasing You and realizing the effects of choosing the flesh over Your Holy Spirit. Enable us to strive to display the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May we always give You the glory when others see Your Spirit in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayer #2 based on Galatians 6: 1-2, 9-10, 14-15, 18

Dear Lord, we praise You for the gift of forgiveness offered to all Your children. Equip us with appropriate words and actions that will gently influence our brothers and sisters in Christ to repent of sin and reconcile with You. Empower us to inspire others to trust us to share their burdens. Please help us be confidantes, encouragers, and exhorters who honor Your name in all our interactions with others. Give us Your strength to diligently pursue holiness and avoid temptation. Please help us make wise decisions to steer clear of places and people that could lure us into sinful thoughts and behavior. Increase our desire to become more like You.

We pray that You will develop the character trait of perseverance in both of us. Lord, help us be steadfast in displaying it, especially when sorrow and difficulty cause us to become weary. May we be on the lookout for opportunities to do good works in obedience to Your will. Sometimes, our good works will not produce the response we are hoping for, and frustration may start to set in. In those moments, please reenergize us, Lord. Give us a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit. We pray that we can be depended upon to treat others in a loving, Christlike manner despite any adverse reactions we may receive.

Lord, may we only ever boast about the life-changing power of Your love and salvation, for nothing we do on our own achieves anything lasting. May our spirits be saturated and strengthened by Your amazing grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Post 2 of 3: Praying through Galatians 3 and 4 with your spouse

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When it comes to marriage, I firmly believe praying for each other (and with each other) plays a vital part in strengthening the husband-wife bond!

The following prayers can be prayed as a couple or separately. I hope that you and your spouse will be blessed and encouraged through these prayers based on the book of Galatians!

Here is a link to the PDF of the following prayers.

Prayer #1 based on Galatians 3: 1-3, 5, 10-14, 23-29

Dear Lord, we praise You for being a miracle-working God. Broaden our belief in who You are and what You can do. Let our confidence in the gospel be unwavering, especially in challenging times. May we be known as people who continually exalt You. Help us always be thankful that You died for us and redeemed us from the requirements of the law. Remind us that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not something we earn – it is a gift of grace directly from You.

May we be eternally grateful for Your sacrifice on the cross and for making a close, personal relationship with You possible. Your Word reminds us that Your Law provided protection, but when Christ came, He made it possible to be saved from punishment because we place our trust in Him. I pray that we will trust Your guidance as You show us the path to avoid temptation and sin. May we clearly discern Your voice and have the wisdom to respond obediently.

Thank You for being a promise-keeping God. Your Word affirms that we are one in Christ regardless of differences. Please give us the ability to see people through Your eyes and enable us to act with dignity, sincerity, and respect toward everyone we encounter. May people catch a glimpse of You in us as we help our family hold firmly to the truth that all Your children are precious in Your sight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayer #2 based on Galatians 4: 3-7, 9-14

Lord, we thank You for being our Heavenly Father. May we fully embrace the sacred magnitude of being known as Your child. Remind us that freedom is only found in You and prevent us from embarking on a futile search for any substitute. Fill us with a genuine appreciation for the generous gift of Your redemption. May gratitude naturally exude from us and assist in creating an atmosphere in which people praise Your name openly. Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts.

Lord, we pray we will enjoy a renewed thankfulness for no longer being a slave to rules and regulations. Please generously impart Your wisdom to us as we navigate our faith journey. Grant us Your insight when worldly temptations entice us. Help us to rely on Your lead as we make decisions. May we always strive to honor You with our choices. May we rest confidently in our relationship with You.

Bestow on us a natural tendency to display Your life-changing love to everyone we meet. Disclose to us the physical and spiritual needs of people around us and the numerous ways we can be Your hands and feet in each situation. Help us be obedient to Your call and refresh us with Your strength and fortitude when we are fatigued. Sustain us and spur us on. Bless our efforts and allow others to recognize an authentic representation of You through our words and actions. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Praying Through Galatians 1 and 2 with Your Spouse

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When it comes to marriage, I firmly believe praying for each other (and with each other) plays a vital part in strengthening the husband-wife bond!

The following prayers can be prayed as a couple or separately. I hope that you and your spouse will be blessed and encouraged through these prayers based on the book of Galatians!

Here is a link to the PDF of the following prayers.

Prayer #1 Based on 1: 6-17, 22-24

Dear Lord, we praise You for being the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In a world moving further away from the truth, may we refuse to allow our faith to falter or fade. Place in us a sincere longing to make You known. Help us display the unmatched hope found in living for You. Embolden us to consistently convey the meaning of the gospel through our words and actions. Please help us be concerned only with Your approval and unfazed by the opinions of others.

Lord, show us witnessing opportunities and help us to be passionate about telling others about Your love. Enlighten us and provide Your divine revelation as we strive to become more devoted and dedicated to You. As our faith in You deepens, may we powerfully sense Your presence. Thank You for lovingly forgiving our transgressions. Reassure us that You do not define us or anyone else by sins we have committed. Inspire us to cling tightly to the identity You have given us.

Draw us continually closer to You. Reveal how we can proclaim the incomparable power and peace found in having a relationship with You. We pray that others will see Your light shining through in how we conduct ourselves. Broaden our influence and expand our impact as we live lives that courageously honor You. Lord, may our lives inspire many people to learn more about You, become more like You, and follow You fearlessly. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayer #2 Based on Galatians 2: 4-5, 10, 16, 19-21

Dear Lord, we are so grateful that You gave Your life for all of us. Guard our hearts against falling into the bondage of sin. May we be genuinely thankful for the freedom You offer in a life lived for You. Let our generosity toward others be an admirable example for our family and friends to follow.

We pray to become progressively more sensitive to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit. Enable us to discern Your voice above all others. When we hear and acknowledge You, compel us to respond with immediate obedience.

Your Word clearly states that justification comes by faith and not works. Remind us that Your grace is a gift that You offer to all of us. It is our choice to accept it or not. We cannot earn grace by accumulating works or by checking items off a list. May we be completely confident that we are justified in Your sight simply because of our faith in You. Please help us spread that message to others.

May we be alert to opportunities to share our faith openly with a hurting world. Reveal how we can be ambassadors for the freedom we gain when we put our trust in You. Help us grasp the life-changing impact we will have on others when we choose to live for You and love others in a Christlike manner. May we continue to be aware of and amazed by Your extravagant grace. Empower us to offer it to others generously. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayers for Your Children (2 of 3)

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Friends, I would like to share some prayers with you.

  1. A prayer for parents of adult children.
  2. Three prayers for adult children based on Colossians 1-3.

As a mom of four children who are all in their twenties, there are some specific things that I pray about for them. The first prayer below covers some of those…the desire to be there for my children, but to not interfere. It’s a fine line, isn’t it? I’ve crossed it, straddled it, and avoided it etc. at various times. 😀

The next three prayers are based on Colossians 1-3. Of course, these can be prayed for your children no matter their ages, but they are geared toward a little bit older age group.

I have also included printables…so please feel free to download, print, post etc. these prayers and/or share them. Thank you!

Prayer for Parents of Adult Children

Dear Lord, please give me the wisdom to know how much and when to offer assistance to my adult children. Help me discover ways to express and demonstrate that they can call on me for advice and support and that they can also count on me to know when to step back, even when there is potential for them to fail. Stop me from picking up pieces from situations they are assigned to learn from. Please do not allow me to interfere in their maturation process. May they always know that I trust them, pray for them, cheer for them, and love them dearly.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayer for Adult Children Based on Colossians 1-3

Dear Lord, I pray that my children will seek Your wisdom in their lives diligently. May they consistently pursue and display that wisdom in their decisions. Strengthen them with Your power. Please help them to be bold and confident in their faith. Reassure them that with Your help, they can endure and even thrive when they face challenging circumstances. I pray their actions and words will radiate joy to everyone they encounter. Deliver them from the darkness of sins that have led them astray, and instill in them the desire to walk in Your glorious light. May the forgiveness and redemption You have granted them be an inspiration to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Based on Colossians 1:9-14)

Dear Lord, I pray you will remind my children of Your presence and Your faithfulness through every obstacle and hardship they will undoubtedly face. Inspire their hearts to be firmly rooted in their faith. May Your Word saturate their minds, give them clear discernment, and prepare them to guard against deceptive teachings. Reveal Yourself to them and grant them an overflowing thankfulness to You for Your countless blessings.

Help my children see that You are all they truly need. Give them the courage to walk the path You have set before them. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Based on Colossians 2:6-10)

Dear Lord, help my children focus on You above all else. Teach them to filter their thoughts through Your grace, mercy, and love. As Your Word says, may they “put to death” anything that belongs to “their earthly nature” and rid themselves of “anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.” Give them the desire to lead truthful lives, potentially influencing others to know more about You. May their characters be defined by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, and may forgiveness come naturally. Lord, I pray the love of Christ will be evident in all that they say and do. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Based on 3:1-14)

***For printables of the prayers: Click here

 

 

Far Beyond Our Comprehension

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God doesn’t think like us. (Thank God😉)

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)

His ways and thoughts are far beyond our comprehension. Sometimes that can be frustrating and cause us to wonder, “What in the world is going on in my life right now?” But it’s good to remember that His love for us is far beyond our comprehension also – which means even when we don’t understand His ways, His deep love for us guarantees He is doing what is best for us. 

Sometimes what God says is best doesn’t make sense in our human way of thinking, but if I know one thing, it’s that God knows what He is doing. 

Let’s choose to trust Him more and more each day.

Prayers For Your Children (1 of 3)

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Friends, I would like to share some prayers with you.

  1. A prayer for parents of adult children.
  2. Three prayers for adult children based on Romans 12.

As a mom of four children who are all in their twenties, there are some specific things that I pray about. The first prayer below covers those…the desire to be there for my children, but to not interfere. It’s a fine line, isn’t it? I’ve crossed it, straddled it, and avoided it etc. at various times.😀

The next three prayers found below are based on Romans 12, which is a passage that summarizes how to live a Christ-like life, which is something my husband and I long for regarding our kids. Of course, these can be prayed for your children no matter their ages, but they are geared toward a little bit older age group.

I have also included printables…so please feel free to download, print, post etc. these prayers and/or share them. Thank you!

Prayer for Parents of Adult Children

Dear Lord, please give me the wisdom to know how much and when to offer assistance to my adult children. Help me discover ways to express and demonstrate that they can call on me for advice and support and that they can also count on me to know when to step back, even when there is potential for them to fail. Stop me from picking up pieces from situations they are assigned to learn from. Please do not allow me to interfere in their maturation process. May they always know that I trust them, pray for them, cheer for them, and love them dearly.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayers for Adult Children Based on Romans 12

Dear Lord, inspire them to become transformed by You. Help them to grow in their relationship with You consistently. Enlighten them as they strive to understand Your will. May they be unwavering in their belief in You and remain undeterred by worldly influences. Move them to live out their faith boldly. May they realize the incredible worth You have placed in all people as they humbly serve others in Your name. Thank You for the wonderful talents and unique personality traits You have given them. Give them a longing to use those talents and traits to demonstrate Your character confidently. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Based on Romans 12:2-8)

Dear Lord, may they understand the meaning of Your genuine love. I pray they will reject the world’s definition of love and truth and instead diligently cling to all that is good. May they show love and respect in all they say and do. Equip them with a servant’s heart as they enthusiastically represent Your characteristics to all those they encounter. May they be hopeful and faithful in praying for Your blessing to be upon everyone – even those who have hurt them. Empower them to empathize when people are hurting.  Please give them the ability to bring harmony to divisive situations. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Based on Romans 12:9-16)

Dear Lord, teach them to treat people with grace and humility consistently. Give them a desire to be honorable when dealing with others. May they realize how necessary it is to have a teachable spirit, which will spur them on to pursue Your wisdom and apply it. May they radiate Christlike peace even when they are taken advantage of, and may they depend on You to make everything right, instead of defaulting to the natural response of repaying evil for evil. Instruct them how to model generosity in even the most challenging of circumstances. Aid them in displaying Your love to a hurting world. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Based on Romans 12:17-21)

***For printables of the prayers: Click here

Who Am I?

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“Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name; would care to feel my hurt? Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart?”

And oh, do I have a wandering heart. It wanders from the path God has graciously laid out for me. It strays from His love, His peace, and His wisdom and tries to find those things from different sources. And still…in the middle of my meandering mess, God continues to pursue me and light the way. That is an out-of-this-world type of love that we can’t genuinely grasp until we start striving to get closer to God!

Who am I? Someone who doesn’t deserve God’s eternal, extraordinary love. And who is He? Someone who tells me I am His. Amazing…

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Lyrics: Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name; would care to feel my hurt? Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who I am but because of what You’ve done. Not because of what I’ve done but because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow. A wave tossed in the ocean; a vapor in the wind. Still You hear me when I’m calling. Lord, You catch me when I’m falling. And You’ve told me who I am. I am Yours, I am Yours.

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin would look on me with love and watch me rise again? Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea would call out through the rain and calm the storm in me?

Not because of who I am but because of what You’ve done. Not because of what I’ve done but because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow. A wave tossed in the ocean; a vapor in the wind. Still You hear me when I’m calling. Lord, You catch me when I’m falling. And You’ve told me who I am. I am Yours, I am Yours.

Prayers for Your Husband (Based on Ephesians 3)

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I firmly believe that when wives pray for their husbands, those prayers will play a part in strengthening those marriages. It’s been more than a year since I shared “Prayers for Your Husband” based on Ephesians 1 and 2, (here are the links for the free printables!) Prayers for your husband based on Ephesians 1 and Prayers for your husband based on Ephesians 2 and now I would like to share prayers based on the 3rd chapter of Ephesians. You will find them below.

Also, there is a free printable of these verses and corresponding prayers. Cut them out, put them on your mirror, use them as a bookmark etc. and faithfully lift your husband up in prayer! Click here for the link: Prayers for Your Husband Ephesians 3

Here’s what the download looks like:

I pray that your marriage will be blessed and encouraged by these prayers!

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery,which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. Ephesians 3:7-9 (NIV)

Dear Lord, bless my husband with a servant’s heart that recognizes and responds to other people’s needs with Christlike mercy and humility. Pour Your grace into his life, and give him an eagerness to extend that grace freely to others. Increase His faith in Your perfect promises, and intensify His belief in Your unmatched authority. May he be entirely attentive and obedient to Your voice as You guide him in using his God-given gifts to impact our world for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Ephesians 3:12-15 (NIV)

Dear Lord, we appreciate that Your Word assures us that we can approach You with freedom and confidence. Energize my husband’s prayer life. Reawaken in him a longing for consistent, intimate communication with You. I pray the close relationship You share will empower him to go to You with the boldness, reverence, and awe You are worthy of. Encourage him to be fully transparent with You. Reassure him that You always welcome him with open arms. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:17b-21 (NIV)

Dear Lord, embolden my husband’s belief that he is loved by You with a love that is deeper, wider, and stronger than can even be described. May that love spill into every facet of his life and leave a meaningful mark on everyone he comes into contact with. I pray that his security will forever be based on being a cherished son of his Heavenly Father. Remind him that You are capable of more than he can imagine, and that You are continuously working in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Masterpiece

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Ephesians 2:10a says, “For we are God’s masterpiece…” Since God considers us to be His masterpiece, we don’t ever have to wrestle with thoughts of whether we are special or if we have anything to offer that’s different from what other people can offer.

Perhaps it’s a stretch to compare people to sunrises and sunsets, but bear with me…I suppose I could hold a “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” attitude toward sunrises and sunsets, but I still get excited every time one is within view. Each one is uniquely beautiful. The various colors in the sky, the different ways the sun reflects upon the water, the clouds, trees, and other scenic features all combine to display a stunning example of God’s handiwork. And our unique gifts, personality traits, and perspectives – all of which are valuable – all point to God’s brilliance. 

God equipped all of us differently to be an equally significant part of His world.

Let your unique light shine today!