Commit to Praying for Your Spouse - Crosswalk Couples Devotional - September 10

Commit to Praying for Your Spouse
By: Kia Stephens 

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. - Mark 11:24 (NIV)

When we first begin praying about a specific area in our lives, we are confident and full of faith. We believe without a shadow of a doubt that God is going to answer our prayers. Over time, however, our fervency may begin to wane as we weather disappointment.

There is a tendency for this to happen in many areas of our lives but especially in marriage. In marriage, we have a front-row seat to answered and unanswered prayer. Nowhere is this more evident than in the prayers we pray for our spouse.

We may have a high tolerance for a lack of change in ourselves, but when it comes to our spouse, we want and need it to be immediate. We have no desire to wait on God to manifest the answer to our prayers over time. When it comes to the change we want to see in our spouse, we expect instant answers to prayer.

When we don’t see the changes we desire it is easy to begin to doubt whether God will answer the prayers for our spouse at all.

Here in our passage of Scripture, Jesus is talking to the disciples about their faith. The conversation is occurring after Jesus cursed a fig tree and the disciples noticed later that the fig tree withered to its roots. When Jesus responded he said, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him."

There may be mountainous areas we see in our spouse. Things like bad habits, attitudes, and mindsets that we want God to change. Although we may be tempted to believe that change is not possible, our faith in God compels us to believe that it is.

We also must recognize that even if God does not do what we want him to do in our spouse on this side of eternity He is able to do anything. The reality is, while we are faithfully praying for our spouse God somehow supernaturally changes us. He teaches us how to genuinely love a person through persistent prayer, strengthens our resolve to believe in the things that we cannot see, and He causes our desires to line up with his.

How do we persist in praying for our spouse when we are tempted to doubt or we don’t see any change? Jesus never demanded we have perfect faith. We are allowed to bring our doubts to him.

The simple answer is, we chose to keep praying. Praying for our spouse is a daily choice. It is not contingent on our feelings about our spouse, his or her actions, or whether or not we have seen the change we want to see. We have a choice to thank God for our spouses and pray for them in a way no one else will because we are the closest people to them. It is a privilege to be able to touch the heart of God on behalf of our spouse. For this reason, let’s commit to praying for our spouse consistently.

Kia Stephens is a wife and homeschooling mama of two who is passionate about helping women know God as Father. For this reason, she created The Father Swap Blog to be a source of encouragement, healing, and practical wisdom for women dealing with the effects of a physically or emotionally absent father. Each week through practical and biblically sound teaching she encourages women to exchange father wounds for the love of God the Father. For more encouragement download Kia's free audio message, “Knowing God as Father.” Additionally, you can connect with Kia on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Related Resource: How to Make Your Prayer Habits Stick

Have you ever thought: "I wish I would have prayed first?" 

Remembering to make prayer our first option over others in times of crisis, need, or our everyday lives can be challenging. We've all experienced the many distractions that circumvent our prayer intentions.

Join Rachel on Untangling Prayer as she shares James Clear's 4 laws of behavior change and how they apply to our prayer lives. 

You won't want to miss the amazing answer to prayer and sweet affirmation she also shares as a beautiful example of how God works in our lives today! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to subscribe to Untangling Prayer on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode! Rachel also has a new book called Desperate Prayers: Embracing the Power of Prayer in Life's Darkest Moments.