Home, sweet home! Homes could be a place of so much joy, laughter, physical and emotional intimacy, and safety. Yet, the same four walls could also be a place of abuse, neglect, suffocation, and brokenness. When the primary relationship between a man and the wife is not right, everyone at the home gets affected. Shall we pray for the marriages of those near our homes?
Bible passage:
Psalm 128: 1 - 4 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
Ephesians 5: 31 - 33 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Malachi 2: 13 - 15 You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
A quick search for the top reasons for divorces in India includes Adultery, Abuse, Lack of intimacy, Interference from family/ friends, Addictions, Lack of or miscommunication, and incompatibility. A high percentage of marriages worldwide are unhappy or unhealthy even if it doesn't end in a divorce.
Even in a secular marriage, there is oneness - two becoming one, that reflects, though in a broken sense, the profound mystery of the unity of Christ and His bride. The evil one strives to break families and blind people from any truths that would lead them to God. Shall we stand in the gap and pray?
Prayer points:
Pray that adulteries - physical and emotional infidelities, and pornographic addictions are broken in the name of Christ.
Pray that the one who domestically abuses the spouse is exposed and held accountable, and that God would protect the one who is hurt, and that they would seek emotional and physical healing.
Pray that God would reveal Himself as a servant King who sacrifices, strengthening the love between the man and wife, giving them the desire to sacrifice for each other.
Pray that the profound mystery of God's design of marriage would bring people to a better understanding of God and of a Godly marriage.
If you can, try memorizing Ephesians 5:31,32.
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