Prayer and Devotionals That Strengthen Our Marriage

Marriage brings great joy, but also unique challenges. When the vows are exchanged, two separate lives become intertwined – emotionally, spiritually, and practically. As a result, the health and strength of a marriage depend on the ability to unite as a team to face obstacles in a spirit of understanding.

With open communication, forgiveness, appreciation of differences, and commitment as the foundation, faith provides married couples an incredible source of guidance, wisdom, and power through prayer and devotionals.

By prioritizing time together in prayer and reflection, husband and wife build intimacy and trust in their walk with God and with each other.

Despite good intentions, it’s easy for the stresses of jobs, children, life changes, conflict, finances, and more to accumulate and distract from the marriage relationship. Couples may struggle to make time for quality conversation, date nights, weekends away, or even sex.

Resentment slowly grows while unresolved arguments circle without resolution. Many lose hope or question their compatibility over time. While some challenges need counseling support, marriage experts agree prayer and reflection together strengthen emotional and spiritual resilience when difficulties arise.

Setting the tone by starting each day inviting God into your marriage opens the heart to see one’s spouse through more understanding, empathetic eyes while also building faith in God’s purpose and provision.

The Power of Prayer in Marriage

Praying together intimately connects husband and wife to each other and God by verbalizing needs, fears, gratitude and hope. Through prayer, the emotional walls that conflict can build slowly crumble as hearts open to acceptance and forgiveness. Feeling understood and accepted is essential for experiencing safe intimacy in marriage.

Yet pride, past pain, poor models while growing up, and societal norms around masculine and feminine roles can cause misunderstanding. Partners may shut down or explode in anger rather than display emotional vulnerability out of fear of criticism, rejection or feeling inadequate.

By kneeling humbly before God as a team, prayer removes pride and transforms hearts to see the shared struggles each faces as tests of character and resilience.

Specific Prayers for Common Marital Challenges

Facing distress about sexual intimacy, finances, responsibilities, conflict resolution or betrayal? Here are some prayers and scriptures to specifically target growth areas:

Improving Emotional and Physical Intimacy

• Pray to God for guidance communicating affection needs and insecurities preventing vulnerability.
• Pray for self-control around destructive habits draining energy and time from the marriage.
• Pray 1 Corinthians 7:4-5 – “The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other…so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

Seeking Forgiveness

• Pray Psalm 51 for repentance and purification of transgressions.
• Pray Matthew 6:14-15 to extend forgiveness you wish God to grant you.
• Pray for humility and wisdom to have challenging discussions around wrongdoing.

Overcoming Financial Stressors

• Pray Proverbs 3:9-10 to guide financial stewardship and giving.
• Pray Psalm 37:25-26 when anxious about providing for needs.
• Pray for discernment around wants vs. needs and self-control spending habits.

Navigating Life Changes

• Pray Isaiah 43:18-19 to let go of control and let God direct transitions.
• Pray Deuteronomy 31:8 for courage facing uncertain futures leaning on God.
• Pray for perspective when grieving losses and clarity when setting new goals.

Daily Devotionals for Couples

Seeking to strengthen spiritual intimacy with your spouse? Consider practicing a short devotional together to start each day centered and connected. Here are some ideas to try:

Gratitude & Appreciation

Before rising, hold hands gazing into each other’s eyes giving thanks for one blessing the other person or relationship brings you.

Daily Scripture Reading & Reflection

Read a selected bible verse reflecting on key principles to apply to your marriage that day. Discuss takeaways.

Prayer Over Each Other

Hold hands prayerfully asking God’s guidance and protection over responsibilities and challenges facing your spouse that day.

Resources like Encouraging Couples, Couples of Faith, or Growth Marriage provide free marriage devotionals including meaningful scriptures and reflections questions around themes like communication, conflict, intimacy and more with space to journal.

Local churches also often provide materials focused on biblical marriage principles. Devotionals guide spouses to identify growth areas and have constructive discussions. They provide hope through reminders of God’s faithfulness when hardship tests commitment.

By spending just 10-15 minutes a day inviting God into your marriage firstthing, devotionals break patterns of jumping straight into logistics and responsibilities that can divide focus. Instead, the tone is set for unity, extending grace when stress surfaces later.

Overcoming Challenges with Faith

Every marriage hits periods of hardship testing even the strongest bonds. Faith serves as an incredible well of wisdom and power for couples seeking to persevere.

Scripture is filled with verses comforting hearts weary with fear, providing courage to keep trying when solutions seem out of reach, revealing purpose in periods of loss, supplying strength and instruction to make wise choices for the future. Here are some specific prayers and bible verses to meditate when facing common marriage challenges:

Communication Breakdown

• Pray for humility and open ears to understand each other’s hearts when tensions rise.
• Pray James 1:19 – “Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”.
• Pray Ecclesiastes 3:7 for wisdom discerning optimal times to discuss sensitive matters.

Recovering From Betrayal

• Pray for willingness to release bitterness and extend mercy.
• Pray Jeremiah 29:11 – “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
• Pray Psalms 147:3 – “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Reducing Financial Arguments

• Pray Proverbs 22:7 for freedom from burdensome debt complicating harmony.
• Pray Malachi 3:10 for faithful stewardship and obedience bringing blessings.
• Pray Psalms 37:25-26 letting go anxiety God will provide all needs.

Adjusting to New Norms

• Pray Joshua 1:9 when change brings uncertainty.
• Pray Isaiah 43:18 about focusing forward during life transitions.
• Pray Ecclesiastes 3:1 reflecting seasons bring evolving purposes.

Building a Strong Marriage Foundation

While each couple’s journey is unique, marriage experts agree several key pillars provide stable footing from which to weather external storms – open and appreciative communication, quick forgiveness of perceived slights, and shared spiritual values.

By focusing daily effort around strengthening these core areas, husbands and wives cross stressful patches with less lasting damage to the union.

Cultivating a spirit of gratitude, verbally highlighting little daily kindnesses while overlooking minor annoyances greases the machinery of communication exchanges away from criticism and contempt. Starting conflict conversations openly sharing vulnerabilities around your deepest fears and longings behind surface emotions invites greater compassion and identification from your spouse.

Seeking to understand rather than proving a point opens minds to creative compromise. Carrying over grudges and bitterness from disagreements slowly decays intimacy over time. Seeking and extending forgiveness to wipe slates clean after arguments allows forward momentum to rebuilding positive sentiment.

Most importantly, recognizing trials testing patience and teamwork serve a spiritual purpose builds faith and perseverance muscles. Relying on scriptures as guides, when human wisdom falls short, keeps the union centered on eternal rather than superficial worldly values.

Marriage provides a special opportunity for couples to motivate one another toward deeper character reflection about universal virtues like mercy, discipline, selflessness generosity and unconditional love. With God as the foundation upholding vows through the unpredictable path of married life, devotionals and prayer smooth the journey by enlightening purpose at every twist and turn.

Conclusion

Navigating two individual lives joining as one while balancing myriad external responsibilities poses inevitable challenges for married couples requiring patience, teamwork and faith to overcome.

Yet, with understanding, gratitude and commitment as the bedrock upholding the union, prayer and devotionals inject daily inspiration, wisdom and power centered around biblical values to reinforce the foundation. Setting aside pride and inviting God’s light into times of darkness provides clarity when human reasoning alone fails. Shared spiritual rituals build intimate bonds strengthening trust to weather external storms.

By kneeling in prayer and reflection together, husbands and wives open their hearts to see one another through more empathetic, forgiving eyes while also surrendering control to God’s divine providence. For every couple willing to devote time to this practice, the reward is a deeper, more resilient companionship ready to thrive in good times and bad.