Two praying as one

Psalm 127:1
"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain."

As we pray for our son, who is single, my wife and I often acknowledge that love and marriage are gifts from God ... a wonderful part of His perfect plan in a fallen world. It is not a given, we concede, that God's blessings for His children include marriage and a family. So it is that part of our prayer for our son's future goes something like this: "Lord, if your will for our son includes a wife and family, we pray that you will prepare the way even now for him and for the woman he will take as his wife. We pray that each shall recognize and covet today the importance of living a life that is pleasing to you, including denial of a cultural message that says, 'If it feels good, do it'."


This being said, I want today to encourage married couples to commit to regular time in prayer TOGETHER, as one. It is amazing how God has blessed our marriage in the wake of a decision several years ago to pray together. I am embarassed to admit that I failed for many years of our marriage to make husband/wife prayer time a priority in our home.


It is hard for many to establish this element of married life, even with the best of intentions. In addition to the significant obstacle of making schedules match, there are challenges including the ancient stumbling blocks: fear and pride ("What does she think about the way I pray?" or even "Is it safe to share 'out loud' what is on my heart right now?").


As the Scripture emphasizes, marriage is important to the Lord. Why else would He have encouraged it? When "the two become one," doesn't it follow that the Father desires to spend time not only with son and daughter individually, but also with husband and wife "as one?"


For encouragement in your marriage, I first urge the obvious: spend time in the Word apart AND together. I also suggest occasional "visits" to Christian ministries including Family Talk, Men's Fraternity and Focus on the Family. God calls us to be in prayer always. Commit today to making prayer with your spouse a part of each day on this journey toward eternal life with the Father.