Same Old, Same Old...

When I sat down to pray, my mind went to a very familiar place. I was praying for my husband about his fitness and his health. It’s an area of his life that I frequently pray over. I know that I have certain topics that always come up in my prayer life for myself. “Parenting teenagers without being offended” and “finding balance” are the most common these days. Yet somehow, in the moment, the thought went through my mind, “Again? Do I really have to pray over this subject again?”I guess that may sound horrible to some. Others will know exactly what I mean. Have you ever watched someone you love struggle in the same area over and over again? On one level, you have sympathy. On another level, you are ready to move on. This time, as soon “Again?” went through my mind, I was immediately struck with a thought. Again is what should differentiate me from every other person that prays for him. We are called to love our spouses where they are and pray for them to live victorious lives again and again and again.Instead of being frustrated by their battle, I want to encourage us to take another perspective. What if we realized that we may be the only person on planet earth that cares enough to sustain our prayers for our spouse? Somehow, if we aren’t careful, the “for better or worse” that we commit to on our wedding day can mutate to “only if he is not at fault” in our prayer life.We give ourselves grace, knowing that we still have battles that we haven’t yet overcome. I cannot count how many times I’ve had the same conversation with Chris as he coaches me on how to navigate through a familiar issue for the 100th time. I’ve even begun to keep some voice memos on the most persistent topics, so I don’t bore him when the enemy hits a familiar vulnerability. Yet even in the closeness of a husband/wife relationship, we don’t always seem eager to extend the same grace that we should.May I also encourage us that while marriage is about a husband and wife, it is also about God. Even if you don’t sense your spouse is committed to praying for you in this same way, that doesn’t free you from the calling. There are times that the Lord will sweeten our relationship with Him as we wait upon Him to draw our spouse in His own unique way. There will be times when we simply pray out of our love for the Lord and His relationship with us, more than out of warm fuzzy feelings about the man we love. Marriage is a commitment not just to the man, but to the Lord.The day will come when we will give thanks for victory. The victory will be sweeter knowing that we learned to persist in prayer for the one we love. twitter | facebook