Do you and your spouse ever struggle to believe the best about each other or even speak kindly to one another? Taking the time and energy to build up our spouse can be a difficult task especially if you aren’t feeling it. After all, you two are both broken people who are trying to live every day together. It’s easy to get frustrated with your spouse, especially with all the trials and changes that happen in life. However, Jesus will help you to honor your spouse and love them genuinely as you seek to place Him at the center of your marriage. Here are eight prayers to help and encourage you in honoring your spouse.
1. “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” – Matthew 19:6 NLT
God, through our union in You, my spouse and I have become one. Please help us to remember and hold onto this truth so we can treat each other lovingly. Help us to work together always and to lean on You and one another in our times of need. In Jesus’ name, amen.
2. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. – Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT
Lord, it is not always easy to be humble, gentle, and patient within a marriage because we are imperfect and will often get on each other’s nerves. However, I ask that You give us each the power to act graciously and to be quick to forgive. Even though we are imperfect, we know that You and all Your ways are perfect, Lord. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
3. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. – Proverbs 3:3 NLT
Jesus, I pray that You constantly remind me of Your loyalty and kindness to me. You will always stand by me, as I strive to have the same attitude toward my spouse. In this world, it is so easy to lose focus on the importance of relational connection. Lord, I ask for You to forgive any bitterness that I have had towards my spouse. Please give me the ability to keep loyalty and kindness at the forefront of my marriage. In Your name, amen.
4. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT
Father, please help my spouse and I build each other up as Your Word tells us to do. It is easy, in our flesh, to tear each other down and use our flaws against each other as weapons, but You call us to work to be more like You every day. I pray each of us can be an encouragement to the other through the good and bad times of our marriage, just as You are always a steady encouragement to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
5. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. – Romans 12:10 NLT
God, You tell us to love each other genuinely. I know that genuine love comes from You and You only. You tell us that love is patient and kind, so please help me to be all these things to my spouse. Help me to honor my spouse to a greater degree and keep You at the center of our relationship. In Jesus’ holy name, amen.
6. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. – 1 John 4:12 NLT
Lord, Your Word tells us that, “God is love”, and Christian marriage is one of the purest expressions of love on this side of heaven. May we and the people around us see You in the way my spouse and I love each other. Give us the ability to use this love to honor each other daily. In Your name alone, amen.
7. This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. – Genesis 2:24 NLT
Jesus, my spouse, and I are united into one through Your sacred institution of marriage. At times, it is easy to view marriage as only a worldly union rather than a sacred one governed by You directly. Please equip us to be able to honor both our sacred union before You, and our union by the government. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
8. Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in trouble. – Ecclesiastes 4:9 NLT
God, I know that You have given me my spouse so that we may be partners in this life and help each other when one of us needs it. I pray You continually remind us of our partnership through You and that we may always lean on one another and be better together. Thank You for Your faithfulness and for a faithful partner with whom I can do Your good work. I pray all these things in Jesus’ name, amen.
