52 Week Marriage Challenge Week #6: Pray for Your Spouse

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that you and your spouse have something fun planned to celebrate.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 says "Two are better than one, because the have a good reward for their toil. For if they fail, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him- a threefold cord is not easily broken." (ESV)  I love the picture of a threefold cord. The threefold cord is strong and cannot be easily broken. When Christ is the center of our marriages, they will be strong. They will not be broken. It is when we fail to give our relationships up to Christ and delight in our own sinful nature that our marriages can and often will fail.

Week #6: Pray for Your Spouse

 

We cannot control our spouse's relationship with God, but we can continually lift them up in prayer. This week, I want to challenge you to purposefully pray for your spouse on a daily basis.

 

Here are some things that you can consider when you pray:

• What are some of my spouse's spiritual gifts? (Praise)
• What are some things that are going well in my spouse's personal life? (Praise)
• What are some things that are going well in my spouse's professional life? (Praise)
• What are some things that are going well in your marriage? (Praise)
• What is your spouse currently struggling with in their spiritual life? If you don't know the answer to this, take a few minutes to ask.
• What are some of the things that your spouse is struggling with in their personal life?
• What are some of the things that your spouse is struggling with in their professional life?
• What are some things that you are struggling with as a couple?

As you are thinking and praying about some of these things, incorporate supporting scriptures. If you aren't sure where to find scriptures about a specific topic, you can simply do an Internet search for "verses about...".

If you need help getting started, there are many great resources available.

Online Resources:

31 Days of Praying for Your Husband
6 Verses to Pray for Your Husband
Praying for Him (31 Day Challenge)
Praying for Her (31 Day Challenge)

Books About Prayer:

The Power of a Praying® Wife
The Power of a Praying® Husband
Prayers Of An Excellent Wife: Intercession For Him
Praying God's Word for Your Husband
How to Pray for Your Wife: A 31-Day Guide

52 Week Marriage Challenge

Week #1: Devotional Time
Week #2: Spouse Time
Week #3: Letter of Thanks
Week #4: Kiss Like You Mean It
Week #5 Stay at Home Date Night

Some of the links on this website are "affiliate links." This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive a commission

52 Week Marriage Challenge Week #4: Kiss Like You Mean It

I know many of you give your spouse a kiss and hug goodbye as they leave for work in the morning, a kiss in the evening when they arrive home and one before you go to sleep at night. If you are like me, you are probably usually in the middle of something and the kiss may be a bit...um...rushed. I will admit that I usually give my husband a quick smooch and then go on with my business.

Week #4 Challenge: Kiss like you mean it.

 

Some of you may already do this, but I know that this is something that I need to work on. I want to challenge you to take a few extra seconds this week when you say goodbye in the morning, when you say hello in the evening or when you go to bed at night to kiss like you mean it. Drop everything that you are doing and take a few extra seconds to really connect with your spouse.

 

Something a simple as a genuine, loving kiss can make a big impact on your relationship. I am sure that the first time that you do it, your spouse will be pleasantly surprised.

 

With Valentine's Day rapidly approaching, I would love to hear any great ideas that you have for your spouse. Please leave a comment or link.

52 Week Marriage Challenge Week #2: Spouse Time

As we begin week #2 of our 52 Week Marriage Challenge, I would like to ask you a question. How much quality time do you spend with your spouse each day? I'm not talking about putting the kids to bed or watching TV together. I am talking about quality time where you talk, pray, and listen to one another.

We all fall into the daily routine trap. I know my husband and I do. We get so wrapped up in our day to day lives and we forget to share our lives with each other. For those of you that have children, I know this can be a struggle. We have three children ages three and under and it seems most of our day is spent taking care of their basic needs. What we tend to forget is the best thing that we can ever do for our children is demonstrate what a loving and God centered marriage is all about.

Genesis 2:24 says "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh". In order to become "one flesh" with our spouse as the Bible intended, we have to spend time nurturing and cultivating our relationship.

Week Two Challenge: Find 30 minutes per day to spend quality time with your spouse.

So how exactly do you find 30 minutes of uninterrupted time every day?

Take a look at your current activities. For many of you, 30 minutes may seem like a stretch when there are dishes to wash, children to care for and laundry to be done. If you are struggling to find 30 minutes, I encourage you to make a list of things you do on a daily basis and take out one or two of the least important things. Most of us have plenty of time to watch TV, Facebook, or read a book.

Schedule it. It might make sense for the 30 minutes to be scheduled at the same time every day. This could be in the morning before other family members wake up or it could be at night after everyone else is in bed. Some of you may even be lucky enough to have 30 minutes available at lunchtime. If you can't find 30 minutes at the same time everyday, still make sure you schedule the time. When your scheduled time rolls around, if there are dishes in the sink, leave them there!

Ok, I have the time scheduled. Now what do we do?

Since we talked about this being quality time, you shouldn't be watching TV or reading the newspaper. This needs to be a time to interact and nurture your relationship. Here are some ideas for activities you can do during this time:

• Work through a devotional together (this was part of last week's challenge)
• Pray together
• Read a marriage focused book together (One of my favorite is His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage)
• Read the Bible together (Song of Solomon is a good place to start)
• Just talk
• Dream together, talk about the future and set goals for what you would like to accomplish as a couple
• Bedroom time (self explanatory, I hope!)

I would love for you to share ideas about what you and your spouse do during your quality time to build your relationship. Please share your ideas in the comment section.

If you missed the first week of our challenge, I encourage you to go back and start there:

• 52 Week Marriage Challenge Week #1: Devotional Time

Some of the links on this website are "affiliate links." This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive a commission.

52 Week Marriage Challenge: Week One

One of my top 6 priorities for 2013, is to develop a deeper and stronger relationship with my husband. I have been thinking about a way to accomplish this and decided it would be great to create a 52 Week Marriage Challenge. Similar to my 52 Week Reorganized Home Challenge, I will post a challenge each week meant to strengthen the bond with your spouse.

Week One Challenge: Find a devotional to work through as a couple during the course of this year.

I believe that working through a Christ based devotional with your husband will not only improve your relationship, but it will put Christ where he belongs...in the center of your relationship. No matter how much time you spend with your husband, your relationship will never reach its full potential if Christ is not a part of it.

My husband and I started working through the devotional Closer: 52 Devotions to Draw Couples Together last year, but with the busyness of the holidays, it fell by the wayside. I am going to set aside time every week to make sure that we get back on track and finish working through the book (this is also one of my goals for 2013). I have been very pleased with this book so far.

If you are looking for more ideas for marriage based devotionals, there are some additional titles available on Amazon:

 

The One Year Love Language Minute Devotional (One Year Signature Line)

 

Night Light: A Devotional for Couples

If you are dating, there are also a good devotionals available for Christian couples:

 

Devotions For Dating Couples: Building A Foundation For Spiritual Intimacy



 

Are you working through a devotional with your spouse? How has working through a devotional changed your relationship?



Prioritizing Life the Way God Intended

In March of 2008, I married the most amazing man. Ever since that day, my life has become a whirlwind. My first daughter was born in March of 2009 (a day after our first wedding anniversary), my second daughter was born in August of 2010 and my son was born in July of 2012. Having three children under the age of four has been challenging.

Before my eldest daughter was born, my husband and I made the decision that I would be a stay-at-home mom. At the beginning, I worked from home for a family member's business and I created a money saving blog. After the birth of my second daughter, I knew that I had to make some changes. I was constantly stressed and anxious trying to keep up with my self imposed work load. I quit my part time job and discontinued blogging. Despite these changes, I still felt like I couldn't keep up with my day to day workload.

During the last few weeks, I have been praying about how to cope with my anxiety and stress. God has revealed to me that my priorities have been severely out of whack. It is now abundantly clear to me, that it is necessary for me to make some drastic changes in my life. First and foremost, my relationship with God has to be my number one priority. Without a focus on this relationship, I know that I will not be able to accomplish any of the things that I would like to. Secondly, I must focus on my relationship with my husband. Although my husband and I have a good relationship, I know that I fall short of the things that I should do as a Godly wife. My children need to be my third priority. Too many times, I allow outside things to take precedence over my children. My vice is technology...Facebook, Pinterest, reading blogs, etc.  After God, my husband, and my children, I need to focus on serving others. In order to accomplish these first four goals, I know that there are many things that I need to do to simplify my life.

2013 Priorities

1. Relationship with God
2. Relationship with Husband
3. Relationship with Children
4. Service to Others
5. Self Development
6. Household Management

I created this blog as a means to hold myself accountable for a reorganized, simple lifestyle. I will be focusing on the things that I do to focus on my top 6 priorities. I hope that some of the things that I learn along the way will also be beneficial for you as well.

What ways are you planning to simplify your life in 2013? Do you need to make any changes to your priorities?