Are prayers for married couples necessary? If you want to fulfill God's purpose in your life and your marriage, then yes marriage prayers are absolutely necessary.
Your prayers for your marriage are going to be the agent that creates stronger unity between you and God and you and your spouse.
The trick to marriage is understanding what separates the long and successful marriages from those that struggle. In my experience, there are two traits that a successful, happy marriage has that the marriages that struggle fail to possess.
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One is how the couple strives to use prayer on a daily basis to build a solid marriage foundation. The other is how the couple handles the difficult times in their marriage.
Ultimately, a couple's ability to develop either trait is driven by the prayers they pray over their marriage and the connection they make with God.
In Matthew 19:4-6, we learn that marriage is a gift from God.
4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, 5 and said, for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
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In order to keep your marriage on the right path, you and your spouse need to be blessing your marriage with prayer and lifting each other and your marriage up to God on a regular basis.
In this post, we are going to discuss 12 prayers for married couples that are going to help you connect with God, each other, and establish a strong marital foundation. These are the type of prayers that build marriages and help couples stay together.
Pray God will Help You Grow as Individuals
You and your spouse form two legs on which your marriage stands. Both legs need to be strong and independent. Yes, you both are certainly joined as one in marriage but are two independent people. You are designed to build your marriage with your spouse. The marriage is not designed to build you.
Learn to be happy and confident within yourself. Don't rely on your marriage or your spouse to be the source of happiness for you. Your marriage should make you happy, but should not be the source of your happiness. You need to bring that life and enthusiasm to the marriage.
Marriage Prayer #1
Father, we pray that you work in our hearts to make us the best individuals that we can be. Help us to find our sense of happiness and fulfillment so that we can bring that light into our marriage and to our spouse. We want to come together in our marriage as two happy and healthy people so that we can give each other our best.
Pray for God's Guidance in Your Marriage
Your marriage (in good times and bad) needs direction from God. You need as a couple to make sure you are on the same page with each other, but more importantly with God's will for your marriage. Pray that God's plan for you and your marriage will be made abundantly clear to you both.
Psalm 119:105 reads "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path" Use the word of God to help you find your marital way.
Marriage Prayer #2
Father, we pray that you will surround us with your guidance so that our marriage brings honor to you. We pray that you show us your will and that you give us the passion to fulfill your purpose.
Pray a Prayer of Thanksgiving
Your marriage and your spouse are gifts from God. I firmly believe that all couples are brought together for the reason of fulfilling a divine purpose. Never cease to live and pray with a spirit of thanksgiving for the blessings you have in both your spouse and your marriage.
Marriage Prayer #3
Father, we pray that you help us to never take our spouse or our marriage for granted. Help us to realize how blessed we are and to live a life of thanksgiving.
Pray a Prayer of Appreciation for Each Other
People like to be appreciated. Your spouse is no different. No one likes to have their efforts for the other go unappreciated or not acknowledged.
Your ability to show appreciation for each other is a key indicator of how successful your marriage is. Don't take anything your spouse does for granted. Saying "Thank You" is very easy and can have a huge impact on your marriage. Let your spouse know often how much you appreciate them.
Anne does a great job of this. She never fails to tell me how much she appreciates me or the things that I do for her. Her desire to let me know that she sees what I do for her and who I am as her husband has an incredible impact on our marriage.
Marriage Prayer #4
Father, we pray that you show us how to be appreciative of the efforts of each other. Let us not end the day without telling each other how much we appreciate what they do and who they are to us. Whether their efforts are within the home, at their office, with the kids, or with each other; let us show gratitude to each other.
A valuable part of your spiritual growth together is a good devotional book. Never Alone - Devotions for Couples by David and Teresa Ferguson is a great resource.
Pray God will Give You and Your Spouse Love for Each Other
Love is a choice. Choose to love your spouse today. Whether in words or actions, let them feel your love for them. Let them never question or doubt your commitment and passion for them.
I understand that it is not always easy. During arguments, you may not like your spouse very much, but you need to always love them. It's important that they feel loved during both the good times as well as the tough. You do this by choosing your words carefully. You can argue and disagree, but do it respectfully.
Marriage Prayer #5
Father, we humbly pray that you give us love for each other and our marriage. You have placed us in each other's lives to grow, love, and to fulfill your purpose. Help us to see that our successful marriage and our obedience to you depends on our ability to love and show that love.
Pray God will Give You and Your Spouse Kinds Words for Each Other
In your marriage, your words should only be used to encourage, support, and love each other. Harsh or biting words can have a devastating impact on your spouse and your marriage. Criticism and undo judgment will only work to drive your spouse away.
As mentioned above, showing love during an argument can be tough, but you have to be careful with your words. You have the ability to hold your spouse's heart in your hands. Be gentle with your words and actions.
Marriage Prayer #6
Father, we pray that you give us the words to speak to each other. Use every word from our mouths to speak love and encouragement to the other. We understand that harsh words are the tools of the enemy of our love and marriage. Give us the awareness in every situation to only speak that which builds each other up.
Pray God will Give You and Your Spouse Compassion for Each Other
There have been times in our marriage when Anne has had to show me compassion. I've had difficult times and Anne has always been there for me. Likewise, there have been times when she needed compassion from me.
In your marriage, you and your spouse will each have opportunities to show compassion for each other. Be willing and quick to take their hand and love them through difficult times. It may be the loss of a parent or tough times at work, but there will be times when they need your love, support, and compassion.
Marriage Prayer #7
Father, just as you show us compassion, we ask that you give us the ability to recognize when each other is in a time of need. We recognize that we are joined as one and we are called to love and support each other in our respective time of need. Give us the words to say and the needed actions to support each other properly.
Pray God will Give You Strength to Fight the Enemies of Your Marriage
Your marriage has many enemies and is under attack. There are those who don't wish your marriage to succeed. Whether out of jealousy or their own evil intentions, they are pulling against you.
It's key for your marriage that you and your spouse have the ability to recognize when those enemies are at your door. That you have a strong marriage foundation and relationship with each other so that you can fight off the enemies.
Author Tim Challies has a great article on the six enemies of your marriage. I highly suggest checking it out here.
Marriage Prayer #8
Father, we pray that you arm us to protect our marriage from the enemy that would see it destroyed. Our marriage is designed to bring honor to you. We pray that you give us the wisdom to see those enemies around us and rely on your divine power to protect our marriage from all attacks.
Pray God will Place a Burden to Serve Each Other
Jesus was the perfect example of servant leadership. In Mark 10:44-45, Jesus said
44 "...and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Look for ways that you can serve your spouse rather than looking for ways that they can serve you. By serving your spouse you honor them, you honor your marriage, and most importantly you honor God.
What are some ways that you can serve your spouse? I'd suggest putting together a list of things they do that you can do for them. Whether it is packing their lunch or putting gas in their car, there are likely many ways you can serve them.
Marriage Prayer #9
Father, place a burden in our hearts that we should serve each other with pure hearts. Let us not serve with the intention of receiving anything in return, but out of respect for each other and to answer your call.
Pray God will Give Each of You a Humble Heart
James 4:6 tells us "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Being prideful has no place in your marriage. Pride is in direct conflict with God's will for your marriage.
A spouse with a prideful heart is focused more on winning an argument rather than seeking resolution. Pride doesn't allow a person to see their own error. It doesn't allow a person to open up their eyes to see the perspective of their spouse. In the end, the prideful may win the argument, but at what cost to the relationship.
Marriage Prayer #10
Father, we pray that you remove our prideful ways and give us a humble heart. A humbleness that seeks only the betterment of marriage rather than pride that is self-serving.
Pray that Honesty will Overflow in Your Marriage
Trust is important in marriage. I guess that's pretty obvious.
We all know that we aren't supposed to tell a lie. We learned that at a very early age when we were told the story of George Washington refusing to lie about chopping down the cherry tree.
What couples often miss is that honesty isn't just about what is said - the little white lie, etc. It's also about your actions as well. Being secretive and trying to hide things from your spouse is dishonest and undermines their trust in you.
Whether it is a secret bank account, secretly texting a member of the opposite sex, hiding purchases from your spouse, or any other type of behavior is being dishonest with your spouse. Dishonesty in either words or in actions can't be a part of a happy and successful marriage.
Marriage Prayer #11
Father, we pray that honesty will reign in our marriage. We pray that our words and our actions align and that they always bring honor to you and our marriage. We understand that a deceitful nature is an enemy of our marriage and will only work to destroy what you have created.
Pray God will Give You a Forgiving Heart
The ability of spouses to forgive each other is one of the most important marriage skills that can be possessed.
In our recent post How to Practice Forgiveness in Your Marriage, we discuss the importance of learning how to practice forgiveness in your marriage. Holding on to bitter feelings towards the other spouse is a poison that will slowly overtake your marriage.
Marriage Prayer #12
Father, we pray that you give us a forgiving heart for each other. You have given us the perfect example of love and forgiveness. We pray that you give us the ability to forgive and not hold onto ill feelings towards our spouse. Neither of us is perfect and at different times we will need to forgive just as we will need to be forgiven.
Final Thoughts on Prayers for Married Couples
The success of your marriage depends on not just how you handle the difficult times and the arguments (because they will come), but how well you create a strong foundation in your marriage. A strong marital foundation comes from a husband and wife spending time with each other and praying over their marriage before God.
These items listed above should be part of our daily conversation with God.
Your marriage will succeed or fail depending, in large part, on how we communicate with God and each other during the good times as well as the bad.
Until next time,
Anne and Steve
Ryan K Biddulph
God is always there for us guys. We need only open up in loving prayer to connect.
Steve Clark
Thanks as always, Ryan!
Steve Clark
Deborah, thank you so much for reading!
Glenda
I needed this as my husband has completely blocked me from communicating with him. But I still Pray that my marriage will work out and that God will save it. Just wish my husband would communicate with us.
Gwen Knox
Thank you pray for my marriage and family 💕