This is a guest post by fellow Tribe Writer, Leonard McElveen. He is an ordained minister at Word of Faith church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can follow him at www.leonardmcelveen.com
My wife and I have been married for almost 10 years and we’ve overcome many obstacles through the power of prayer. We realized that we prayed for other things, but not as often as we should for each other. God had brought to our attention that relationships require maintenance and if they are neglected for too long they will fall apart. To make sure that we are not neglecting our relationship, we’ve set some goals that will provide relationship maintenance all year long.
We’ve come into this new year and in order to make sure that I do my part in providing the maintenance for our relationship, I’m making it a point to spend more time praying for my wife. Praying for your spouse is an area that can often be overlooked as a part of our prayer life.
We tend to think of our prayer lives in only one way. It usually involves us, a prayer closet, soft music, and our Bible. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this either, but that doesn’t always work for everyone or for each phase of life. Here are a 3 creative ways that you can pray for your spouse.
1-Text Messages
There was a phase of our marriage where I was working on 3rd shift(10pm – 6am) and my wife worked days (9am – 5pm). We were on totally different schedules. Add in the mix two small children, and it didn’t take long for us to be like two airplanes passing in the sky. To try and keep us connected, God gave me the idea of sending my text messages at night. So I throughout my shift at work I would send her prayers, dreams & visions, and daily encouragement. That helped to keep us grounded on God’s word and to keep our vision outside of this dark time. Like Psalms 23 says “We walk through the dark valley.”
2-Video Chats/Calls
The way that technology advances, it is a shame that we don’t take advantage of it more. Just about every person has a phone or tablet with video capabilities. You want to get creative with apps like FaceTime or Skype. A recent favorite that I like to use is Marco Polo. It’s like having video call that we can go back and forth with. The other day with my 2 year old daughter, I recorded a video praying over mommies day . It brightened my wife’s day and put a smile on her face, it’s a simple gesture, but it is priceless to the one on the receiving end.
3-In the moment
This may be the old school way, but everything around us seems to be moving faster and faster. Sometimes we have to take it back to human contact. It’s surprising, that even in marriage, being under under the same house, how much you cannot have contact with your spouse. There are work schedules, children and their activities, and so many other things that are a part of our daily lives that connecting with your spouse can be hard or even forgotten.
To fight the schedules that can eat away at our days, I’ve found that we have to capitalize on the moment of inspiration. I believe that moment of inspiration is from God and it’s up to me to treat it as such. Throughout my day, if God is bringing my wife to my mind, then I need to take a few moments and follow that leading from Him. I pray for her, call her, text her, whatever it is in that moment.
The Bible says all of this in the best way possible. Ephesians 5:25 says “Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church and gave himself for it.” Part of loving your wife is giving ourselves in prayer.
I am a blogger and author that aims to help build successful
Prosperous Man Podcast. I’m an ordained minister at my local church,
Word of Faith, in Grand Rapids MI. A huge thank you goes to my wife
Kalene and my children Leonard Joshua and Sophia Grace. I can
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