My husband and I have often wondered together in awe of our families’ shared history of long marriages. We ourselves will celebrate 21 years of marriage this month. Both sets of our parents have been married for over 40 years. And all four sets of our grandparents passed their 50th wedding anniversaries!
Let’s be honest. As people in our forties, children of the 80s who came of age in the 90s, I think that makes us some sort of familial/marital unicorns. It seems that our situation makes us the exception rather than the rule, regardless of looking at our religious or secular friend circles.
A Firm Foundation
Now, while all of our grandparents and my husband’s father have passed away, I know without a doubt the one common factor that all of those couples would contribute to their lengthy marriages.
Faith.
More specifically, a shared Faith in the God they loved, in the strength of their marriage vows, and in each other. They rooted their marriages in the Word, turning time and time again to praying and practicing what they knew to be good and true.
Turn to the Word
You’ve been at weddings before and heard the same handful of readings done so many times, you can almost lip sync along with the lector. Right?
That's not a bad thing, though! Those readings are chosen for a reason! We pray the words that speak to our hearts and, many times, the ones that are familiar to us. And we want readings at our weddings that will continue to bless us as we move forward in our marriages.
For example:
// "The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body." -Genesis 2:22-24
// "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." -1 Corinthians 13:4-8
// "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." -John 15:9-13
WRITE + PRAY
We invite you to sit with the Word and unpack it in a uniquely personal way, finding your own story.
Discover your story within His.
As Time Goes By
We all know, though, that eventually the honeymoon ends and that marriage can be downright hard if not seemingly impossible sometimes. We are tried and tested and taken to the very ends of our ropes.
In good times or bad, though (and yes, in sickness and health and richer and poorer and, well, you get the idea), what are some other verses in Scripture that we could turn to for help? Direction? Solace?
Scripture Verses to Pray for Your Marriage
Where are other verses that can speak God’s love into our marriages no matter the circumstance?
Here are a few of my favorites:
// "I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call..." -Ephesians 4:1-4
// "Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. (...) So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? Where one alone may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken." -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
// "But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you! Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried. May the LORD do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!”" -Ruth 1:16-17
// "Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection." -Colossians 3:12-14
// "Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do." -1 Thessalonians 5:11
// "Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace." -1 Peter 4:8-10
// "Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works." -Hebrews 10:23-24
1 John 4
And finally, there’s this verse from 1 John.
// "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him." -1 John 4:16
Really, though, you could start reading at verse 7 of this chapter and just keep going to the end. The text explores God’s love for us in Christ, our love for Him in return, and how we live that love with those around us.
And it’s that circle of love, sisters, that marriage is all about. That’s where we find the firm foundation that my husband and I received from our parents and grandparents and generations before them. And it’s the foundation that will help our marriages stand firm, too.
What Scripture verses have you found helpful when praying for your own marriage?
Scripture Verses to Pray for Your Marriage #BISblog //Click to tweet
Beth Williby is a mom of four pretty amazing humans and has been married to her college sweetheart for twenty years. She does her best praying through singing and feeding the people she loves. Having grown up in the Midwest, she now calls Northeast Florida home. You can find out more about her here. Read all of Beth's posts here.
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