Of all of the human relationships we experience, marriage has a singular power to do and be in life. It fulfills our aspirations before we even enter them. It forms the backbone of families and communities, making them strong or weak. It is a monument to the mundane moments that together form something that may, if properly cared for, reflect the very heart of God. Because marriage has a lot potential, it is usually an ideal battleground.
All influential and essential places in our lives have shiny red goals on them in order that the enemy of our souls can pursue his ultimate goal. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I got here that they might have life and have it abundantly.”
Our marriage will come nose to nose with the thief Jesus warned us about. And there will likely be times when he’ll tempt us so fiercely that we’ll view the battle as if it were against our spouse and never against the thief himself.
In moments where you are feeling your husband has grow to be an enemy, take heart and decelerate your thoughts and feelings to raised control your emotional reactions.
Here are five practical steps to aid you concentrate on the reality when your husband seems like an enemy:
1. Guard your heart by removing unbiblical content that affects perspective.
Social media, TV, movies, music, family and friends that pour unbiblical discontent about your marriage into your heart shouldn’t have heart/mind space when fighting on your marriage. It may very well be argued that there needs to be no place for them within the lifetime of a lady following Christ. But especially at times if you end up tempted to view your marriage in such hostile terms, cut out those negative emotional influences.
2. Remember that your spouse may face the very same spiritual temptation to feel that you simply are his enemy!
So often the enemy of our souls turns us against one another after we must join forces to defeat the actual enemy!
3. Speak truth to your heart about your husband and your marriage.
Instead of repeating the pain, remember the blessings God has done in your marriage and the nice He has brought you thru your husband.
4. Pray for yourself and your husband!
At one particularly difficult time in our journey, I poured out my complaints to the Lord and felt a deep conviction that I had allowed disappointments to distract my heart from my once devoted and fervent prayer for the role of wife, for my husband, and for our marriage generally. No wonder this difficult time was even harder! We often speak about keeping an intimate passion alive, but what concerning the passion of our prayers for our marriage? Are they hardworking? Are they passionate? Do they expect?
Here are some scripture prayers that I commonly use to introduce me to my very own prayers for my husband and marriage:
Lord, thank You that You have begun a great work in ________________________ (husband’s name) and that You will likely be faithful to complete it! Please let me see your hand at work within the _________________ area. Give me grace and faith that You act even once I don’t see it. Help me to rest in Your faithfulness in working in each of us. Do whatever is in your heart as you please in ______________________ (husband’s name). (Based on Philippians 1:6 and a pair of:13.)
I pray that the eyes of the guts of ________________ (husband’s name) will likely be enlightened to know what’s the hope of your calling, what’s the riches of the glory of your inheritance within the saints, and what’s the incomparable greatness of your power over him when he believes that you simply are. (Based on Ephesians 1:18-19)
Lord, please remind my husband that he can do all things in Christ who strengthens him. Send your Spirit today to encourage him! And make me a part of your plan to encourage him. (Based on Philippians 4:13)
Father, please raise my man to be the spiritual leader you would like him to be. Give him the need to steer our home, but in addition the guts to hunt your word, in order that he could have your perspective, wisdom and guidance. Increase his understanding of Your Word and Your ways in order that his walk with You will bring leadership and blessing to our marriage and family. (Based on 1 Timothy 2:11, 1 Corinthians 14:35).
Lord, please surround my husband together with your grace as a shield. (Based on Psalm 5:12)
Lord, please make me a wife easy to enjoy and a delight for my husband. Make our marriage and love a source of joy and achievement for Him. (Based on Proverbs 5).
Father, please guide _______________ (husband’s name) to be watchful, stand firm in his faith, act like a person, and be strong in Christ. Pour into him the spirit of sensitivity and vulnerability in order that he’ll follow your lead with vigilance in spiritual struggles and grant him abundant grace and strength for these struggles in order that he can stand firm on your glory. (Based on 1 Corinthians 16:13.)
5. Correctly discover the actual source of the struggle on your marriage.
It comes with prayer and staying anchored to some hard-to-swallow truths about ourselves. Not only can our husband fight the sensation that we’re against him, just as we will fight the sensation that our husband is against us, however the enemy can use us against our spouse! We must pay attention to this and guard our lives against this potential. It is interesting to notice that when Satan attacked Job, after the initial wave of losses and when God allowed Satan to the touch Job’s body, Job’s wife (who was spiritually one with Job before God) went against him (Job 2:9). To my utter horror, I saw moments of intense internal heart struggle with my husband correspond to moments when God was using him in a crucial way, or moments when the enemy was on his trail. How sad it’s that we will all be taken advantage of by the enemy if we usually are not careful to protect our hearts and be sure that we’re fully committed instruments for God and His purposes.
Don’t that if you give yourselves as slaves for obedience, you might be slaves of the one you obey, either of sin that results in death or obedience that results in righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you were slaves of sin, you became wholeheartedly obedient to that type of teaching to which you were committed, and free of sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:16-18
It is sensible to check our hearts by asking ourselves, Am I presenting my thoughts, feelings, words, and actions as instruments for Christ?
In general, if we follow Christ firmly, we is not going to see other people as our enemies.
Paul talks about it this manner:
Finally, be strong within the Lord and within the strength of His might. Put on the complete armor of God so that you could resist the devil’s schemes. For our warfare isn’t against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the worldly powers of this darkness, against the spiritual powers of wickedness within the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:10-12
If we perceive that somebody, especially our companion, is an enemy, we may encounter a spiritual problem. The winning prospect of the battle is not going to be drawing lines between our spouse and ourselves; it can be recognizing who the battle is de facto happening against – the enemy of our souls, not our spouse.
For years I even have tried to grasp and find great marriage tools. I read tons, listened quite a bit and studied the Word of God for them. And while I have not found the one-size-fits-all, satisfying techniques I originally desired to discover, patience has repeatedly been the important thing to unlocking victories for me. It’s not sexy, nevertheless it’s biblical and, in my experience, practical. After all, the primary quality that describes love within the famous “chapter on love” in 1 Corinthians is “Love is patient.” He won’t be patient a couple of times. Expressing love will at all times require patience.
One of essentially the most promising marriage wisdom I received was a spontaneous comment from my amorous grandmother. We were having fun with a day on their patio as each our hubbys got here into the home for an iced tea or something. She thought, “You know that is the happiest time in our entire marriage. It is a complete surprise to me that on the age of 80 we were finding a lot joy in our relationship. After years of battling funds, fighting for the correct upbringing of youngsters, fighting with one another, all struggles are over. And we’re just having fun with one another.”
I pray that you simply and your spouse will soon find an oasis where struggle ceases. And you might be renewed together in God’s love and care. Meanwhile, fervent prayer, devoted love, and anchored truth will lead you thru the battle to victory.
If you desire to a free list of scripture prayers on your marriage, please send an email to info(at) motlministries.com.
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