One of the best things you can do for your marriage is to pray.
And one of the best ways to pray is to use the Scriptures as a guide.
That is because the secret to prayer—just like the secret to marriage—is unity. When two wills line up together, there is great power!
As we study the Bible, we learn the longings of God’s heart. As we allow God’s desires to become ours, we move into harmony with Him. Through this union, the Spirit of God works in awesome ways, restoring what has been damaged and creating new beauty.
Below are seven Scriptural prayers for your marriage, one for each day of the week. Perhaps you and your spouse would like to pray these verses together as you ask God to protect and strengthen your marriage. If your spouse isn’t interested in praying with you, don’t be discouraged—just keep praying!
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16, NLT)
Monday
Thank you, LORD, for our marriage and for what You are doing in our lives.
We do confess our self-centeredness, and we ask for your forgiveness and healing.
We want to have the wonderful joy of pleasing You by living in complete harmony with one another. Help us to work together in unity, sharing the same goal of loving and serving You. Knit us together in spirit.
May we do nothing out of selfishness or pride. Keep us from grumbling or arguing. Help us to be humble, valuing one another above ourselves. Keep us from being obsessed with ourselves and our own interests. Help us to see what is important to one another and to seek to please one another.
Please give us the same attitude that Christ Jesus had: He was willing to sacrifice everything in order to serve us and love us well. Give us wisdom in knowing how to serve one another today. Help us to be generous in the way we love each other.
(adapted from James 1:16; Philippians 2: 2-8, 14)
Tuesday
Lord, fill our marriage with Your unfailing love. Help us to be very patient and kind, not competing with one another, but serving one another. Please keep us from being boastful, defensive, or proud. Keep us from being selfish or rude.
Help us to honor one another with courtesy and respect. Help us to esteem one another highly with our words and our actions. We pray that we will not demand our own way but that we will yield to one another. Keep us from being irritable or touchy.
Help us to forgive quickly and to be generous in giving grace to one another. Help us always to think the best of one another, always to be “for” each other, and always to have open hearts that are turned toward one another.
(adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:4-5; 1 Corinthians 13:7, 8)
Wednesday
Father, we pray that everything that we say to each other today will be motivated by love. Let no unwholesome talk come out of our mouths but only what is helpful for building each other up. Help us to speak life-giving words of encouragement and blessing. Make us cautious with our words but quick to listen.
Lord, we do not want to bring sorrow to Your Spirit by the way we live. Help us to be responsive to Your voice all day long.
We pray that our marriage would be free of bitterness, anger, and harsh words, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, help us to be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as You have forgiven us.
(adapted from Ephesians 4:29-32; James 1:19)
Thursday
Lord, we pray that our love for one another will overflow more and more. Give us new insight into ourselves and greater understanding of one another so that we will be able to minister well to one another with humility and gratitude.
Help us to understand what really matters so that we will live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May we always be filled with the fruit of our salvation—the righteous character produced in our lives by Jesus Christ—bringing much glory and praise to You.
(adapted from Philippians 1:9-11)
Friday
Lord, we ask that You would keep a strong hedge of protection around our marriage. Keep us devoted to one another. Show us how to honor one another above ourselves.
Thank You for choosing us to be Your dearly loved people. Clothe us now with compassion, kindness, humility, and gentleness. Help us to be patient with one another’s faults and weaknesses, accepting one another, and forgiving whatever grievances we may have against each other.
And over all of this, help us to put on love. Bind us together in perfect unity. May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, and may we be thankful all day long.
Help us to keep our minds and hearts saturated with the Scriptures and Your truth. In everything that we do today—through our words, our attitudes, our behavior—may we reflect Your beauty and goodness.
(adapted from Job 1:10; Romans 12:10; Colossians 3:12-17)
Saturday
God, we ask You to give us complete knowledge of Your will for us today. Give us spiritual wisdom and understanding. Help us not only to know Your will but also to have the desire and the ability to live it out. Help us to live every moment of this day to honor and please You.
We pray that our lives will produce every kind of good fruit—things like kindness, patience, and faithfulness. As we go through this day, help us to grow closer to one another. Help us to know You better and better, experiencing You in a deeper way.
We pray also that we will be strengthened with all Your glorious power so that we will have all the endurance and patience that we need. Fill us with joy and gratitude. Thank you for rescuing us from the kingdom of darkness and transferring us into the Kingdom of Your dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sin.
(adapted from Colossians 1:9-14)
Sunday
Lord, please seal our hearts with an unfailing commitment for one another. Mark our hearts with the highest devotion for one another. Help us to be diligent in guarding our marriage as a priceless treasure.
“Catch the little foxes that ruin our vineyards”—protect us from business, distractions, thoughtlessness, and unresolved offenses. Make us alert to these dangers, and show us how to make helpful changes. Please give us the wisdom to foresee dangerous situations and to take effective precautions.
Help us to have the kind of love that cannot be quenched by hardship or swept away by distractions. Help us to value one another and our relationship more highly than anything else.
Thank You for working to complete the good work that You began in our marriage. Thank You for using every detail for our good. We love You.
(adapted from Songs of Songs 2:15, 8:6-7; Proverbs 27:12; Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:28)
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