Not!
Although my husband said he had personal devotion time, he was not always comfortable having devotion with me. I would buy book after book and beg him to have devotion together. He made an attempt a few times but it wasn't consistent. We were dealing with a number of issues during our early years of marriage and his heart just wasn't there. It wasn't until we were on the verge of ending it all that it clicked. We were missing something very important in our marriage. Spending time in God's word, not just personally, but together.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.… Ephesians 5:25-27Not only were we not spending time in God's word together, we weren't taking what we were learning every week at church and in our own personal prayer time and putting it into action. No wonder things weren't going the way we wanted! We wanted peace but we had chaos. We wanted to love and respect but all we had was unforgiveness, bitterness, and anger towards each other. We went to counselor after counselor, class after class, only to end up right back at square one. A hot mess. And I was exhausted. I had run out of steam.
But God.
Running out is a prefix for running into Jesus. ~Priscilla Evans Shirer
During our separation, without fail, my husband took the time to reach out to me every morning via text and a phone call...to have devotion and he was CONSISTENT. Just when I thought it was over, the fat lady had sang, God said - It ain't ova - and He created opportunities for us to seek Him and His word in order to learn His ways and apply it to our lives. It was a turning point.
A breakthrough.
A miracle!
Because I was done. There was no looking or turning back.
But God.
Last night was the ladies turn to gather for fasting and prayer during our congregational solemn assembly. After a brief bible study, we had a time of prayer for different issues. First on the agenda - marriage. I was in tears because I was so thankful for God bringing us through a very rough time in our marriage. I could sincerely pray with other ladies who were going through because I made it through when I didn't think I could.
Going to the Lord and His word consistently first thing every day has helped us tremendously. It gives us time to pray together and communicate and we have not stopped since my hubby started.
A breakthrough.
A miracle!
Because I was done. There was no looking or turning back.
But God.
Last night was the ladies turn to gather for fasting and prayer during our congregational solemn assembly. After a brief bible study, we had a time of prayer for different issues. First on the agenda - marriage. I was in tears because I was so thankful for God bringing us through a very rough time in our marriage. I could sincerely pray with other ladies who were going through because I made it through when I didn't think I could.
Going to the Lord and His word consistently first thing every day has helped us tremendously. It gives us time to pray together and communicate and we have not stopped since my hubby started.
Dear Lord, thank you for showing us your ways, teaching us your paths, and guiding us in your truth. You are an awesome, amazing God, and even moreso when we get out of Your way and give you free reign in our lives!
Resources:
Praying for Him
Praying for Her
One: A Marriage Devotional by Jimmy Evans
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