Praying For Each Other

Praying for Each Other

They all met together and were constantly united in prayer.

Acts 1:14

Praying with each other is not easy for us. Oh, we pray together before meals, and we pray together when there is a special need or crisis, but we aren’t the kind of couple who kneels beside our bed each night. We might be better persons if we did, but we don’t. I suppose we could blame our busy and fickle schedules, but the truth is we just haven’t made the effort to build a consistent shared prayer time into our lives. We pray as a family every night when tucking our boys into bed, but we don’t set aside a routine and specific time to pray as a couple.

We admire couples who do, and we covet the rewards they surely reap. For as Jesus has said, “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:19-20, NIV).

Still, one thing we do every day is pray for each other. Whether together or in separate cities, we remember each other in our daily prayers. We made that commitment on our wedding day, and Leslie had the reference of Philippians 1:3-5 engraved inside my wedding band. It’s a prayer that says, “I thank my God every time I remember you. . . . I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (NIV).

Sometimes one of us will say to the other, “I’ll be praying for you today,” but most of the time there is just a quiet assurance that the one partner is lifting up the other with prayers.

Set aside even five minutes today to pray specifically for your spouse, and if possible, with your spouse. Invite God to reveal to you how you can share his love with your spouse today.

If you are a stranger to prayer you are stranger to the greatest source of power known to human beings.

—Billy Sunday