Day 15
Pray for Foundational Faith
Our faith and our core doctrines really matter when it comes to durability of marriage. Marrying someone who is a hypocrite or being a hypocrite ourselves is quite dangerous as what is shown outside and what is actually seen in the house are not the same. One pastor said, our real testimony comes from the
mouth of our spouse. Even if the whole world blames us but the husband says, “you are the most patient woman I can ever find”, that shows that the foundation of the wife’s faith and core doctrines are right. Because those who have a bad testimony at home will twist the word according to their sinful nature(2 Peter 3:14-18) and also chose preachers according to their itchy ears. There are many who attend churches that teach the right doctrines, even though they hear it, in personal life they follow wrong doctrines and lead a deceptive life. Additionally a spouse who is a hypocrite will never gain the credibility from the life partner. Many families have been torn apart due to doctrinal mismatches. I know a family where the father-in-law is a Calvinist (Calvin was not so Calvinistic, people twisted the sovereignty of God to suit their short comings). It is so funny that he used to say that he treats his son-in-law so rudely and accuses him falsely because God did not give him the grace to be patient right from his young age. His says his short tempered nature and malicious talks are his personality. Since God did not change him in his young age, he is unable to change it in his 80’s. This made the son-in-law a victim to verbal abuse and hardships in his marriage. If the doctrinal compromise of the father-in-law who is a 3rd person in the marriage relationship can cause serious damage to that marriage how much more will the morally compromised foundations of the spouse affect the marriage. If you are already stuck with such a person prayer with faith, wisdom and good testimony can only change things.
Let’s pray!
For You
- Lord! I pray that I don’t become a hypocrite and deceive myself for my selfish motives.I can never hide my heart from you who knows the deepest part of my heart. May my faith be a living faith that results in good works, wisdom and fruit of spirit.
(James 2:17) - Lord! Keep me and my family members away from false doctrines and false teachings. I pray that we get rooted in the word as a family so that we discern false teachings and stay strong in our faith.
(2 Tim. 4:3, 4) - Lord! Help me to read, meditate, memorize and listen to the word of God. May I invest time and effort into this fervently. May I seek the word of God with all my heart.
(Joshua 1:8) - Lord! Teach me to discern the need of spiritual warfare where I bend my knees in prayer and defeat Satan’s lies with the word of God. May I discern the work of Satan and resist him. May I be aware of Satan’s tricks and pray against it.
(2 Corinthians 2:11) - Lord! Teach me to apply the word of God in my life. It is very hard to apply the word in life especially when the husband is not doing it. Teach me to stay strong in applying the word of God even if I’m not supported by my husband. I pray that through my testimony and polite discussions may I inspire my husband to live according to the word of God.
(James 1:22)
For your Husband
- Lord! May my husband provide for the family and take care(physical, financial, passion, emotional and spiritual) of the family through hardships and hard work. For it is written “if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”.
(1 Timothy 5:8) - Lord! May my husband read, meditate and apply the word of God in his life so that he understands the depth of the word he received from you. Remove all the hypocrisy that has come in due to false teaching, poor testimony of believer parents and personal lack of faith.(Matthew 16:6)
- Lord! I pray that he takes the responsibility to be the spiritual leader of the family in taking a lead in family prayer, good testimony at home and doing everything after hearing from the Lord.
(Ephesians 5:23) - Lord! I pray that he keeps growing in the word of God so that he is ready in season and out of season. I pray that he diligently seeks to hear from you each day. May he derive his confidence from your spoken word and written word and be strong in his faith. Remove all the unbelief and self reliance. I also pray that he doesn’t become lethargic in taking care of family placing all the responsibility on God. May my husband obey you and do what he is supposed to do and leave what is under your control.
(Matthew 28:20) - Lord! I pray that my husband understands the priority of doing the work of God. May he not neglect the work of God due to other priorities.May he not neglect the personal growth in the word and prayer and do ministry. May he not lead a bad testimony at home and go outside and do ministry. I pray that you teach him the consequences of hypocrisy.
(Matthew 23:3)
Amen!
Today’s Promise:
Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. Matthew 7:24,25
Today’s Command:
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:1-3