CONCERT OF PRAYER  

Pray Week 743

“Marital Math 101”

Matthew 19:3-6 (ESV)  And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,  and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

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One plus one equals … one.  This is God’s math with respect to marriage.  Far too many of our marriages today, both Christian and unbelievers, use the new math of one plus one equals two.  One plus one equals two parallel or diverging paths of life.  One plus one equals two individuals cohabitating out of convenience or obligation, yet leading two separate lives.  The end result is that they are essentially ‘married singles’.  Such relationships almost always end up in divorce.

Corrupt societal norms and laws relative to divorce have been allowed to trump God’s moral law relative to marriage for many Christian believers.  Many have chosen the wide easy path of civil law over the narrow path as defined by God’s Word.

God instituted marriage not to be a temporary civil contract but rather to be a life covenantal commitment that He would place His seal upon.  One plus one equals unity in alignment and attunement of values, faith, purpose, and life direction.  Our marriages are to mirror the unity of the Trinity of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Spirit – three persons in one God.  Our marriages should be the triune unity of the Husband, Wife, and Holy Spirit of God.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Gal 5:16

Division fractures marital unity when one or both partners choose to not walk by the Spirit and seek to satisfy their own selfish desires.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you – James 4:1

Are you and your spouse on parallel or diverging paths?  Like boxers slugging it out after coming to the center of the ring from their opposite corners is there conflict whenever convergence and unity of opinion or direction is needed?  If this is you do not give up.  There is hope. You can begin to repair and restore unity in your marriage through prayer.

Pray for your marriage every day.  Invite the Holy Spirit into your hearts and home.  Obey His leading in purging and purifying the temple of your body as well as that of your home.  Get rid of all that would hinder His presence and power in your life.  Get rid of all that allows the enemy of your soul a stronghold from which to launch an attack on your marriage.

Pray blessing for your spouse.  Pray for the Lord to change your heart and to give you the grace to always respond to your spouse in an unselfish and loving manner.  Pray for God’s protection; that His full armor will be upon you and your spouse.  Do not be naïve and think that marital failure cannot happen to you.  Satan prowls about seeking those who naively think that they are ok and fail to invest in their marital relationship through daily prayer.

May God give you the insight, determination, and motivation to take obedient action to assure one plus one equals one in your marriage.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God