We had such a beautiful weekend! It’s been in the high 70’s outside, sunny and clear and with the time change it’s light so much longer! We have a nice park at our condo community so Sunday I took Tyler and he had such a blast on the swings and I had a blast just watching him!

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer. It seems the last two weeks it keeps coming up and then my husband even preached about prayer in church this weekend. I’m thankful for the theme of reminders and instruction about this discipline and I definitely need some practical help.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18

Each month my wonderful Pastor’s wife, Carlynn, gathers all the staff wives for two hours of fellowship, accountability, dinner, and my favorite part is that she teaches us about the life of a woman in history who embodies a characteristic we commit to working on that month. This month she shared Fern Nichols with us, who started Mom’s In Touch a group of moms who pray for their children and schools. Carlynn challenged each of us to commit to growing in prayer this month.

Then this weekend my husband, Bobby, had the opportunity to preach the main service of our church and his passage (1 Thessalonians 9-13) was about intercessory prayer.

Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again
and supply what is lacking in your faith.

1 Thessalonians 3:10

Bobby’s sermon was a strong reminder that I need to be passionate in my prayer on behalf of others. I can’t just have a nice list and read it off to the Lord each day. I need to care deeply for my brothers and sisters in Christ, concern myself with their needs and pray intensely for them. Something he said that really stood out is that I should ask God to make me a part of the answer. I should be eager and willing to be used by Him in any way for the person I’m praying for.

Both of these teaching times came together for two prayer commitments I’ve started this month. One is to extend my focused time of prayer each day by doubling that time. It still doesn’t seem like that long, because sometimes when I sit down to pray in the mornings I feel rushed and then not as purposeful. I don’t want my prayer time to be something I check off a list, but where I set aside concentrated time to pour my heart before the Lord and not be rushing on to other things.

The second is a very practical addition to my prayer time. Each day I pray with a journal that is made up of seven tabbed sections (one for each day) and has pages in it with things I’m praying for that day–mostly Scriptures and names. My husband is the high school pastor at Compass and I serve along side him by ministering to the girls. I love these girls and the ministry we have for them is one of the biggest passions on my heart. I made five new pages for my notebook so I can apply what I learned by interceding day and night for these girls! The pages are broken down by our five mid-week small groups so I can do one each weekday that has the names of each girl who attends that small group listed with a space so I can write next to it. I would like to use a good amount of my extended time to pray specifically for them and their needs.

I’m excited about these two things and always bringing all kinds of prayers before the Lord because He is listening!

Over the weekend Bobby and I had the opportunity to go to Compass’s Marriage Retreat. Bobby was the “Master of Ceremonies” and the retreat donned a Western theme which means that Bobby brought his best accent and even dressed up in a cowboy costume to set the tone, boots and all! Saturday night the activity was Texas two-stepping, barn dancing and the cowboy cha-cha. I’ve never done any Western dancing, but it was so fun!

Usually at marriage retreats the teaching addresses such topics as husband/wife roles, communication or intimacy. And all of those are relevant topics to marriage but I was tremendously blessed by what Pastor Mike challenged us on–to make the goal of our marriages the glory of God and the glory of His gospel.

Pastor Mike opened the weekend with Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

The heading for this passage is “Doxology” a Greek word which means glory, honor, praise, and weight. The concept of “weight” was profound to me, that in my marriage I need to do all things to give weight to who God is.

I can get in the housekeeping zone where I’ve got the laundry going and the dishwasher going, I’m scrubbing the shower and Bobby came home asking for something to eat, but I just kept working. Having a clean house is a good thing and is definitely on my list, but if I was so consumed with my house being neat and orderly that I wouldn’t stop to serve my husband’s immediate need or maybe reach out to a friend with a phone call or spend time witnessing to my neighbor, then my priorities are out of order. This affects my marriage but even more so my relationship with the Lord.

One thing I came away from retreat with was that knowing Him must always be the priority. I was convicted that I need to do whatever it takes to keep that time each morning to spend with the Lord–studying His Word and in prayer. Not because it will benefit myself or my marriage but because He is God and is the only one worthy of glory.

The second big point hit home for me was that we can express the gospel to others. In the last session Pastor Mike talked about how amazing the gospel is in eight words!

Thoughtless Transgressions – we all sin, we have all “crossed the line” of God’s law. (Jeremiah. 3:12)

Real Damage – Because of our sin we are separated from God. (Isaiah. 59:2)

Indomitable Love – When I got home I looked up indomitable. It means “incapable of being subdued.” This is how God loves us, lost sinners. (Romans 5:6-8)

Complete Forgiveness — “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

With these eight words, Pastor Mike showed us how our marriages should bring glory to the gospel by expressing the gospel to each other. In our marriages there will be thoughtless transgressions that cause real damage, but we, as Christians, can choose to love because Christ first loved us (1 John 4:19) and we can grant complete and full forgiveness when someone has sinned against us. Our relationship should be an expression of the gospel by exemplifying these dynamics. The first four words are always present, the last four I am able to, as a recipient and participant in the gospel, do to others!

What an incredible reality that we as small sinful people can bring glory to our glorious God! I can love my husband because God first loved me and I must forgive my husband because I will never have to forgive him or any other person as much as God has forgiven me.

I’m glad I took down a lot of notes because with the motivation of God’s glory I will be striving to change many practical things as a wife and in my marriage over the weeks and months!

Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1