Prayers for a marriage - #3 - Forgiveness

Forgiveness is SO hard.  It does not happen in a  flash - I mean, you can say "I forgive you"  but God oh God...it takes a daily refreshing and restating over and over...to walk in that forgiveness and believe that you really have forgiven the one that hurt you.

I still have to 'forgive' and pray for my husband at times.  I still say a prayer and ask God...'have I forgiven ?'   It is hard -- but I will say this -- it continues to get LESS and LESS.

Now each time that happens, I ask myself .."do I need to seek forgiveness from another?"

The Enemy gets  silenced sooner and most times now,  he only reminds me of our hurt by a trigger of some sort.

But...whether your husband ( or wife ) betrayed your vows...
Or whether he or she has betrayed you with some sexual impurity...
Or there was  a death of some sort that you must forgive their participation in...
Or he has just NOT been what you needed...
Or if he does not love God and continually hurts  you...
Or...
Or...
Or......WHATEVER it was.....

Your spouse does deserve  forgiveness -- if they are repentant....God has forgiven them.

HE forgave me.

That is one of the hardest concepts to understand or even relate on paper, but I knew that I knew -- no matter what my husband---was to be forgiven.

As....I KNEW...WHAT I did...to my Lord -- my sins put HIM on that cross.  HE went and took that for me.

THAT is the hard part to relate, when one person really LOVES Jesus...and understands WHAT HE did for us..for me...for you...YOU want to forgive like HE forgave you...Like HE forgave me.

Pure and simple.  
It will take time...You should seek godly counsel and probably professional counsel .....but forgiveness will FREE you...

But please note -- if you are in a relationship where you are being hurt - physically or tormented ...YOU need to get OUT of that ...and pray for your spouse, but eventually you will have to forgive that behavior as well -- in HIS time.

BAck to the prayer for today --- it is short...

LORD, am I holding unforgivness?  Lord, help me to forgive the hurt.  I declare that the enemy won't use the hurt of ____________________ against me nor my spouse anymore.  Lord, I want to know you so well, that I would understand this powerful mystery of forgiveness and Lord, please know, I thank you for forgiving me of MY sins...if there is anything I need to confess - speak to me clearly and show me my own sin...Oh Lord, I thank you for forgiving me and I am going to claim now, this evening that I forgive my husband for __________________ and I am asking You Lord to walk with me in these next 37 more days.....I want to see a miracle in my marriage...I need YOU to come in and get us BOTH out of this pit - and I want to testify that YOU win and that YOU were the one that restored and redeemed us.  Amen.