Prayer for my marriage - #17

Merry Christmas.

Today the world stops to recognize that God gave us a gift.
I pray the ALL the ones around me can tell -- that God's gift is .....my Savior.

Today's prayer is for my marriage -- specifically.
A Christmas Love letter/prayer to my man.

But -- you can say it for your man -- or change it a bit for your wife ......

I thank God for the gift of marriage.   My prayer today is mixed into HIS word.

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.    Lord, if I write for others or just write to be heard......If I speak to others and share what I know about You ...and YET...I can't show YOUR love to them -- my words...my actions are nothing......² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   Lord, this passage is used so often in ceremonies and sermons and most often it is used when one is speaking of the love between a man and a woman but this passage is about our love for YOU...³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. So, Lord, as I read Your word and I reflect on it -- Lord, if I don't possess YOUR love within me...these words...these blogs...and my actions are really nothing....So Lord, I pray that these words...these blogs...and my actions are of YOU - I love you Lord, and I Fear you - that does not mean I am scared - it means I HATE what you HATE and I LOVE what YOU LOVE...I want to please You.  Lord, I come to You now and pray for my own marriage and our lives...our love for each other and for You...

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  God, I pray that I am patient with Bren and that I always show him kindness even when there is tension or even when the enemy seems to be attacking...Lord, I pray that I am never envious of his actions...his time needed with You ...or any past thing that could cause division.  Lord, Your word says love does not boast -- but I boast about him...he is Yours and he loves You and I LOVE how much he seeks You and I know that is one of the reasons we are in this happy season -so I will boast to YOU about him....I will boast that I am proud of him...I will boast that he continues to SEEK you...and I am proud of that.  However, Lord, I pray that I never become so proud and arrogant to believe that it is because of 'me' or anything-- it is ALL YOUR doing Lord! - Thank you!   ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Lord, I pray that my actions don't dishonor Bren in any way - I am especially mindful of what I write on this blog - I want to be real and transparent and yet, I don't wish to cause any more hurt, cause any grudge or give the enemy a foothold - when I share a personal story, I pray that it would be to illustrate YOUR glory and not to cause hurt for anyone....Lord, I Pray my actions are NOT self-seeking and God -- the enemy so wants to easily anger me at times and I praise You Lord, that I know YOU fight for me and so any  anger usually becomes so  subdue.. God that can only be because YOU are continually changing us.  Lord, we rejoice in Your word and Your truth -- I so love it when we read Your word together and discuss it and God I believe YOU planted that spark within me - to forgive and to remember ALL of our good in our past....so -- I had hope in him and I had trust in him - even when I shouldn't of.  I had the hope that YOU would restore even when it looked bad and even when he said - he did not want to be married.... Lord, I continue to ask you to protect our marriage - protect the trust I have - protect the delight we have in each other and protect our hopes....preserve us Lord.   And Lord, just continue to teach us -- to be better for each other. 
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.   God,  I so easily repeat this often - Love never fails ...human love does fail -- YOUR love does not -- God, I pray that each of us will continue to walk within YOUR love and within YOUR path -- then the love we have for each other is bonded  with YOU -- and then we become one flesh in YOU...and when all is done - we will be with You... Our completeness comes with YOU!!  ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  Lord, thank you - I have faith in my husband and hope in him and I love him -- cause he loves YOU...and I know that YOU are indeed the perfect husband - thank you for loving me through Brendan -- may our lives be used by YOU -- to help others -- experience and receive this JOY -- that two can have when they become ONE.....OH Lord - that YOU get the glory - 
Amen!