Read Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33; Genesis 2:23-25; Mark 10:5-9; 1 Corinthians 7:1-9; Hebrews 13:4

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.... So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself...and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33)

Lord, today we are living in a culture that has forgotten Your pattern for marriage. The world has lost its way because Your Word is being ignored. We have gotten the threads of that divine tapestry all mixed up, and the whole thing is a mess. Furthermore, our culture is a total disaster. The fracturing of homes has become so commonplace we no longer even raise our eyebrows when we hear of another family going under. We pray, therefore, that the truths of the words above, presented from Your exacting pattern, the Word of God, would find root and bear fruit in some lives. We also pray that You'd give husbands and wives the courage to say, "I am wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Let's start over." We ask that You would give partners who hear those words a renewed capacity to believe their spouses, to work alongside them, to help make Your design a reality.

Thank You, Father, for Jesus, who is here for us, who loves us, and who modelled sacrificial love on our behalf. Help us, Lord, as we live out His life in our marriages through the enabling power of Your Spirit.

Through Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

Excerpted from The Prayers of Charles R. Swindoll, Volume 1, Copyright 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.