Participants: Tom Waters, Alane Waters
Series Code: MGH
Program Code: MGH000011
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00:01 A promise
00:03 to love 00:06 in good times 00:08 and bad 00:11 for richer 00:14 or poorer 00:17 forsaking all others 00:19 as long as 00:21 you both shall live 00:25 MARRIAGE In God's Hands 00:28 Marriage Heart to Heart with Tom & Alane Waters 00:33 Welcome to Marriage Heart to Heart 00:35 We are Tom & Alane Waters with Restoration International 00:39 And we're looking forward to our time together with you today, 00:42 as we talk about more principles 00:45 in a Marriage Heart to Heart! 00:47 So if you have your pencil and paper ready 00:49 we're gonna be discussing Prayers of Love 00:52 those five important aspects in our prayers that 00:54 can make our marriage: loving and heart to heart! 00:58 You know, one of the difficult things is that 01:02 many Christians, I'm not talking about the world, 01:04 I'm talking about Christians, 01:06 don't use the greatest resource that we have available to us. 01:11 And that's prayer. 01:13 Prayer's the key that unlocks the Store House of Heaven. 01:16 And yet, many times, and I know for us 01:18 that there was a time in our lives 01:20 that we weren't really praying prayers of love for each other. 01:25 We were praying for lots of other things 01:26 for lots of other people. 01:28 But we have the opportunity and the privilege of praying prayers 01:33 that can really make a difference in our marriage. 01:36 I know Honey! There's been times when we have found ourselves 01:39 not really praying when we needed to pray. 01:42 Because things have come up 01:43 and we're trying to handle them without prayer. 01:46 And we don't go to the Source of strength and power 01:49 -That's right! -to find the answer. 01:51 And sometimes 01:53 you know, there are many people that 01:55 will begin praying 01:56 but sometimes those prayers are self centered prayers. 01:59 And we had some of that in our experience where: 02:02 "Ok! I know I need to pray!" 02:05 "So, I'm gonna pray that God can start changing you!" 02:09 Yes! I understand! 02:10 Ok? Because if I can Get God to change you, 02:14 then I'm gonna feel better and life it's gonna work better 02:16 and it will take the ripples out of our problems. Right? 02:19 Well, it seems that way! I know we've probably both done that, 02:22 more than a few times early on in our marriage. 02:24 That's right! And I'm thankful that we can say early on. 02:27 You know, we've been very vulnerable with you folks, 02:30 as we've shared our weaknesses 02:32 and we've shared some of the difficulties we faced, but 02:35 the Lord has blessed us, truly blessed us 02:38 as we have come to Him. 02:40 And as we've been vulnerable with Him, 02:42 than we have a marriage that's heart to heart. 02:44 It's been a long time since 02:46 we've doubt with a lot of these things. 02:47 And I'm thankful for that! 02:49 And prayer has been a very major part of that. 02:52 It has been one of those things that's helped 02:55 to keep us together because 02:57 when we've had differences 02:58 and I've always appreciated your leadership in this, 03:00 when we've had differences that you've come back and say: 03:03 "Honey I think we really need to pray!" 03:05 -Amen! -And make sure that our hearts 03:07 are right with each other. 03:09 That's that forgiveness, confession and repentance 03:12 and forgiveness and then that prayer time together 03:16 and then going forward new from that point on. 03:18 That's right! 03:19 So prayers made a huge difference in our experience. 03:23 What about women? You've told me about women that you 03:26 know personally, 03:28 that are in this self centered focus, 03:30 and that they're so desirous of getting their husband to change 03:35 that what's happening in the women?? 03:38 Well, I think the desire is there, 03:40 the real desire to see their spouse 03:42 maybe become a Christian. 03:44 To accept the Lord Jesus, 03:46 but their prayers while they're good for their husbands, 03:50 they're not correspondingly living their lives to help 03:53 answer those prayers. 03:54 And so they find themselves or in their relationship 03:58 with their husband they're critical 04:00 they're demeaning 04:02 they're controlling 04:03 and so, you know, 04:04 we've experienced it being with some of these people 04:07 and sometimes 04:08 the husband is more of a Christian than the wife. 04:11 So when we talk about praying prayers for our spouse 04:14 which we should do, 04:16 and we're gonna be talking about that a little later today, 04:18 But as we talk about those prayers that we wanna pray 04:22 we need to make sure 04:23 that we are answering as much as possible 04:26 our side of that equation, 04:28 that we can demonstrate to our spouse 04:31 the loveliness of Jesus, that they would want that 04:33 that desire would be something that they would wanna have too. 04:37 That's right! 04:38 I remember one evening, 04:40 we'd actually had a beautiful day together 04:43 it was coming to the close of the day and, 04:45 I was sharing with you 04:48 something that I had been praying about 04:51 and 04:52 I was fully expecting that as I shared it with you 04:54 you were going to just see 04:56 my way. I didn't think there was gonna be any ruffles. 04:59 But you, you know 05:01 as you remember 05:02 you didn't see it my way. 05:04 And it turned our, what shall I say, beautiful day 05:09 in to a little bit of a problem at the end of the day. 05:12 And I remember 05:14 trying to get you 05:16 to see my perspective. 05:18 And I couldn't get you to see it! 05:21 And I got frustrated. 05:23 And I finally, because even at this point I knew 05:26 that to just keep pushing wasn't going to be the answer. 05:29 And so, as you probably remember I decided to 05:33 leave the room and just go have a little quiet time with the 05:36 Lord. Which is the right answer. 05:38 And those of you that are facing difficulties 05:39 this is the right answer! Now I wasn't quite in the right 05:43 spirit when I was doing this but this is the right answer! 05:46 Rather than trying to fight it out or you know just 05:48 force you to see it my way. 05:51 Because we don't always see everything like one another. 05:54 We see things differently 05:55 we see them from different personalities 05:57 and perspectives. -That's right! 05:58 And I just was caught on this thing and 06:02 I went to the Lord 06:05 I went there with the right motive. 06:06 I knew I needed to deal with 06:08 my own heart and let God deal with my heart. 06:10 But you know, I really wanted you to understand me in this 06:13 thing. And I really wanted you to agree with me in this. 06:15 And so I got down on my knees 06:17 with the Lord and I was telling Him my problem. 06:20 And I found myself, and I didn't really realize 06:22 I was doing this at the time but I found myself trying 06:25 to get the Lord on my side! 06:28 I know! I've done that a few times. 06:30 I tried to get the Lord on my side: 06:31 "Lord don't You see this??" 06:33 I mean: "My wife needs to see this!" 06:36 Right? 06:38 "Right Lord??" 06:40 And there I found myself, 06:42 on my knees, trying to convince the Lord 06:45 that He needed to be on my side! 06:48 But you know what the Lord 06:50 was finally able to get through to me? 06:51 Was: the Lord wasn't agreeing with me either. 06:54 I'm happy to be able to say that! 06:56 I mean it didn't feel good 06:57 in the moment 06:58 but the Lord convinced me while I was there on my knees 07:03 that what I needed 07:04 was His rest in my soul. 07:06 What I needed 07:07 was to quite trying to push my way 07:10 and to give myself to the Lord. 07:12 And then 07:14 not only could I be in agreement with the Lord 07:16 but then I could move back into agreement with you. 07:19 And if you remember, I came back into the room 07:23 a changed person. 07:25 And I believe that's that Miracle Working Power of God 07:28 we've seen it over and over again 07:30 that if we will choose to cooperate with Him 07:33 He will change us and He can change our prayers. 07:36 That's right! And so, the first thing, 07:38 the key important part is 07:40 not necessarily to pray for the other person 07:43 but to start praying for ourselves. 07:45 Pray for ourselves our needs! "Lord, make me different!" 07:48 "Change me! Make me a better wife!" 07:51 "Make me more responsive to my husband." 07:53 "Make me more sensitive! Make me more understanding." 07:57 And ask God to change my heart first. 07:59 That's where prayers of love need to begin! 08:03 And we called it in our home, you've termed it 08:05 Gospel Order. 08:06 That's right! 08:07 For me it's become very important 08:09 to pray in Gospel Order. 08:11 Let me just share with you for a moment what I mean by that. 08:14 I used to feel like it was selfishness 08:17 if I started praying for myself first, 08:19 you know, it's kind of self centered isn't it? 08:21 I've come to recognize, we can pray self centered prayers like 08:25 I was sharing a few moments ago 08:28 but we need to be praying for our own needs first! 08:32 I have found that in Gospel Order that means: 08:35 My heart to my Heavenly Father! 08:38 What happens between my soul and God 08:40 is what prepares me 08:41 when I have my quiet time in the morning as 08:43 I come to the Lord as I open His Word 08:46 it's what prepares me than to have the right kind of 08:49 connection to my wife, 08:52 to my children 08:54 and then on out to the people I work with, the people I meet. 08:58 And so, praying in Gospel Order includes 09:02 our Sure Foundation, the Word of God 09:04 which we talked about earlier. 09:07 It means praying for me. 09:09 "Lord create in me a new clean heart. 09:11 Renew a right spirit within me. 09:13 Take out this stony heart and give me a heart of tender flesh" 09:17 You know, these are Biblical prayers 09:20 these are prayers, not that we have to pray Bible prayers 09:24 all the way through our prayers but 09:25 I found I need this new heart experience. 09:28 And if God is giving me that and I'm receiving that 09:32 it then prepares me to move on and begin to pray for you. 09:38 I really am encouraged when we go back to the Bible 09:41 and we read the different prayers 09:42 by the different individuals 09:44 in the situations that they were facing. 09:46 It doesn't matter how bad they were, what they messed up on 09:50 they're prayers where heart felt. 09:52 -That's right! - And we saw a change happen 09:54 after those prayers have been given. 09:56 And so, we first pray for ourselves 09:59 and our personal need, my heart right with God 10:02 and the second thing the Lord has put in my heart is 10:04 to pray prayers of thankfulness. 10:06 That's been very important to me, 10:08 because I always haven't been as thankful as I need to be. 10:12 Especially for you. 10:14 And early on in our marriage 10:16 I started to focus too much on the negative 10:18 and I needed to learn 10:19 how to be thankful and look at the positive. 10:22 So, daily in my prayers is a prayer of thankfulness. 10:25 And I wanna encourage you today that if you start 10:29 thanking the Lord for your husband 10:31 if when you're having your prayer time 10:33 you thank Him for the things He's blessed you with 10:36 through your husband 10:37 you will start viewing your husband 10:40 at the beginning of the day 10:41 in a totally different light. 10:43 And that's what I have really enjoyed 10:45 about praying prayers of thankfulness. 10:46 In fact, now my prayers of thankfulness 10:49 even start earlier in the day. I use to wait till 10:51 I was out of bad and you know gotten around a little bit 10:54 before I had my usual prayer time. 10:56 And now they start before I even get out of bed. 10:58 'Cause every morning we have our cotel(?????) time. 11:01 Every morning. Every morning. 11:03 I even set the alarm, or we will set the alarm 11:05 a little earlier just to make sure we have that time there. 11:09 And when we have that cotel (??????)time 11:10 I lay my head on your shoulder 11:12 and that's when I begin to thank the Lord for you. 11:15 And those prayers of thankfulness 11:16 have really helped me 11:19 to develop my love more for you. 11:21 And those prayers of thankfulness 11:23 have reflected back on me. 11:25 And I am thankful for you! 11:28 Not just as a result of your prayers for me, 11:31 but those prayers have reflected back on me. 11:34 I experience your thankfulness and as you know 11:37 and as I share with you very often 11:40 my thankfulness for having the special woman that God gave me. 11:44 I've always felt that God gave you to me as a special gift 11:49 the woman of my dreams. 11:52 You know you're the most 11:53 important person on the Earth to me. 11:56 And that means something to you, doesn't it? 11:58 -Oh yes! Everything. -It is superiority in that. 11:59 It is. 12:00 And that doesn't happen by accident. 12:02 Some of that has come from these prayers of love. 12:08 You know, I was thanking of the Apostle Paul 12:10 He says in Ephesians the first chapter in the 16th verse: 12:15 And I'll put in in the first person: 12:17 "I cease not to give thanks for you, 12:20 making mention of you in my prayers." 12:24 We certainly are doing that. 12:25 And these are prayers of love. 12:30 The third part of prayers of love, 12:32 that the Lord has put in my heart 12:34 that I pray 12:35 is that if I, if you and I don't see things eye to eye 12:40 then if I'm wrong the Lord will change my heart 12:44 and if you're wrong the Lord will change your heart. 12:46 That takes responsibility off of me to change you 12:49 or the responsibility from you to try to change me. 12:52 That's right! 12:53 And then something, several years ago, in fact 12:55 it's been quite a few years ago now 12:56 that we started doing in our prayer time, 12:58 which is what we call prayers of love. 13:00 Lord who ever is wrong change our heart and if it's not us 13:04 then You change the other person's heart. 13:07 That's right! 13:08 I remember not too long 13:09 after I started praying these kind of prayers 13:11 we had that tested, didn't we? 13:14 We sure did! 13:17 It was a nice backpacking outing that we were on, 13:21 and we were 13:22 hiking up into the mountains and I was thinking 13:25 ahead of all the things that had to be done 13:27 and all the schedules and responsibilities 13:30 we had to meet. And I was thinking about 13:31 an engagement we had six weeks away 13:34 as we were hiking this trail 13:36 of things that we were gonna be doing 13:38 six weeks from now. 13:39 You know how your mind goes on. 13:40 That's right! 13:42 And so, as I was thinking about that I was recognizing that 13:45 we were gonna be asked to be involved in an activity 13:49 with our family 13:50 that I wasn't comfortable being involved in. 13:53 -And I wanted -We had to be there because 13:55 we were conducting the seminar. 13:57 That's right! 13:58 And I wanted to talk to you about that 14:00 and share with you my feelings and my concerns 14:02 about that. 14:03 Well, it was a perfect setting to do it in. 14:05 I mean we don't have a phone, we're out here 14:07 just enjoy family time together, 14:09 way out in the middle of the mountains. 14:11 And I can remember, you know, bringing it up: 14:14 "You know, in a few weeks we're gonna over here at this place 14:17 and 14:19 one of the activities we are gonna do honey 14:20 I'm not comfortable with." 14:23 I remember that. 14:25 And do you remember what else happened? 14:27 Well, I remember that 14:29 we weren't seeing eye to eye on the situation. 14:31 Not at all! 14:33 And I was feeling quite a bit of pressure. 14:35 Because it's one thing to 14:37 you know be involved and be there 14:40 for the seminar 14:41 and just blend in with the people 14:43 it's another thing when you're involved in the leadership 14:48 of the seminar, 14:49 conducting the seminar. 14:51 And now, if we're not gonna participate in this thing 14:53 what are people gonna say? 14:56 -What's it gonna look like? -It's not gonna look good 14:57 -Has it? -No! And 14:59 I mean not that we can be motivated 15:01 by just what people think, 15:03 but there is an influence, 15:05 and we have to be, careful that we don't use 15:07 that influence improperly one way or the other. 15:12 Well we didn't agree on that. 15:14 And 15:16 we have made an agreement in our home that we won't 15:18 try to force the other one to 15:20 agree with us! -That's right! 15:22 Which we're gonna be talking about later 15:24 in these series, about communication. 15:26 We're gonna be talking about that point particularly. 15:29 But, I gave you my perspective 15:32 you shared with me your perspective 15:34 and I sensed that your perspective might be more 15:37 prone to pressure from other people 15:41 or pure pressure if that's the word that we can use. 15:43 Certainly in that situation it was. 15:44 But I had to leave it alone. 15:45 I had to pray that prayer of love and I said: 15:47 "Lord if I'm right 15:49 change my husband. And Lord if I'm wrong I 15:52 wanna know that I'm wrong! 15:53 I wanna know that I can stand by aside and participate 15:56 in that activity, and I have any inhibitions." 15:59 That's right! 16:01 And now we're there. 16:02 And I still don't have an answer. 16:05 And we need to take a break 16:06 so stay with us to find out 16:08 what happens next! 16:16 There are many "How to?" books available, 16:18 but there's one that's free and perfect for every couple: 16:21 how you can "Build a Better Marriage". 16:24 Bible-based, matrimonial advice is given in a lighthearted, 16:29 easy-to-read manner, for those contemplating marriage, newlyweds, couples in their 16:33 golden years, and everyone in-between. 16:36 Simply call or write for your free copy of this amazing little booklet, a handy little 16:40 tool to help build a better 16:48 marriage. Welcome back! Well it had been six weeks 16:50 and that was 11 o'clock at night 16:53 the next day was soon to be here. 16:56 And I thought my husband was fast asleep and I 16:58 was still praying, 'cause I didn't have an answer. 17:02 Well, I wasn't asleep. 17:05 And the Lord was working on my heart. 17:08 You know, sometimes it seems that the Lord is 17:10 seldom early but He's never late! 17:14 And here we are, 17:16 we're at the seminar, tomorrow is when this is going to happen. 17:20 And the Lord just brought it forcibly and clearly 17:23 to my mind what I needed to do. 17:26 And so, 17:28 you got your answer. 17:30 And it wasn't you that God needed to change 17:33 in that situation. 17:34 It was me! 17:36 And I wasn't being stubborn! 17:37 I just didn't see it clearly until that night 17:40 as the Lord just brought it forcibly to my mind. 17:44 And your prayers 17:45 were really prayers of love. 17:48 They are prayers of love! 17:50 And it's interesting how God solved that problem. 17:53 I didn't have to be right and you didn't have to be right! 17:56 God wanted it to work out the right way! 17:58 And that's what those prayers of love are meant to be. 18:00 And it was interesting the next day 18:02 you and I didn't have to say anything about that activity. 18:05 Do you remember? 18:06 -Oh yes! -Somebody else came and said: 18:07 "Well, we're not comfortable the way this is done. 18:09 and we would like to suggest something different." 18:11 And we had total peace, total unity 18:14 and harmony in our home. 18:16 And so, those prayers of love 18:18 were really a blessing to us. 18:19 Even though we didn't have to meet that task the next day. 18:24 So, let's talk about the fourth pray of love that we 18:27 can offer. 18:29 And this one it's maybe more for me 18:31 than something you would want 18:32 to pray, but this has been important in my prayer life. 18:35 Sometimes I feel a need 18:37 and I can't trust that the needs I feel are really needs 18:41 or wants. 18:42 And so, I'll ask God: "Lord if this is a need 18:44 a real need that I have in my life 18:47 that you would put that desire in my husband's heart 18:50 to fulfill that need." 18:52 And as I've been willing to do that 18:54 it's interesting, I remember praying that prayer 18:56 one morning 18:57 as I was standing upstairs in the kitchen and I said: 19:00 "Lord I just feel like I need to have a hug from my husband" 19:04 Not that you don't give me lots of hugs 19:05 but you know, I don't know, from whatever reason 19:07 I was feeling that need. 19:09 And I said: "Lord if this is a need that's real in me 19:11 or if it's just a want, but if it's a need 19:14 put that in his heart!" 19:16 And just a few minutes later 19:18 you come walking upstairs and came over to me 19:21 and gave me a hug and a kiss 19:22 and you just told me how much you appreciated me. 19:25 And that was just like 19:27 an immediate answer to prayer. 19:30 You know, that's exciting to me and I hope to the 19:32 viewing audience. 19:33 This is the God that we serve. 19:36 Not just that we serve. 19:38 But this is the God that wants to reach into our hearts. 19:42 And He wants to answer simple prayers. 19:45 He loves us! 19:47 And He wants to build the love between us. 19:52 Well, we need to talk about the fifth prayer of love. 19:55 That's right! The fifth area 19:57 is a very special area to us! 20:00 Now, we've always had family worship 20:03 and prayed together in the family but 20:07 one of the special things that we've been doing, 20:09 for quite some time now, 20:11 is the prayer that you and I have together, 20:13 in the evening, before we go to bed 20:16 to close the day. 20:17 And I tell you friends, this is something very 20:20 powerful and beautiful. 20:22 In fact, our oldest daughter came to us 20:26 just recently 20:28 she came to us and she told us: 20:31 "You know, sometimes I hear you praying 20:35 in the evening." Because we pray 20:36 out loud together. 20:38 And she said: "It means so much to me 20:42 to hear how you pray together 20:45 and what you pray for 20:47 and to see how God is answering those prayers." 20:49 So, it touched her heart. We didn't even realize 20:52 but it hasn't that been meaningful to 20:54 us to have that special time to pray? 20:56 It has been. 20:57 And that's something that you brought to me and you said: 21:00 "You know, we pray in the morning in family worship 21:03 in the evening in family worship 21:04 we thank the Lord for our food every day." 21:07 There was our own private personal prayers. 21:09 Yes, we have our private prayers and 21:11 and yet the burn that you had was just a special 21:14 prayer time. 21:15 The last thing we would do before we would go to bed. 21:17 That's right! 21:18 And it's interesting as, you know, you 21:20 brought up Alice and bringing that to us, 21:22 the influence that that has in the home 21:25 it is such a positive influence for our young people 21:29 to know that we are praying for them. 21:30 -Amen! -That we care for them. 21:31 And we're bringing their challenges and their trials 21:35 and their joys before the Lord. 21:37 And that we're asking God to give us wisdom 21:39 to guide and direct them 21:41 as they work their way through life. 21:44 And, you know, to hear her express 21:45 you know, "I'm laying awake in there and I can 21:47 hear you guys praying." 21:50 I didn't even realize that she was doing that. 21:52 But it made it more meaningful to me. And I hope that as 21:55 we talk about this prayers of love 21:58 that it goes beyond just our marriage, 22:00 it will have an influence on other people, 22:02 first those in our own home, our children, 22:05 maybe we're caring for an elderly parent 22:07 it will have a positive influence on them. 22:09 Then to those around us in our community or in 22:12 our church or in our work 22:13 our prayers of love will bare an influence. 22:17 Because they will be changing us 22:19 and we will be more like Christ 22:21 and that will always bare an influence for good. 22:23 You know, one of the amazing things to me as we've 22:26 been doing this now for quite a long time, 22:29 is that praying out loud with you 22:31 has seem to 22:34 make some of the things that I pray for 22:36 with you just come alive and be so real 22:39 and important. 22:41 I mean, praying, 22:42 privately, quietly, silently is good. 22:45 We need that closed prayer time but 22:47 praying with you and praying out loud for our needs 22:50 it just made some of the things come more into my mind and 22:53 and made me more sensitive 22:55 to how I can cooperate with answering those prayers. 22:59 It does, it reinforces it in our minds, because we hear it 23:03 as well as speak it. 23:05 And that only makes it that much stronger in our hearts. 23:08 Well, I remember not too long ago 23:10 it was bed time, and we had worship and everybody 23:13 was hading to bed, 23:14 and you had gone down ahead of me down stairs 23:18 to our bed room 23:19 and I was sitting in my little glider rocker upstairs 23:21 and I had pulled out an old photo album 23:24 that I just had this desire to look at. 23:27 Special memories. 23:28 Special memories. 23:29 And I was sitting there, you know, just 23:31 looking to it for a few minutes and I got totally absorbed. 23:34 And the next thing I know, you're coming back upstairs 23:36 and you poke your head over the top of the stair rail 23:38 and you said: "Honey, you're coming to bed?" 23:39 And I said: "Oh yes, in a few minutes." 23:43 I went back down stairs and I just 23:45 had a little quiet time alone 23:46 and waited for my bride to come. 23:49 And you waited, and you waited, and you waited. 23:52 Because I totally got absorbed. 23:55 In fact I think I even said: 23:56 well you know "Maybe you should just go ahead 23:58 and go to bed" or I don't know what it was but 24:00 I came down stairs, I don't know, half an hour later? 24:03 It was quite a while later. 24:05 And I was trying to be ever so quiet 24:08 and I came into the room and there you were 24:10 sitting up in bed, waiting for me to come to bed. 24:14 And I said: "Honey, you didn't have to wait out for me!" 24:17 I didn't want to miss our prayer time together. 24:18 And that's what you told me. 24:21 You didn't want to go to sleep without that time. 24:24 That was powerful to me. 24:27 And I was 24:29 embarrassed or felt bad that I kept you waiting 24:32 but not once in that time 24:34 that elapsed did you ever say: "Hurry up!" 24:37 "I'm waiting for you!" 24:38 "When you're gonna get here?" 24:40 You know, any of those impatient remarks, 24:42 you just let me have that quiet time. 24:44 You let me enjoy reminiscing through an old photo album 24:47 all by myself. 24:48 And you were just very kind and gentle with me. 24:54 And that made a powerful impact in my heart. 24:58 Well, those prayers of love 25:00 have made a difference and continue to make a difference 25:03 in our home. 25:04 And I'm thankful for that appreciation. 25:06 And I want our viewing audience as we bring to you 25:10 a personal challenge: 25:12 that you can begin today 25:14 if some of these things are new to you 25:16 or maybe these aren't new thoughts for you but 25:18 maybe life's pushing pressures have kept you from 25:21 really entering in 25:23 to some of these things in a practical way. 25:26 So, we just wanna share with you 25:28 and encourage you that you will take 25:30 these five things and begin to make 25:33 commitments that these prayers of love 25:36 will begin to be your prayers of love. 25:40 So, the first thing we talked about 25:42 was praying in Gospel Order. 25:45 That's right! 25:46 I pray for myself first, 25:47 my needs, my heart. 25:49 -Yes. 25:50 -A new conversion. -That's right! 25:52 We need it daily. 25:53 That's the first and most important place we start. 25:56 And then we need to be praying for God to 25:58 to change me. 26:00 And to be thakful. 26:02 Those prayers of thankfulness 26:03 have been a tremendous encouragement to me. 26:05 And I know you're thankful for me too, because 26:07 you express it many many times in a day. 26:10 That's right! 26:11 And then the third area. 26:12 The prayers of love 26:14 when we differ on things, when we don't see things 26:17 eye to eye, 26:18 That's right! 26:19 that we pray not to be right, 26:21 we don't pray to change the other person. 26:23 We ask God to change who ever doesn't see it right. 26:26 That's right! 26:27 That's a prayer of love. 26:28 "Lord if I'm wrong show me, change my heart! 26:32 And help me to find rest in this." 26:34 But if you're wrong, "If my spouse is wrong 26:37 Lord you can change him!" 26:38 I can't change you. I tried that early on, 26:41 and it doesn't work. 26:42 That' right! 26:43 And to make known to the spouse if there are real needs 26:47 and than that we pray daily together. 26:49 That's been a great blessing. 26:51 And I think it will be beautiful if we could just pray now. 26:53 Maybe you'd like to pray honey. 26:56 Father we are thankful that we can come to You any time. 27:00 And we're thankful that You have put it in our hearts 27:02 to pray prayers of love, 27:05 love for each other and love for You 27:07 love for others. 27:09 And may Your Love flow into us. 27:11 And through our prayers be the person you want us to be. 27:14 In Jesus name Amen! 27:18 Well, we've got something 27:20 that's gonna be a fun to talk about 27:21 the next time we're together. 27:23 Forming common goals. 27:26 You know, many of us 27:28 we go through life dealing with the goals 27:31 that we have to set to make things work 27:33 in every area of our lives. 27:35 We need to set common goals 27:37 for what's gonna work to make us 27:39 have a marriage that's trully heart to heart 27:42 with the one that we love! 27:47 Marriage in God's Hands 27:49 Executive Producer Danny Shelton 27:51 Director Jozsef Palhegyi 27:53 Video Early Simon 27:56 Video Assistant Kristin Stewart 27:59 Audio Timothy S. Dial 28:01 Floor Director Mitch Owen |
Revised 2014-12-17