5 ways to pray for your spouse

Marriage is a Sacrament instituted by the Lord in the Garden of Eden. The Lord recognized the need for a man and woman to have each other and to build a life together. He recognized that man needed woman and woman needed man. However, life is not always that easy. 

Sacraments are to be cherished, honored, and loved. Marriage is perhaps one of those Sacraments taken for granted, especially if you have been married for a long time. Life takes us in different directions sometimes, discourages us, pulls us away from the faith, or wins in a variety of manners. That is why God gives us a teammate. But, sometimes the teammate and partner needs prayer. There are spouses that will vocalize their struggles and their needs, tell you what he or she needs prayer for and there are others that will not vocalize struggles. 

There are ways you can pray for your spouse regardless if your spouse is one of those that vocalizes prayer concerns:

1.) Pray for his/her spiritual well-being: The most important thing in any relationship is a strong spiritual foundation. It is possible, but more difficult, not have a strong marital relationship with the Lord Jesus as the center of it. Pray that your spouse falls in love with Jesus. Pray your spouse takes daily time to pray (if they do not already pray daily). Pray for your spouse to have a strengthened love of Jesus, especially in the Eucharist. If you are the wife, pray for your husband to be strong in his faith and that he would step up and lead as the spiritual leader of the relationship and household. 

2.) Pray for the protection from Satan: The devil is sly. He is sneaky and he is effective when it comes to temptation. Pray for God to place protection around your spouse and protect him or her from temptation. Pray for the protection from temptation of adultery, to turn away from God, protection from the temptation to do things that are shady at work or to have a heart that makes anything or anyone other than the Lord his or her god in life. 

3.) Pray for health and wellbeing: It is often easy for us to remember to pray for our spouse when he or she is sick. We pray for favorable medical tests results, positive and encouraging doctor reports, or even pray for them to overcome a flu or Covid quickly. We often neglect remembering to pray for their mental needs, especially for men. It is a larger battle than most men will let you know when it comes to their mental health. A man struggling with mental health is seen as a sign of weakness and “not a man” in our society, As his spouse, pray for his mental and his physical wellbeing. 

4.) Character Development: We can all improve when it comes to our character. We want to be men and women of God. We should all be striving to be men and women that point others to Jesus and away from the enticements of the world. We should all seek to be men and women “after God’s own heart”. Pray for your spouse to strengthen things such as patience, kindness, resilience, forgiveness, and integrity. 

5.) Give thanks for your spouse: Never forget to thank the Lord for giving you a spouse. We can all improve. We can all seek God to a greater depth, increase our prayer life, become stronger in integrity, and avoid temptation. We can all do better, But, never forget that the gift of marriage is a Sacrament and those Sacraments are gifts of God. That means your spouse is a gift from God. Make sure to give thanks for that gift when you approach the throne of grace in your prayers. If you pray with an attitude of thanksgiving for your spouse then you will soon discover that the prayer of thanksgiving will change your heart and attitude toward your spouse.