Prayer Letter - 25 April 2005

To: Prayer Partners
From: Pastor Lucenay

Marriage should be honored by all (Hebrews 13:4). The Bible says at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate (Mark 10:6-9).

I think God had a twinkle in His eye when He created marriage. He used this part of creation to show us something of His love for us even as He used it to forecast something of the hereafter. In this public institution He reaches into the private corners of our hearts, addressing issues in us in the crucible of our closest earthly relationship. Here we learn to apply our faith in daily encounters with ourselves and our life partner.

This week I invite you to pray for marriage. If you are not married, invite God to explore your understanding of marriage. According to the Bible some will never marry. If you believe singleness will define your life, ask God to help you accept this fact and make the most of your life as a single. Ask God to teach you the lessons He wants you to learn in singleness. If you are single and feel you will someday be married, invite God to work in your heart to make you ready to be the best marriage partner you can possibly be. Let God address your thoughts and your habits. Challenge God to show you the areas where you need to improve so you can better handle the closeness of the marriage relationship. And, yes, as you ask God to make you the right person for marriage, you can ask God to bring the right person into your life.

If you are married, God isn’t finished with you yet. You, too, can invite God to make you the right person in your marriage. Certainly, being the right person does not mean you are always right. It means you are allowing God to shape your thoughts and words, your attitudes and habits so that you can bring blessing and joy to your mate. So often when we pray about our marriage we are prone to pray for our mates to make the proper adjustments to fit out perceptions of what they ought to be. As people who are committed to Jesus Christ, our first prayer seeks to help us adjust to what God wants in us. Let God show you where selfishness is hurting your relationship with your spouse. Allow God to teach you your spouse’s love language. Permit your Father to show you where your rough edges are rubbing the relationship the wrong way. When God shows you something to be addressed, don’t be defensive. In a genuine desire to honor Jesus Christ in your marriage, seek forgiveness and make the changes His Word initiates in your life.

Pray for your spouse. Ask God to guide your spouse’s faith. Invite God to bless your spouse. In that matter, let God to show you how to bring His blessing into the life of your spouse. Is there something troubling you about your spouse? What could God be saying to you through this trouble? Let the Father speak to you in your difficulties. Our troubles are His teaching opportunities. Is your spouse having a tough time with some part of life? Pray for God to give His strength to your spouse even as you pray for insights into how you can encourage your spouse. Open your heart to serving your spouse with the love of Christ Jesus.

We live in a world were many people are having a hard time making their marriages work. Perhaps you know some people in the church family or among your friends who are experiencing marital problems. Lift them to the Lord in prayer. You might use the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in your prayers for them. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut. Doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always ‘me first,’ doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of the truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end (The Message).

The church family continues to pray for the ill. Please pray for those you know that are sick or suffering.

We continue to pray for the salvation of those who are not yet a part of God’s family. Pray that Christ will come to life in their hearts. Let us also pray for the people who attend our church and do not know Jesus as Savior.

This week Michelle Kobosky is flying back to the States. Pray for her as she prepares to return to the work she did before coming to work with us. Also pray for the Pettys as they prepare to return to the States in June and for God to guide us to the people He has in mind for us in the Music and Youth ministries. We continue to ask God to lead us to a kindergarten principal as well.

This month I will be preaching on marriage each Sunday morning. Pray for God to use this series of messages to strengthen marriages, to help people properly prepare for marriage, and to help us see God’s design for Christian marriages.

Pray for our church people as we seek to be what God wants us to be in today’s world. Pray for the pastor and staff as we seek to meet the demands of our growing church.

Thank you for your prayers. God bless you.