Doug Van Pelt

The Love Dare.16

Love Intercedes
This is another good chapter. It goes into how we cannot really change our spouse. One statement or question is funny. It's like, "Do you think God gave you insight into your spouse's problems and shortcomings so you could nag?" Ha ha.

The authors use the good analogy about farmers planting seeds, knowing that, in the right soil, it'll probably grow. There's also some cool, balanced statements about prayer that I like:

God is sovereign. He does things His way. He's not a genie in a lamp that submits to your every wish. But He does love you and desires an intimate relationship with you. This doesn't happen apart from prayer.

Do you feel like giving up on your marriage? Jesus said to pray instead of quitting (Luke 18:1).

Are you stressed out and worried? Prayer can bring peace to your storms (Philippians 4:6-7).

Do you need a major breakthrough? Prayer can make the difference (Acts 12:1-17).

I like this little tid-bit, too:

There are some key elements that must be in place for prayer to be effective. But suffice it to say that prayer works best when coming from a humble heart that is in a right relationship with God and others.

It's easy to make the mistake that either God will give you what you want if you follow the "right formula," or use past experience in un-answered prayer (which is really a case of "didn't get what I want") as a way to dismiss prayer as a futile exercise. Sometimes we use defense mechanisms to deal with disappointment. This scenerio would be a sad one: to dismiss God, His existence, or His desire to draw close to us in prayer in some form of philosophy known as Deism...

Prayer is not a formula. If we do "everything right," that doesn't guarantee that God will be forced to give us what we want. Sometimes I think God might use our prayer time as a sort of therapy for us to realize and cope with our circumstances. I know that I often get introspective when I hear what my voice is praying for.

Today's Dare:
Begin praying today for your spouse's heart. Pray for three specific ares where you desire for God to work in your spouse's life and in your marriage.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at April 10, 2009 10:45 AM