Are you looking for encouraging prayers for marriage to pray over your spouse? Keep reading as a gentle prompting to be inspired to pray without ceasing for your marriage.
Marriage is one of the greatest gifts the Lord gives His people. This union is a reflection of Christ’s love for the church. Since marriage is holy and sacred, we should protect and honor it. The enemy desires to destroy what the Lord has brought together, and our marriages are a prime target.
So, how do you protect your marriage? As believers, the first line of defense to guard the sanctity of marriage is prayer. Prayer draws spouses together and helps to keep Christ central in the marriage relationship. It provides a space to share with the Lord, and with one another, requests and hopes, surrender fears or worries, and align with the Lord’s plan for your life and marriage.
If you want to implement prayer for marriage into your daily walk with the Lord, read below for prayers for the many areas of your marriage.
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Scriptures about Marriage
Before jumping into the prayers, we can begin by looking at marriage within Scripture as a foundation.
Ephesians 5:22-27 (ESV) says,
Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
This passage in Ephesians paints a beautiful picture of the marriage union and how it reflects Christ’s love and sacrifice for the church. As wives, we are to submit ourselves under the leadership of our husbands, given by the Lord, just as Christ is at the head of the church. Likewise, husbands are to love their wives sacrificially, as Christ sacrificed himself for an undeserving church.
Colossians 3:18-19 (ESV) echoes the passage in Ephesians as it says,
“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” A wife submitting to her husband honors the Lord, and as a husband loves his wife, he is to be respectful and gentle in his leadership.
Finally, 1 Peter 3:7 (ESV) says,
“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
This passage instructs a husband to show honor to his wife, following God’s will – understanding her needs. Though both man and woman are made in the image of God, husbands are to treat their wives in a godly manner, not using their authority or strength against her.
With the repetition in Scripture regarding marriage, it is helpful to see we have clear instructions for honoring one another, showing respect to the other spouse, and obeying the Lord in the specific role He designed for both men and women in marriage. With this foundation in mind, we can start praying specifically over our marriages.
Powerful Prayers for Marriage
As Christ’s followers, we believe and have seen the power of prayer. If you and your spouse do not pray over your marriage, consider the impact on your relationship or your family if you became intentional about prayer on a daily basis.
Below are a handful of topics you can begin to pray over. If you believe prayer works, how could those areas of your relationship transform by the power of prayer? Read each of the short prayers for married couples, and then adjust them for the needs and desires of your relationship. Whether you are dealing with difficult times or you simply want to build a stronger bond of unity, these prayers can be a catalyst for change in your covenant of marriage.
Prayer for Marriage Protection
If you ask any married couple with a successful marriage, they will say that it is difficult, but so rewarding, and any praying married couple will tell you that praying against the schemes of the enemy against your marriage and claiming victory over the spiritual battle that often ensues for your marriage!
Lord God, I pray for protection over my marriage. The enemy wants nothing more than to kill, steal, and destroy – especially in my marriage. Through distraction or temptation, he wants us to take our eyes off of you and focus on ourselves or the shortcomings of the other.
I ask you to protect us from the enemy’s flaming arrows toward our marriage. Help us keep our minds and hearts fixed on you so that he cannot insert himself into our holy union.
I ask for protection from outside forces that could distract or divide us. Would you help us find accountability and support for our marriage that enables us to form and keep healthy boundaries and keep you as the center of our relationship? Thank you for the gift of our marriage and the safety it provides us. I pray our marriage would be a safe space to worship and honor you. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Prayer for Marriage Restoration
Sometimes, darkness may seep into our marriages, and we feel distance push us from our spouses! If you have found this to be true in your own marriage this simple prayer for marriage restoration can be the encouragement you need to keep leaning into your marriage and asking god’s power into your union!
Heavenly Father, I believe you brought my spouse and me together to bring you honor and to further your Kingdom.
Even with that confidence, we live in a fallen and broken world. As two sinful people, we both have made mistakes. If we let it, a wall of division can come between us. So, I pray for restoration within our marriage. I ask that you forgive me for how I have treated or responded to my spouse in a way that did not honor them or you. I ask that you help me to forgive my spouse for any hurt or disrespect they may have caused me.
O God, I pray that as we move forward that you teach us how to honor one another and glorify you through our marriage. Please help us to lay down our pride or selfishness and seek to outdo the other in showing honor.
I believe you can mend the broken pieces in our marriage. Please help us to move forward in grace and healing. I ask for your help and wisdom to bring resolution and peace back into our relationship, remembering what Scripture teaches us about our roles in marriage. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Prayer for Spouse
Dear Lord Jesus, today I pray specifically over my husband. The weight he carries each day is heavy. The responsibility to lead and love our family well in a world that does not equip him to do so must feel overwhelming. I pray for strength and encouragement for him. I ask that you guide and fill him with your Spirit to walk according to his calling in grace and humility.
I thank you for all my husband does to support and care for our family, and I ask that you remind me to appreciate and honor him for his role and giftings. I also pray for protection over my husband’s mind. Help him fight temptation and fix his mind on what is pure and holy.
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to be the wife you have called me to be in Scripture, submitting to my husband as is my calling. Please grant me the strength and wisdom to serve him well and help our marriage to focus on you.
Prayer for Growing Your Family
Gracious Lord, I pray over our marriage and desire to grow our family. I ask for health and wisdom as we approach a new stage with young children. I pray that you would help us stay closely knit with you and with one another in seasons of fatigue and adjustment. Thank you for the joy of our marriage and the family we desire to grow.
Additional Scriptures to pray for Marriage
Daily Prayer is one of the most powerful things you can do for your marriage! Marriage is a ministry and being such it is often the target of the ploys of the enemy! Having a list of scriptures to pray for your marriage covenant can help you be prepared to battle these attacks and face hard times with the word of God.
Looking for more Guided prayers and resources to help you transform your prayer life? Check out all of our prayer resources for tips, guides, and printables to help you deepen your prayer life!
Praying scriptures is a powerful tool to strengthen your gift of marriage! It allows you to use the power of the word of God to present your requests before him. The following verses can be prayed over your marriage daily in your prayer journal or write them out on stationary to place where you can read them often.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psalm 92:13-15
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? Ezekiel 18:31
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11
He restores my soul; He leads me in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:3
Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. James 1:19
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35
No temptation has overtaken you except such is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Incorporating Prayer for Marriage Health
Bringing in prayer for marriage could be crucial for the health and wellness of your marriage. As you invest time and intentionality into prayer with and for your spouse you will begin to see the Lord work in beautiful ways. As you look to Scripture to live out your calling within marriage, make sure to not lose sight of Christ at the center of your marriage. Just as you communicate with your spouse regularly, communicate with the Lord together for the health of your marriage.
Written By: Brittany Thieman
Being a working mom is challenging, and the pressure to “do it all” can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, we can learn from Scripture and from other moms to live out our callings while keeping the Gospel at the center of our homes.
My name is Brittany, and I work as a Director of Operations for a company and run a small business while raising my two young daughters and baby boy on the way. My husband is a pastor, and we just recently relocated from North Carolina to Texas for a new church position. The Lord has taught us much in this busy and tiring season. I hope to encourage other mamas in their journey toward pursuing Christ in the messiness, beauty, and fatigue of motherhood.
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