Pray, Pray, and Pray Some More!!!

There's something so awesome about all of the firsts that come along with being newly married.  Not the ones that probably come to mind initially such as first home and first child.  I'm thinking more about those special moments when you first look at your left hand and say, "WOW, are we really married?"  Or when you first have to introduce your spouse to someone by introducing them as my husband or my wife.  Or when you finally come to the realization that you are no longer two separate people, but one complete person that HAS to work.  Yes, that's right!  Although, we don't hear it much anymore, once you take those vows before God and Family, it HAS to work.  My husband and I went into our marriage with the motto "Divorce is not an option," keeping in mind neither party has any desire to commit adultery.  :  )

During our wedding, our Pastor (Overseer Hayward Hamilton of Conquering Power Church of Deliverance in Philadelphia, PA) made remarks that forever changed the lives of myself, my husband, and many of our guests that day.  He said, "Never stop praying.  Pray together.  Pray apart.  But never stop.  This is absolutely imperative in making a marriage work."  I Thessalonians 5:17 of the Holy Bible states that we should Pray without ceasing.  Sounds easy?  I didn't find it to be so after I said my I do's.

Before marriage, prayer came easy.  Wake up... pray.  Go to work... pray at lunch.  Come home... pray some more.  Didn't feel like cooking?  Declare a fast and pray some more.  Wake up 2 or 3 in the morning?  Pray again.  This was my life as a single and saved woman that was holding onto God's Promise of one day being found by someone great.  Now after marriage, things were a little different.  Wake up, spend time with The Mr.  Go to work, call The Mr. at lunch.  Come home, spend time with The Mr.  Didn't feel like cooking?  Oh well, The Mr. is hungry, and now we clean the kitchen after cooking for the purpose of being extra impressive to the new spouse.  Wake up 2 or 3 in the morning?  Not even happening... do you see my schedule?  I was exhausted!!!  :  )

One day I realized that my prayer life had gone from all the time to not at all.  If you've ever been curious about the importance of prayer, pray regularly and then just stop one day.  I thought it was my prayer life that kept me, but I realized that these small conversations with God were responsible for so much more.  It was prayer that made me tolerable, it was prayer that gave me a light to shine before men, it was prayer that gave me encouraging words for anyone that needed them, it was prayer that provided me with discernment, and it was prayer that kept me in touch with the God that I serve.  Without prayer, I was mean, impatient, confused, full of incorrect assumptions, paranoid, on edge, and all kinds of terrible.  I didn't exhibit this behavior with my co-workers and friends only but also with my husband who I loved so dearly and had unknowingly placed in front of God.

I took for me to recall a testimony that my former Pastor used to tell often about his first years of marriage.  At the end of his testimony, he would quote a scripture that said Do not worship any other god, for the lord whose name is jealous, is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14).  That scripture allowed me to remember that my husband loved me because I put God before him.  We know God as Provider, Banner, Peace, Wonderful, and all of the picture perfect names that we love to quote, but do you know him as Jealous?  But I'm so thankful that the mercy of a jealous God still loved me enough to correct me.

My husband and I shared this concern and talked about it.  And (believe it or not) two ministers had to reintroduce prayer back into their marriage.  Because we're still newlyweds, we still seek that place of consistent prayer together, but we find that praying regularly apart and coming together as often as possible is working.  The old church mothers used to say, "When you call on His Name, somethings gotta change!"  Thanks be to God, we see that change today.

Stay Blessed People of God.