"When two or more are gathered in His name, there He is also." Matthew 18:20
Do you struggle to communicate with your spouse? Are there roadblocks to your intimacy, and do you wish you were more deeply connected? We have all been there. Marriage is hard, although ordained by God, and can be one of the most challenging relationships we have.
When we get married, there is so much hope emanating from both people. We say our vows wholeheartedly and are so sure we are going to be so strong to get through all the hard things…good and bad, in sickness and in health.
Then life happens. Some couples power through and some don’t.
While love and communication are key, prayer has a unique power to deepen a relationship and offer guidance, especially in tough times.
"When two or more are gathered in His name, there He is also." Matthew 18:20
Incorporating prayer into your marriage can help couples connect on a deeper, spiritual level. This adds a level of dependence on God instead of only depending on ourselves or each other.
Marriage is a covenant before God, and when we pray, it strengthens the covenant and reminds us of the sanctity of our bond. Aligning our hearts with God's will through prayer can bring understanding, peace, and unity to our marriage.
When my husband and I got married it was our second marriage for both of us. One of the things that stuck with us in our premarital counseling was how important it is to pray together.
The pastor encouraged us to pray every night before bed, thanking God for each other. There is something so intimate about praying for each other and thanking God for specific things about our spouse while they are listening.
We have been married ten years, and we still do this nearly every night.
This was not implemented in either of our previous marriages and the intimacy was not nearly as deep.
Prayer is powerful. When we include God in all the things going on in our lives, it might not make everything perfect, but we can learn to see God’s hand working in everything that we go through. Good and bad.
We are a blended family so there is a lot to pray for, and we have seen miracles in the lives of our children. We have walked our kids through hard, disappointing things, but God has given us the grace and wisdom to handle all of it.
When we lay it all down at the feet of Jesus, it frees up our spirit to fully trust God, no matter what our circumstances look like.
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16
Here are some practical ways to incorporate prayer in your marriage:
1. Pray daily together. Set aside time in the morning, afternoon, or before bed. Even the shortest, simplest prayers can have the biggest impact.
2. Pray for each other. Pray for your spouse's faith, well-being, and purpose. Pray for each other when you're apart and when you’re together.
3. Pray in difficult times. When challenges come, sit on your knees, holding hands with your spouse, lifting all the hard things to God. This will help you connect to God and each other. Of course, any posture is great but being on your knees helps you focus on God.
4. Celebrating Milestones. Pray for big events, big decisions, or big troubles. And also pray for all the little mundane things that you don’t think God cares about because He certainly does.
Try incorporating prayer into your marriage. It is a powerful tool that encourages intimacy with each other and with God. When we link arms and include God in our daily lives, we will start to see a shift. We will notice the big and little ways that God cares about us and how He shows up in unexpected ways.
A simple prayer to begin:
Lord, thank you for my spouse. Thank you for bringing us together in such a unique way. I thank you for our relationship and the covenant that we share with you. Please help us incorporate prayer time into our busy lives. Help us recognize our need for you in our daily tasks, big decisions, and all the little things in between. We long to be connected more intimately and deeply, and we want you right in the center. Give us creative ways to incorporate prayer time every day. Show us who you are as we learn to speak out loud our requests, our gratefulness, and all the things we are petitioning for. We are excited to see you show up in unexpected ways. Thank you for your desire to be in our relationship with us and to be the center of our marriage. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash
Heidi Vegh is a writer, speaker, and ministry leader based in Western Washington. A remarried mother of four, she is navigating blended family life after losing her first husband to cancer in 2013. Through her writing and speaking, Heidi encourages those who have experienced loss, offering hope and practical guidance for the journey toward healing and renewed life.
She is the author of The Hard Journey to the Good: A Widow’s Journey from Loss to New Life, a heartfelt account of grief, faith, and rebuilding after devastating loss, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
You can find Heidi at her website mrsheidivegh.com where she shares devotionals and reflections on grief, healing, motherhood, faith, and the beauty and complexity of blended family life through her monthly newsletter. She holds a degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University and serves as Ministry Director at her local church, where she is passionate about helping women grow in faith and experience the transforming love of Jesus.
You can find her on Instagram @mrsheidivegh and SubStack: https://substack.com/
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Originally published Wednesday, 29 January 2025.
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