One of our friends at church has had a pretty rough last seven months. Amos and I were on the outskirts of the issue, being friends but not best friends with this guy, but we knew what was going on and prayed faithfully for him and his wife. Sometimes we didn't know what to pray for his wife. Sometimes we didn't know what to pray for either of them. Sometimes we just prayed the same thing night after night, that our friend would be healed, that his wife would be changed, that they would both become more like Christ, that she would realize and experience God's love for her, etc.
And God has worked.
Now we are praying for their reconciliation process as well as healing and strength for the journey.
As I talked with Amos about how great and how hard this reconciliation would be, I realized something else.
If Amos and I weren't married, we wouldn't have prayed for our friend nearly as much. We read our Bibles as single and engaged people, but it was harder to actually pray every night. Our whole church has been praying fervently for him, so I know that it wasn't just our prayers that brought about God's work in their lives, but it helped.
It not only helped our friends, it helped us as well.
As Amos and I prayed, it kept our friend at the forefront of our minds and made us more sympathetic to how he and his wife might be feeling and what they might be going through. It made us think about how this could be us, if we weren't careful to guard ourselves and our relationship and if we weren't careful to rely on God to keep us aware of what we are doing and believing.
So really, this blog post is about being thankful. Thankful that God has brought about the start of a reconciliation between our friends and thankful that God has allowed us to be married and to pray together for others and ourselves.
And God has worked.
Now we are praying for their reconciliation process as well as healing and strength for the journey.
As I talked with Amos about how great and how hard this reconciliation would be, I realized something else.
If Amos and I weren't married, we wouldn't have prayed for our friend nearly as much. We read our Bibles as single and engaged people, but it was harder to actually pray every night. Our whole church has been praying fervently for him, so I know that it wasn't just our prayers that brought about God's work in their lives, but it helped.
It not only helped our friends, it helped us as well.
As Amos and I prayed, it kept our friend at the forefront of our minds and made us more sympathetic to how he and his wife might be feeling and what they might be going through. It made us think about how this could be us, if we weren't careful to guard ourselves and our relationship and if we weren't careful to rely on God to keep us aware of what we are doing and believing.
So really, this blog post is about being thankful. Thankful that God has brought about the start of a reconciliation between our friends and thankful that God has allowed us to be married and to pray together for others and ourselves.
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