When Peter and I started dating, it was crucial to us that God be at the center of our relationship. But . . . neither of us had done this before, and we had no idea what that actually looked like in action.
We vaguely knew we wanted to read the Bible together, pray together, and learn together. We had both been praying for each other ever since we met. And Peter is great about taking every opportunity to stop what we’re doing and seek God through prayer.
But a few days into dating, I woke up to find a long voice message. Curious, I sleepily hit play and a smile began to grow into beaming.
“Good morning, princess,” We’re adorable, just roll with it, “I want to pray for you every morning.”
And so, he did. Every morning, I wake up to a new recorded prayer for me, my day, and my life. Following his lead, I began to do the same thing, and it has been such a treasure.
Praying for our significant others has many benefits, namely it. . .
1. Puts God at the center of our relationships
2. Facilitates daily surrender in our hearts when we are tempted to control and cling
3. Cultivates a heart of compassion, love, and joy in us toward our significant other
Today, I want to share three specific ways we can be praying with intentionality for our significant others.
1. Pray for Their Community
The people that surround your significant other play a significant role in their life. As their significant other, it is tempting to want to be the main or only person in their life, but we were created for godly community and to be a family. A couple that is isolated is a couple that is in danger, and is a couple that is having to work so much harder than is necessary.
So, pray for their community. Pray for the different types of community in their life: their family, friends, church, schoolmates, and coworkers. Pray for the specific people in those communities and for the kinds of people who should be there but aren’t yet. Pray for people who are honest, compassionate, and willing to stand up for what is right. Pray for people who will fight for both of you—both through challenges and encouragement.
2. Pray for Their Future
The season of life we are in as young adults is one of decisions and unknown and wondering. Navigating this season with a significant other can be so helpful as you get to have someone along for the ride. But only God knows the future. And as you consider your significant other’s future, consider how that should affect your prayers and actions for today.
So today, as you pray for your significant other, pray for their future. Pray for their job and their calling. Pray for their growth and their healing. Pray for the people that they will be influencing and ministering to in the future. Pray for their future family. And . . . pray for their potential future marriage, even if that is not with you. Pray for God’s perfect will to be made clear to them and for it to come to pass.
3. Pray for Wisdom in Loving Them
As you pray for your significant other, pray for yourself as well. You have such a big role in the life of your significant other. Pray that you would grow in compassion, forgiveness, and servant-heartedness. Pray for ideas and wisdom in how to care for your significant other well.
God knows how to love and care for our significant others better than even we do. We are human, and we get tired, short tempered, and distracted. We fail to love perfectly, and I don’t know about you, but I want to be loving my significant other not with my own love, but with God’s love.
Friend, prayer is such a powerful and important foundation in a relationship. So, let’s take this step with intentionality together. And as you pray, don’t forget to be asking your significant other to cover you in prayer as well.
Wow. This is amazing. I’d really like to try this out with my boyfriend. I’m a little nervous to try it, but our goal is to embrace any weirdness or awkwardness as it comes. If we can’t get past the awkwardness of things together, we might not be right for each other. Relationships thrive on weirdness. 🤪