Instruction for Husbands

Father, we we thank you for this morning. We thank you for the great grace that is found in Christ Jesus we thank you

Lord that we are in Christ Jesus that we have a union with Christ and And fellowship with each other and so we pray

Lord that you would help us as we walk through this passage we pray that we would hear your truth and We pray that the

Spirit would apply that truth to our hearts that it would penetrate our hearts So that we might walk in this truth

So Lord, we we ask for your grace. We ask for your mercy. Thank you Lord in Jesus name.

Amen Last month We unpacked 1st

Peter 3 verses 1 to 6 Which addresses the responsibilities of wives in relation to their husbands?

Wives are to be subject to their own husbands Even to those who are disobedient to the

Word Wives are to be respectful and pure in their conduct Wives are to be modest and they are to adorn themselves with the imperishable quality of a quiet and gentle spirit

Wives are to hope in the Lord God and to submit to their husbands as unto the

Lord This morning. We're going to continue this theme by looking at first Peter 3 7

Which addresses the responsibilities of husbands in relation to their wives?

So wives get your nudging elbows ready Let's look at the passage together first Peter 3 verse 7 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 Here in this passage

Peter gives husbands two commands to follow in Relation to their wives and then he gives a very stern warning to those who disobey these commands

The first command husbands are to live with their wives in an understanding way the second command husbands are to show honor to their wives and The warning if you fail to obey these commands then your prayers will be hindered

Let's take a closer. Look at each one of these points First up command number one first Peter 3 7 likewise

Husbands live with your wives in an understanding way Now first things first notice the first word of verse 1 which is the term likewise

Likewise is a strategic term of conclusion and it introduces a logical result or inference from what?

immediately proceeds likewise means in response to or as A result of or in accordance with or in light of the truth previously mentioned in other words in the same way that citizens in first Peter 2 13 are to be subject to every human institution in the same way that servants 1st

Peter 2 18 are to be subject to their masters in the same way that the

Lord Jesus Christ 1st Peter 2 21 through 23 Was subject to the will of the father and entrusted himself to him in the same way that wives 1st

Peter 3 verses 1 through 6 are to be subject to their own husbands likewise in the same way

Husbands are to live with their wives in an understanding way Showing them honor.

This is the first command Husbands live with your wives in an understanding way now the term live refers to domestic association and it literally means to reside together or to dwell together

This term is a present active participle Which means to continually dwelling with or to be continually residing with in other words

The way in which husbands are to live with their wives is to be Continual it is to be ongoing it is to be constant

The manner in which husbands are to live with their wives is not something that is done once in a while Once a week or once a month or once a year

But all the time Husbands are to continually live with their wives in an understanding way

Husbands are continually to live with their wives in an understanding way till death.

Do you part? The Greek translation of the phrase in an understanding way is kata gnosis, which means according to knowledge

Husbands the Lord God is commanding you to live with your wives in an understanding way in an understanding way that is according to knowledge

Now to what knowledge is Peter referring in this context the term knowledge can refer to anything from the knowledge of one's wife to the knowledge of the

Word of God and I think the idea here is that a husband is to live with his wife in accordance with his personal knowledge of her and He is to live with her in accordance with his knowledge of the

Word of God Husbands you need to unto know and understand your wife and you need to know and understand

God's plan and God's design for your relationship with your wife

In other words Every husband is responsible to know his wife well enough to apply the principles of Scripture to living with her.

This is my 15th year in pastoral ministry and I've had the privilege of meeting with many believers and coming alongside them and during some very difficult times and ministering the

Word of God to them and You know what is consistently the most common problem amongst the brothers

In my experience the most common the most recurring the most heated and the most difficult issues are always the issues surrounding relationships husbands and wives and in every one of these situations the problem stemmed from either an

Inadequate knowledge of the Word of God or from inadequate personal knowledge of their spouse

They either did not know and understand the Word of God or they did not know and understand their spouse

More common than not in the church today Christian men don't have the foggiest notion of what it means to be a biblical husband

Nor to Christian Christian women rightly understand their role and their responsibility of being a

Christian wife the basics of biblical marriage the pillars such as humility and sacrifice love dying to self forgiveness patience perseverance

These are foreign to so many Christian marriages These attitudes have been replaced with pride in apathy indifference selfishness bitterness impatience and a lack of perseverance

Many marriages end by simply giving up It's clear that the influence of the world has crept into the church

There are many churches today who practice and embrace unbiblical views regarding marriage and they promote

Individualism and male chauvinism and pragmatism and feminism and psychological error for many these unbiblical ideas have greatly influenced marriage and The result has been disastrous

Marriages within the church are often just as likely to fail as those outside of the church.

The statistics are horrendous and The reason why so many

Christian marriages fail is a lack of knowledge a lack of knowledge

So as a husband What do I need to do? What do I need to know in order to fulfill

God's purpose in? Marriage if I am commanded to live with my wife in an understanding way if I am commanded to live with my wife

According to knowledge. What is it that I need to know? What specific instruction does the

Word of God provide? Well, it provides a lot Husbands this is very important.

So please take note the relationship that you have with your bride Should reflect and mirror the relationship of the

Lord Jesus Christ and his bride the church Again the relationship that you have with your bride

Should reflect and mirror the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride the church

This is the key to a biblical marriage and this picture Christ and the church is to be our primary focus

Everything you need to know about marriage everything you need to know about your role as a husband

Everything you need to know about how to interact with your wife and How you must treat your wife can be learned by observing the relationship between the

Lord Jesus Christ and the church for example Turn with me to the book of Ephesians Ephesians chapter 5 verses 25 to 33

Now this passage is a is a sermon series in itself But I want to briefly point out three ways in which the

Lord Jesus Christ interacts with the church and Thus there are three ways in which husbands are to interact with their wives all husbands are commanded to live with their wives according to knowledge and Here we see precisely what is meant

Ephesians chapter 5 verses 25 to 33 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 in the same way

Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies He who loves his wife loves himself

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it

Just as Christ does the church because we are members of his body Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh

This mystery is profound And I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respect her husband

The first way in which husbands are to live with their wives According to knowledge is to love their wives sacrificially with sacrificial love

Ephesians 525 husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

The Lord Jesus Christ gave himself up for the church the

Lord Jesus Christ Sacrificially gave himself up for the church

The Lord Jesus Christ made the greatest and the highest sacrifice For the church he gave up his life upon the cross for the church first Corinthians 15 3

For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins in Accordance with the scriptures that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures

Galatians 313 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us

For it is written curse. It is everyone who is hanged on a tree The Lord Jesus Christ who though he was in the form of God Did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

He willingly gave up his high in exalted position and he emptied himself

He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant He was born in the likeness of men and then he further humbles himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross the

Lord Jesus Christ willingly took upon himself our guilt our shame our sin so that we might be redeemed so that we might be reconciled to the

Lord God The Lord Jesus Christ made the greatest and the highest sacrifice for those who were the least and the lowest

He made this sacrifice for those who did not seek him. He made this sacrifice for those who were his enemies

He made this sacrifice for those who were openly hostile and rebellious against him

Romans 5 8 but God Shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners

Christ died for us the Lord Jesus Christ Sacrificially loved the church and he made the ultimate sacrifice not for the lovely and not for the worthy and not for the godly

But for the unlovely the unworthy and the ungodly The Lord Jesus Christ Recognized our greatest need and he delivered the highest good for us at the most infinitely high cost his life husbands

Your wives will never be as ugly and as sinful as you were prior to your salvation

Husbands your wives will never be as foul and offensive as you were to the

Lord God and if the Lord Jesus Christ was able to sacrificially love you and sacrificially give himself up for you

Then you should be able to sacrificially do the same Husbands the

Lord God commands you to love your wife. You are able You are equipped and you must

Sacrificially give yourself up for your wife. You must love your wife in a sacrificial manner

You must put the needs of your wife in front of your own needs You must put the desires of your wife in front of your own desires

Husbands, you must give preference to your wives You must have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus The pattern and the example of the

Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrificial love for you demands it

The second way in which husbands are to love their wives is with a purifying love a purifying love

Ephesians 5 26 and 27 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

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ give himself up for the church So that he might sanctify her so that he might cleanse her so that he might purify her

So that he might present her to himself in holiness without spot and without blemish

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree First Peter 2 24 so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness

Purifying love wants only the best for the ones it loves Purifying love can have no hint of corruption.

It can have no hint of anything evil or impure The goal of purifying love is a purified life and for husbands

The goal is a purified wife Husbands just as the

Lord Jesus Christ is not content with your sin and your impurity Just as the

Lord Jesus Christ seeks to cleanse you and sanctify you by washing you with his word

So you must seek the moral purity of your wife

Husbands you need to cleanse your wives by the purifying agent of the Word of God You must prayerfully and thoughtfully minister the

Word of God to her in any and every circumstance Husbands you must seek to purify your wives and to protect them from the influence of the world and from any other sort of defilement

This means that you will seek out her best her spiritual best This means that you will never encourage her to do that Which is wrong or for her to do that which is contrary to the

Word of God You will not return evil for evil You will not do but you will do everything in your power to present her to the

Lord God in holiness Without spot and without blemish.

This one has been a tough one for me I've struggled with loving my wife in a purifying manner for many years.

I tend to provoke I tend to stir up often in an ungodly manner

I Have to work very hard at loving my wife in a way that grows her in her godliness

Because quite frankly many times it is my behavior. That is the cause of her sin

It is my lack of leadership my lack of consideration my lack of selflessness

My lack of sacrificial love that often results in a sinful response on her part

The act of loving your wife in a purifying manner Requires that you walk in a purifying manner.

It requires that you walk closely with the Lord God Husbands, you must lead by example

You must live by example Do not give your wives any cause to doubt or to stumble or to fall into sin and If you do see sin or some other spiritual shortcoming in your wife

You need to come alongside her and humbly and graciously wash her with the Word of God You need to gently and lovingly point out what the

Word of God says and then help her walk in its truth If you lose your temper at her sin

If you get angry with her if you get frustrated if you get sarcastic with her

Then you run the risk of pushing her farther into her own sin and farther into her rebellion against the

Lord God Which is the opposite of what the Lord God is commanding you to do

You must seek out the purity of your wife You must love her with a cleansing and purifying love a love that seeks after her holiness

The third way in which husbands are to love their wives is with a gentle and caring love a love that Recognizes that you are one flesh with her

Ephesians 5 28 in the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies

He who loves his wife loves himself For no one ever hated his own flesh But nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church

Because we are members of his body Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh

The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body of the

Lord Jesus Christ The reason why the Lord God provides and cares for the church is because the church is his body in the same way

Husbands are the head of their wives Husband and wives are one flesh and it is the responsibility of the husband to provide care for his wife

Husbands must nourish and cherish their wives because they are no longer two but one flesh

John MacArthur remarked to nourish a wife is to provide for her needs To give her that which helps her grow and mature in favor with God and man

To cherish her is to use tender love and physical affection to give her warmth comfort protection and security

Husbands do you love your wives in this manner? Do you nourish her?

Do you provide for her? Do you provide for her needs not just the needs that you think are important?

But for the needs that she deems important Do you help her in her walk with God?

Do you encourage her to grow in her walk with God? Is your wife growing in her walk with God?

Do you cherish your wife? Are you warm and gentle to her? Are you a comfort to her?

Are you sensitive to her in your speech? Are you tender towards her in your actions? Are you affectionate?

Are you compassionate towards your wife? There are far too many husbands who fail in this area and rather than warmth and Gentleness and affection many wives live with the exact opposite Husbands who are distant and cold and harsh

Brothers you need to pay attention to your wives You have to play coast close attention to her needs all of her needs her physical needs her emotional needs her spiritual needs

You must care for her. You must nourish her. You must cherish her

Just as you would your own body Husbands, what do you do when you get tired?

You go to bed What do you do when you get sick you go to the doctor you take medicine, what do you do when you're thirsty?

You get a drink of water. What do you do when you're hungry? You get something to eat? What do you do when your tooth starts to ache?

You go to the dentist Do you have any problems or hesitations in fulfilling any one of these needs?

No, why is that? It's because you love your body it's because you don't like to be in pain because you don't like to be in discomfort and What would happen if you fail to listen to your physical body?

What would happen if you ignored all of these requests? Well, you're gonna be tired sick thirsty hungry and have a real bad toothache

If you ignore your body, if you don't listen to what your physical body is saying

There will be serious consequences that incur and it is the exact same with your wife

So husbands do not ignore your wives. Do not turn a deaf ear to your wives

It doesn't matter how Insignificant or ridiculous you think they might be you must listen to your wife and you must strive to fulfill her needs

So persevere and look to the Lord Jesus Christ Be diligent impart maximum effort to love your wife as Christ loved the church in Doing this you will be living with your wife according to knowledge you'll be living with your wife according to the knowledge of the scriptures a lack of Biblical knowledge is a real handicap in marriage

But so also is a lack of personal knowledge about your wife The only way to carry out these biblical commands is to have an in -depth knowledge

Not only of the Word of God, but also your wife Flip back to the book of 1st

Peter 1st Peter 3 7 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 sometimes you just do not know enough facts about your wife to be a good husband and Because you do not know enough about your wife you fail in your application of loving her as Christ loved the church

Now if this is the case, you simply need to get to know your wife better You need to take time and energy and effort

To study her and to find out what it is that makes her tick for example

I've been married for almost 25 years. This is our 25th year of marriage But it was not until our 20th year of marriage that I learned that the only gifts that my wife appreciates our jewelry and clothes

So for 20 years, I've been giving her very practical but very lousy gifts Because I did not know what my wife really liked

But as her husband, I should have known Let me give you some practical tips on getting to know your wife better Take time and observe her

Look listen and learn from her ask her questions Purposely try to draw information out of her.

What are her likes? What are her likes? What are her dislikes? What are her capabilities her limitations her joys her challenges her sorrows her fears her temptations?

Her physical needs her spiritual needs What communicates love to her what communicates indifference to her?

What encourages her what discourages her? What does she like? What does she dislike? What makes her happy?

What makes her mad? Try to experience her world Try to walk a mile in her shoes

Try to do some of her responsibilities for the day Maybe you take care of the kids or clean up the house or make a meal

This can be a very enlightening experience It will probably help you better appreciate your wife and it will help you understand what she goes through on a day -to -day basis

Brothers the more you know about your wife The better equipped you will be to love her as your own body as your own flesh

If you want to live with your wife in an understanding way if you want to live with your wife according to knowledge

Then get to know your wife better and get to know the scriptures better If you crash and burn or you get tripped up or confused or you lose your way entirely

Which you're probably going to do at some point Then look to the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and mimic his love for the church

Live with your wives in an understanding way according to biblical knowledge and According to your personal knowledge of her.

I was looking for a glass of water mmm command number two Husbands are to honor their wives command number two first Peter 3 7 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 as You strive to live with your wife in an understanding way as you strive to live with your wife according to knowledge

You must also strive to respect your wife by giving her honor

The term honor refers to the worth or the merit of an object and it is the amount at which something is valued and this term carries with it the idea of showing great esteem and great admiration and thankfulness to the highest degree and This high degree of honor was bestowed upon the excellent wife in Proverbs 31 by her husband and her children

Proverbs 31 28 her children rise up and call her blessed her husband also and he praises her

Many women have done excellently, but you surpassed them all

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised on This subject

Matthew Henry remarked that a husband's duty to love his wife consists in giving due respect to her

Maintaining her authority protecting her person supporting her credit delighting in her conversation

Affording her a handsome maintenance and placing a due trust and confidence in her

Now Peter illustrates the this idea of honoring your wife by using a very helpful analogy

Husbands are to show honor to their wives as the weaker vessel as The weaker vessel.

Well, what does that mean? Let me tell you what it doesn't mean It doesn't mean that women are spiritually weaker or that women are

Emotionally weaker nor does it mean that women are inferior to men in any way shape?

the Greek word vessel refers to a useful container or a

Useful instrument and the word weaker refers to something that is very delicate and very fragile

This particular word was often used to describe the sacred vessels that were used in the temple in the worship of the

Lord God So in calling wives the weaker vessel Peter is not referring to their moral character.

He's not referring to their intellectual ability nor is he referring to their spiritual? perception

Peter is primarily referring to the difference in physical strength between men and women

Generally speaking Women possess less strength than men Now, I don't want to believe her this point, but in my house an unopened pickle jar will attest to this truth

So, how should husbands honor their wives? Husbands are to treat their wives in the same way that they would treat a very delicate and useful instrument or a very delicate and useful

Vessel in other words husbands are to esteem their wives as Extremely valuable and handle them with special care and concern as a kid

I used to love to watch cartoons Starblazers was my favorite cartoon

But I also like the classics and I had an old television set up in our basement

But in order for this television to work it needed an elaborate antenna setup So I had tinfoil attached to it and wire coat hangers protruding every which way and if you stood in the wrong place or interfered with the antenna in any way

You would lose all reception Which was very frustrating the antenna was a very

Delicate instrument. It was very fragile and it needed to be handled with special care and extreme precaution

Even though it was a weaker vessel It was extremely valuable and important to me because without the antenna the television was useless

Well in the very same way every husband Must honor his wife by treating her as a very delicate and very precious

Possession. Well, how do I do this? How do

I treat my wife as a delicate and precious? Possession well, tell your wife what she means to you and Thank and how thankful you are to the

Lord God for her Tell her the specific things that you appreciate about her. Tell her the specific things that you appreciate about what she does

Husbands don't belittle your wives but treat her as A fellow heir don't treat her as a lowly servant

But rather shower your wife with love and appreciation Speak kindly to her speak respectfully to her

Even when you disagree only say things that will build her up and do not respond to her in Arrogance or with an overbearing attitude with superiority or intimidation rather Grant her honor

Praise her in private praise her in public The reason being she's your wife

She is your flesh and she is a fellow heir with you

Again take a look at our text first Peter 3 7 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 One of the reasons that husbands are to show honor to their wives is because wives are fellow heirs of the grace of life

Well, what does this mean? What is the grace of life? Now there are many differing views on this particular phrase grace of life

There are some who say the grace of life is referring to marriage itself, which is

God's most blessed gift in this life There are others who view the grace of life as the gift of new life in children and Still others view the phrase as a reminder to husbands that even though they have been given greater authority within marriage

Their wives are still equal to them in spiritual privilege in eternal importance

Now given the context of first Peter Which emphasizes our future salvation and our protected inheritance?

My take is that the grace of life is the gift that both men and women

Will be will have Thanks, Bill Where was

I? All right The grace of life is that both men and women are equal recipients to the matchless grace of God both men and women will receive

Blessing on that last day And so husbands must show honor to their wives because both husband and wife will partake of the same

Eternal treasure the same eternal inheritance and the same eternal destiny the grace of life

Refers to the life that will be ours in the coming age eternity But regardless of the specific meaning of this phrase

The command is the same Husbands live with your wives in an understanding way

Command number two husbands show honor to your wives as a weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life

Now failure to keep these two commands Failure to live with your wife in an understanding way failure in showing your wife honor will result in a very serious and detrimental consequence

Failure will result in a hindered prayer life 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 Failure to keep these two commands will hinder your relationship with the

Lord God Specifically your prayers to the Lord God will be hindered the

Greek word hindered means to be cut into or to be impeded Now this is so important to note husbands.

There is a direct correlation between you and your wife and You and your

God Now think about that for a moment There's a direct correlation between you and your wife and you and your

God The Lord God is so concerned that you live with your wives in a loving and understanding way

That your relationship with him will be interrupted It will be cut into it will be impeded

It will be hindered if you do not treat your wives in a manner worthy of the

Lord God you ever feel like your prayers fall upon deaf ears

Do you ever feel Alone in your prayer life Do you ever feel that the

Lord God is cold and distant? Do you ever feel that he does not care about you or your prayers?

Might I suggest that the reason you are struggling in your prayers is because you are struggling in your marriage

It may very well be that your marriage Specifically how you are treating your wife is

The sole reason why your relationship with the Lord God and your prayer life has grown cold husbands and I need you to listen to this you need to understand this

No Spiritual good will be accomplished in your life Unless you are living with your wife in a loving and understanding way

No spiritual good will be accomplished in your life unless you are living with your wife according to knowledge

Unless you're living with your wife in an understanding way Unless you are giving honor to her as a fellow heir of the grace of life if you are

Failing your wife in your marriage, then you are failing in your relationship with the

Lord God Years ago, I knew a man who over the course of a couple of years took a very serious

Nosedive in his walk with the Lord God He left the church. He separated from his wife

He left his family. He committed adultery and he moved in with another woman

And I ran into him years later and he looked terrible. He had lost a lot of weight

He was aged well beyond his years He looked utterly miserable he looked unhappy he was clear that he was not doing well and I was able to speak to him about his sin in and about his standing before the

Lord God and He said he didn't want to hear it because he felt abandoned by God.

He didn't feel that God cared about him anymore He said that when he prayed he felt nothing and that God never answered any one of his prayers.

I Didn't realize it then but I did later on The Lord God was not answering his prayers because he was not living with his wife in an understanding way he was not giving honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life to his wife and The result the failure to obey these two commands was a hindered prayer life

Which resulted in a shipwrecked faith? If you refuse to hear and to heed the command of the

Lord God Then he will surely refuse to hear your prayers It matters how you live

Husbands do not deceive yourself into thinking that you can be right with the Lord God if you are failing to live with your wife in an understanding way

Do not deceive yourself into thinking that you can be right with the Lord God while you disrespect and dishonor your wife

Brothers You cannot Doesn't matter how difficult your wife may be

It doesn't matter how annoying your wife may be it doesn't matter how cruel or how distant your wife may be

The command of the Lord supersedes all of these things husbands love your wives

Love her Sacrificially love her with a purifying love love her with a gentle and caring love

Nourish and cherish your wives Love her as Christ loved the church

Live with your wife in an understanding way show honor to your wife as the weaker vessel

Since she is an heir with you of the grace of life otherwise Your prayers and your relationship with the

Lord God will be hindered Resolve today to live with your wives in this manner

Resolve today if you're struggling in this area of life if you're struggling in your marriage

Come and talk to one of the elders come and talk to me Don't let another day go by Get right with your wife and in doing so you will be getting right with the

Lord God Let's pray Heavenly Father Lord, this is a hard truth to hear.

It's a hard truth to live up to And yet with the Spirit of God within us we are able to fulfill these commands

So Lord we confess our weakness. We confess our selfishness.

We confess our self -reliance Lord help us to be Men that love their wives as Christ loved the church

Help us Lord to love them in a purifying manner Help us to be patient with our wives help us to be gracious with our wives

We pray Lord that we would always be looking to you and looking how you dealt with us in our sin

You saved us you redeemed us you reconciled us you equipped us

You cheer us on you're patient with us. You're loving Lord help us to demonstrate all of these attitudes towards our wives

We pray Lord that you would protect our marriages protect us from outside defilement from outside influence

We pray that our church would have solid marriages that we would have solid families so that we might

Do the work of the Lord? Help us to be consistent in all these things Lord, and we thank you for them in Jesus name.