Not good thoughts or staying positive but PRAYER! Not positive confessions or counseling but PRAYER! Not making any major changes or ultimatums but PRAYER! Not meditation or finding yourself but PRAYER!
The only thing that changed the outcome of our marriage was prayer. The only thing that broke through the cold and calloused heart that Josh had developed was prayer. The only thing that caused Serena to hold on in spite of what was going on was her time in prayer.
We realize that we are sharing this blog with many other people around the world that may not believe like we do or may not understand our faith. So, let it be known that when we speak of prayer we are speaking about conversing with the Triune God, the King of kings, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Ghost. We believe that only He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Only He is able to do the impossible. Any other god does not have power to save. We place our faith and trust and hope in the only God able to save, Jesus Christ.
Many of you may have never prayed in your life. We mean, REALLY prayed!! Don't let it scare you or cause you turmoil. Prayer is simply having a conversation with God, sharing with Him your concerns and your heart and Him sharing with you His truth and His heart. So, often we think that prayer is telling God all about our problems and then leaving that place of prayer before He has a chance to respond to the outpouring of your heart. But, we need to learn to wait for His answer. He will ALWAYS respond to His child's cry for help.
When our marriage began to fall to pieces, Serena found a place of prayer that she could be real with God. It was a place where she lived her life daily. Her prayer time became her life, not only something that she did when times got rough. She had always knew how to pray but never had the load laid upon her that required her to dig deep into that place of prayer. Through her times of prayer her ears became tuned to the frequency of God's heart and she learned to hear His still and calm voice clearly through the screaming of lies from the enemy.
We would encourage you to learn the language of prayer. Learn to bring the cries of your heart before the Master. Discipline your life and carve out time where you will be able to hear from the heart of God as He responds to you. Pray for your spouse. However, don't pray selfish prayers that would make you feel better. Pray prayers that would call the perfect and divine will of God to come down, infiltrate, and affect change in their life...but not for your own peace of mind but for the glorification of the Father God. If you will ask God to glorify Himself through you, your spouse, and your marriage He will come to you and your aid in such a mighty way that you will have to hold on for what is about happen.
You see, God is all about bringing the most glory to Himself. And if you will get on board with that and make that your prayer, He will answer. These are the prayers that God will answer every time. It may not be the way that you think it should be but it will be the maximum glory for Him. And if He is glorified, His child will be at peace.
As our situation progressed from bad to worse, Serena's prayers were not for me to come home. Yes, she wanted me home but she would rather have had me right with God if that would be the lasting change that was needed. She was willing to sacrifice the temporary joy of having me before the fulfillment of the work was complete for the lasting sactisfaction of knowing that my heart was in right standing before God. A hard to prayer to pray but one that caused her to trust God more the more she prayed it.
Find your place of prayer. It might be a physical place that you have to go....an empty closet, your garage, your lunch break even. One lady used to make her place of prayer by pulling her apron over her head. or it might be a place you go within yourself. Anything you have to do in order to find alone time with God where you and He can speak freely.
Prayer will change...everything! It will change your situation. It will change your spouse! But, most importantly it will change you.
Josh and Serena
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