Tammy and I are on our way to speak at a marriage retreat for the next couple of days. This week is, of course, a special time for sweethearts and I am truly grateful for mine. At Valentine’s day we often think more about the romantic aspects of love. Yet God’s love is the same at all seasons and it is much more than romance. It is reality.

The greatest thing you can do for those you love is pray. Your words to God will accomplish much more than your words to them. There is an intimacy in intercession that brings God into every aspect of the relationship.

Prayers recorded in Scripture provide a pattern for prayer. These Spirit inspired prayers are both specific and spiritual. You can know you are praying the will of God when you are praying in the Word of God!

And so, on this special week, I would like to suggest a prayer list from Paul that you can pray for those you love. It is found in Colossians 1…”For this cause also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you” (v. 9a):

• Pray that they will know and understand the will of God – “and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (v. 9b).
• Pray that they will please the Lord with their lives – “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (v. 10a).
• Pray that they would bear fruit in the work God has for them to do – “being fruitful in every good work” (v. 10b).
• Pray that they will grow in their knowledge of God – “and increasing in the knowledge of God” (v. 10c).
• Pray that they would learn to live in God’s strength and power – “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power” (v. 11a).
• Pray that they would deal with every difficulty with joy – “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (v. 11b).
• Pray that they would develop a grateful heart – “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (v. 12).

The deepest relationships are spiritual. The longest lasting gifts are prayers. The highest goals are not the ones we have for our loved ones, but the ones God desires.

Pray together. Pray for one another. Pray these definite requests for the one you love.

For additional articles on marriage read “Married Couples Serving God Together” and “For Married Couples: Dealing with Difficult Days.”