Believe in Your Friend’s Marriage

Friendship Day 2

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17 (ESV)

“Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.” Socrates

 

  • Take some time this morning to meet with your precious Savior. Spend a moment praising Jesus for who He is and His unfailing love and care. Ask Him to speak to your heart as you read His Word. Ask God to show you how to be a supportive and faithful friend.
  • Read Proverbs 18:24,  Proverbs 20:6,  and Proverbs 17:17. Write Proverbs 17:17 in your journal.

Believe in Your Friend’s Marriage

What do you do when your friend experiences difficulty in her marriage?  She might call you to vent about her husband’s selfishness, or she might be a wreck after finding flirty texts on her husband’s cell phone. In any case, friendship has the power to help your friend to keep going and believing in her marriage, or it can contribute to making their marriage worse.

As Christ-Followers, our friendships should reflect the love and commitment of God, and we should do what we can to encourage each other to keep trying in our marriages instead of giving up.

I believe marriage is worth fighting for, so here are some thoughts on how we can encourage each other’s marriages:

    1. Pray! Pray with her and for her. Pray silently as you are talking together, and ask for the Holy Spirit to anoint every word of your conversation. Encourage her to pray daily for her husband and their marriage.
    2. Remind her that she is not alone, God is her helper, and the battle belongs to Lord. God hates divorce and wants her marriage to work. He still delights in doing miracles and brings hope to hopeless situations. God heals all wounds!
    3. Become a patient listener. Take the time to listen to your friend and don’t judge her or her husband. It’s so easy to be critical, but remember we all sin and need Jesus to help us to have a successful marriage.
    4. Encourage your friend to look inside her own heart, and pray for God to reveal anything that needs to change. Help her to remember that marital discord involves both parties, and God can help her change the things she might be doing which contribute to the problem.
    5. Help her to see the good in her man. Try to give a different perspective on her husband’s motives or actions. Was he tired, did they just have a new baby, or has she hurt him recently with her words?
    6. Offer to help with the children so she and her husband can have alone time together. They may need a date night, or they may need childcare so they can go to counseling. Both are important, and it will help relieve their minds to know the children are lovingly cared for.
    7. Expect storms. We are sinners saved by grace and everyone has flaws.  Only Jesus is perfect. Encourage your friend to see her husband’s weaknesses as an opportunity to partner with God in prayer and show him the unconditional love Jesus shows us each day. If you don’t think you can say this to your friend, pray this over her!
    8. Keep it positive. Sometimes opening up to a friend can feel awkward after the storm passes and her marriage improves. Encourage and tell her everyone goes through seasons of challenging times in their marriages and there is no shame in having difficulties.
    9. Speak forward into her life. Help your friend to remember the legacy that a strong marriage leaves for her children. Remind her it is not a sprint it is a marathon! Stay the course- there are blessings in store for her perseverance & commitment!
    10. Most importantly, stick it out with your friend, ever step of the way. Don’t give up if the going gets tough. Stay in it with them. Keep praying and keep encouraging them to keep working at it. No marriage is hopeless, even if it feels like it. God can restore, and He often does His greatest work through intense trials.

Questions to Ponder

  • Do you have a friend who is going through a challenging season in her marriage? If so, pray and ask God to tell you how you can be praying for her. Write these prayers in your journal.
  • Take 10 minutes each day this week to pray these prayers over your friend and her marriage.

Faith-Filled Idea

Take a moment this week and call a friend who is struggling and offer to get together for lunch or coffee, or see if you can stop by her house to say, “Hello.”

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Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

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Deb Weakly

8 Comments on “Believe in Your Friend’s Marriage”

  1. These thoughts are so good and helpful! They give us practical ways to help us encourage our friends going through tough times following God’s example. Thank you for sharing!

  2. This is a much needed study…It could be so easy to gossip and take sides when friends struggle in their marriage, but that’s the last thing they need! God is FOR marriage, even when one has failed in the relationship. God can change the heart and prayer makes such a difference! Great devo Deb!!

    1. I agree MariJo!! When we gossip and take sides instead of praying, it causes nothing but harm, whereas praying with our friend and staying faithful and encouraging can assist her in improving her marriage. Friendship is so important!!

  3. This is sooooo good Deb! We can’t always get the right perspective from our own eyes. A good friend standing and praying with us through rough patches is how God designed the family of God. This reminds me of the story in Exodus 17:12 where Moses arms got tired and needed Aaron & Hurr to help him hold his arms up. Let’s hold up our friends- sisters!

    1. I love that story Rae-Ellen!! What a picture it is to me of friends holding each others arms us during difficult times! I am so thankful for the body of Christ!

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