Household Prayer: Marriage and the cosmic battle

”Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.“ Ephesians 5:25-33 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/eph.5.25-33.LSB

Brothers, I’m praying for our marriages. I see the continued battle against God’s design for sex, marriage, and households. The cosmic battle started early in creation and has continued since (Gen. 3:15). So I pray we understand the profound nature and purpose of our marriages and the armor needed to protect them (Eph. 5-6). May we be faithful to our marriages and call to build Godly households.

We learn in Ephesians that “God now has a people in the world who belong uniquely to Him. In them His purpose of grace is being worked out, and through them He plans to effect His intention for the universe… The most comprehensive statement of the theme of Ephesians is this: the eternal purpose of God and the place of Christ and His people in that purpose.” https://press.founders.org/shop/fsgc-ephesians/ 

“The American Church Needs Repentance and Revival… Hibbs identified three symptoms of the American church’s malady: idolizing comfort, rejecting conviction, and avoiding personal responsibility… He urged Christians to exercise ‘personal responsibility,’ beginning ‘right there in your own home.’ … ‘I’m talking about living righteously as we have been commanded,’ said Hibbs. ‘What is it going to take for us to cry out?’” https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/the-american-church-needs-repentance-and-revival 

“We who have had the gospel passed to us by martyr hands dare not trifle with it, nor sit by and hear it denied by traitors, who pretend to love it, but inwardly abhor every line of it. We have come to a turning point in the road. If we turn to the right, mayhap our children and our children’s children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to his Word.” Charles Spurgeon in his sermon entitled “Holding Fast the Faith,” delivered in 1888. “Let these words from Charles Spurgeon embolden you to stand firm against the gathering forces of evil and darkness in America today. Don’t just admire dead men who were firm in the faith— aim to live and speak like them today. And who cares if they call us narrow-minded bigots, or even worse? Remember, as the always-quotable Spurgeon said elsewhere: ‘Oh, my brethren! bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards.’” https://www.standingforfreedom.com/2023/10/here-is-the-day-for-the-man-where-is-the-man-for-the-day

“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us… It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” President Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation 97, 1863, to establish a national day of ‘humiliation’ (repentance), fasting, and prayer.

This year, 2024, “The overarching message that pierced each prayer was that, in order to bring a lawless society back into some kind of order, God must be prioritized. He is the power behind protecting fathers, mothers, and children. He is the truth behind gender, marriage, and life. He is the conviction of what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, the Lord is our hope amid darkness, and our stronghold as we draw near to Him through prayer and repentance.” https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/2024-national-gathering-for-prayer-and-repentance-no-revival-comes-without-repentance

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THE GOOD NEWS

There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image.

We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, our Creator. Our rebellion has brought “all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice… envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness” to the world. Romans 1:29-31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.1.29-31.ESV

Therefore we justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’” Romans 3:10-12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.3.10-12.ESV

But good news! God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation. 

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.15.3-8.ESV

““Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”” Acts 2:36-38 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.2.36-38.ESV

We need only repent and believe it. Repent: turn away from our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”” Romans 10:9-11 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.10.9-11.ESV

There is hope. Believe in Jesus! ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.16.ESV 

It doesn’t matter who you’ve been or what you’ve done, God stands with arms wide open, ready to forgive you. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1jn.1.9.ESV