Of course, for theatrical purposes and time sake, it seems as if she prays like for a week and then boom! her hubby is a completely God-loving, praying, led by the Spirit, family man. Now I'm not saying God can't or won't work that quickly, His timing is not even close to ours, but in my experience that hasn't been the case. It's been more of a never-ending, on your knees, weeping, laughing, fit-throwing, begging, completely amazed, cycle of whys and thank yous. I've been married ten years (happy heart eyes emoji) and I've been married ten years (furrowed brows with chin scratching emoji) so take this all with a grain of salt but I think if we could see War Room played out in real life, we would see so much more time go by where it seems as if God isn't doing anything. Oh the stories I could tell of the first five years of our relationship! It could fill a whole season of Law & Order I'm sure. We were mean to each other, we walked away, we yelled, we broke things especially each others' hearts, we almost got divorced, probably once a month (lol, but really). You feel utterly alone and embarrassed that you're failing. But the reality of it is, every marriage out there, if you've made it very long, has these seasons. Unfortunately, there isn't just one either. It may not always be WWE Smackdown but there will always be struggles.
In marriage counseling one time, our pastor told us that no marriage can succeed without appropriate friendships. What that means is friendships with other married couples, who are experiencing some of the same life goals and issues that you are. So when the going gets tough, you have encouragement, wisdom and truth if you need it. You also need other godly women who can pray with you and for you, that cheer you on and comfort you. Feeling isolated in a struggling relationship is one of the saddest and scariest feelings. Dear one, if you're in this season now, don't give up. Reach out. Or pray for God to bring you someone to speak life back into you and your marriage. He wants your marriage to work more than you do and He will show up. He will provide. He will restore. Being a Christian woman does not make you powerless. You lead by example. You have authority over your spouse on a spiritual level. I've never been the type to fully embrace the "submit" part of the marriage verses but God has shown me over many icky seasons that I'm not submitting to my husband necessarily, I'm submitting to Him. There is power in my obedience to the Lord. That's when I quit trying to change my husband and God steps in and changes him for me like only He can.
Get your war room ready and spend time in it. Be brave. God is big and He can do big things. Expect that! And FYI, if you haven't walked around your house praying out loud like a crazy person, rebuking the enemy and claiming scripture over your home, then you haven't tried everything yet!
My current "war room"
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