I realize many of you have never ever thought about God—the all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful God—as your actual Father-in-law. He sees all the thoughts and behaviors you have toward your spouse, whether you are with them or absent from them.
Unlike our earthly in-laws, our Father-in-law, God, has unlimited resources for us to carry out His expectations of excellence in serving and loving our spouses. Think through with me, of all He has given to you, to enable you to be an excellent loving servant to your spouse.
First, He gave you the death of His Son so you could break strongholds of sin in your life in order to serve with excellence. He has given you the gift of the Holy Spirit to live inside you to help you be an excellent son-in-law or daughter-in-law. He has given you the Word of God, the Bible, to help you grow daily in the wisdom of how to love.
He has given you a community of faith in the local church. There, you see love being worked out in people’s lives. He has given you finances, time and a heart touched by His grace and love so you can be an excellent son-in-law or daughter-in-law.
God has done quite a bit for me to enable me to be successful as a loving servant toward my spouse. I will never be able to say He did not give me all I needed to love and serve my wife well.
How about you? Has the Father lavished resources and opportunities on you to love and serve your spouse with excellence? The answer is yes, for all of us who call Jesus Lord. How we utilize these amazing resources that God has given to us is up to us, but I do not think any of us can argue that He has not amply supplied resources for us to be in-laws of God.
I love and encourage couples to use prayer. By this I do not mean your daily couples prayer, though it is a great idea to have that in your life. It is true that this practice can only lead to God having good feelings toward you as you bring your spouse to Him every day in joint prayer. I am talking instead of praying directly to God, the Father-in-Law.
Here’s a couple of examples:
“Father-in-law God, I am about to enter the zone here at my house. My wife has served endlessly today and is probably quite spent. Give me wisdom to see what needs to be done with the children, the house or just her heart. Father-in-law God, give me the energy for the first hour or so to serve well with a great attitude and put my needs last for at least an hour or so. Please hear your son-in-law’s prayer. I love you, Jesus.”
“Father-in-law God, thank You for a great husband who worked hard today to provide for our family, as this is one of the ways he loves the children and me. Let my kiss remind him he has a lover, not just a wife. Give me wisdom to know how to encourage him and thank him tonight for what he does around here. I love you, Father, and I thank you for the opportunity to show and speak love to Your son today.”
Imagine if you prayed like this every day for a week, month or years. You would start getting the Father’s heart for your spouse. You would be more grateful and energized in your marriage—at least that is how it affects me. When I pray to Father-in-law God, acknowledging Lisa as His gift to me, it changes my attitude and energy as I enter my marriage and family. With that energy, I feel less self-centered and entitled to get my needs met above all, and almost naturally move toward serving without having a negative attitude about it.
Try the Father-in-law prayer for a while. Each time you pray, check it off on a sticky note or on your phone to validate your consistency. See what this simple prayer can do for you and your marriage.
Doug Weiss, Ph.D., is a nationally known author, speaker and licensed psychologist. He is the executive director of Heart to Heart Counseling Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the author of several books, includingServant Marriage. You may contact Dr. Weiss via his website, drdougweiss.com or on his Facebook, by phone at 719-278-3708 or through email at [email protected].
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