21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Day 13

DAY 13 - MARRIAGES

“31 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

– Ephesians 5:31-32 –

Marriage displays a mystery far more profound than many consider. The union of a man and woman emulates the oneness of Christ and His Church. The wife is to submit to her husband, not because he is superior, but for the sake of headship. It’s an illustration of Christ being the head of His Church. Husbands are to love their wives not because they are worthy of it, but because it illustrates divine love that is willing to sacrifice all for the sake of the bride. This is a picture of Jesus and His love for His Bride who is the church. Paul calls this a profound mystery. When marriage is done God’s way, it truly is a profound and perfect illustration of Christ and the Church.

Pray for the wives of our fellowship to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord. Ask God to give them understanding regarding the role they play in illustrating the humility of Christ, who is God in the flesh, but who humbled Himself becoming obedient to death. Just as He submitted to the headship of the Father, all the while being equal with Him, likewise may all wives submit to their husbands. Pray also that every husband would truly love his wife so sacrificially and completely that he is willing to bare her burdens. That he would humbly lead her in the ways of the Lord by example at all costs, even his own life. Pray that God would preserve and protect this precious illustration of Christ and His Church, and that every marriage in our fellowship would grow in maturity and grace and display the profound mystery of true spiritual oneness in Christ Jesus.

“God created marriage to be a metaphor of Christ’s relationship to the church. Sin has so confused the metaphor as to make it unintelligible. The New Testament once again makes the metaphor transparent. But if contemporary feminist hermeneutics succeed, the meaning of the metaphor will be obscured for many years to come.”

– John Piper –