Saving your marriage EVERY day

Think back to when you first got married. Was that 30 years ago? A week ago? Maybe a little over a year ago like us? What was the best advice you received for your wedding? What do you wish people would have told you prior to your wedding?

Our favorite advice that we got came from the principal at the school my mom teaches at; he told us to stay in deep like. By that he meant to continue to do things like hold hands and doing the little things for one another. That has stuck with us and it is something that we are constantly striving to do. Something I wish someone would have told us is that Satan will strive hard to get you to make praying together difficult because of schedules and other activities.

The counsel that Thomas S. Monson was given at his sealing in the temple was

"May I offer you newlyweds a formula which will ensure than any disagreement you may have will last no longer than one day? Every night kneel by the side of your bed. One night Brother Monson, you offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. The next night you, Sister Monson, offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. I can then assure you that any misunderstanding that develops during the day will vanish as you pray. You simply can't pray together and retain any but the best of feelings toward one another" (Hawkins, 196).

Prayer is vital in the home and families. It can give children an example to base their personal lives off of. It allows them to see the importance of prayer because of the importance that is placed on it in their home and with their parents. As Logan and I have knelt together in prayer, I have been able to see the things that he is seeing that we need help with or that he is thinking of to pray for. I get to know his heart just by kneeling down and praying together.

Logan and I are so far from perfect in this area, but we are trying and striving to get into a habit of praying together every day. We have seen the difference it made in our marriage and I challenge you to take this upcoming week and pray every day with your spouse, changing turns each night, to learn about what is important to your spouse at that time. I am also taking that challenge with you. Every day starting today, we will pray together and hopefully rekick start our good habit of praying with one another aloud everyday.

"When people perceive something sacred, it changes the way they treat it" (Hawkins, 196).

How do we perceive our marriages? Is it of the utmost importance and something that we want to see last forever?

"If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don't expose it to the elements. You don't make it common or ordinary. If it becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by." -Elder F. Burton Howard

Let us protect and strengthen our marriages by staying in deep like, praying together, and understanding that we can always strive to become better personally and together as a couple. 

When our marriages are struggling, pray to make it better. When our marriages are great and wonderful, pray to keep it that way.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave the following quote on prayer raising our marriages up, "If you are already descending into the low state of marriage-in-name only, please join hands, kneel together, and prayerfully plead for help and the healing power of the Atonement. Your humble and united pleadings will bring you closer to the Lord and each other and will help you in the hard climb back to marital harmony" (Hawkins, 197).

Let me reiterate my challenge to you, no matter where you are in your marriage, get on your knees every day this week and pray together aloud. Pray for your marriage, each other, your children, and the things you need.
Prayer changes things. Let it into your home and marriage and let it change things there.