Moving Your marriage from the rocks to the ROCK series 003 – Simple tips of building a strong family Altar

MOVING YOUR MARRIAGE FROM THE ROCKS TO THE ROCK SERIES 003 – SIMPLE TIPS OF BUILDING A STRONG FAMILY ALTAR
SIMPLE TIPS TO BUILD A STRONG FAMILY ALTAR
A family that prays together stays together. Praying families make strong churches, praying churches make strong communities, praying communities make a strong Nation.
PRAYING TOGETHER
Reasons for Praying Together
There is power in agreement (Matt 18: 19 – 20). “ I also tell you this : “if two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them”.
PERSONAL TESTIMONY: – Being an introvert I really enjoy moments alone with God. I would not trade anything for those wonderful times alone in the presence of God. Sometimes I take many hours or days in the alone seeking the face of God. This moments with God alone have been life transforming in my walk with God. However I have realized that sometimes the answer that I am seeking for from the Lord when I am alone; takes along time to come by. In contrast when Nancy (MY WIFE) and I , set time aside to pray together , the answer to our prayer seems to come much faster and easier. The prayer weight seems lighter to carry.

There is increased authority and power in spiritual warfare . (Deut 32:30). “ How could one person chase a thousand of them, and two people put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given had given up?”. It is easier to carry a heavy load in the physical world when you are many in number. The contrary is true if you are fewer in number. The load becomes difficult to carry. The same principle hold true in the spiritual realm. When a couple pray together in agreement they release limitless spiritual power able to transform any area of their lives.
The spouse is the ideal prayer partner
It is a “strange phenomena” for married couples to have prayer partners that are not their spouses and not pray together with their wives or husbands. This is a recipe for disaster in any marriage. It is okay to have prayer partners with other people, but when you are married; your primary prayer partner is your wife or husband.
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYING TOGETHER
Set a definite time each day.
Have a planned and specific time to pray together. Whatever is not planned for, never gets done. Take into account your temperaments and personalities. For instance my wife Nancy is a morning person, while I am a ‘night owl’, that is I function optimally at night. Nancy is most active in the morning. Because of our personality differences have negotiated a compromise for our ideal time of prayer together.
Start with short prayer times and devotional reading
Every big thing today, had a small beginning. Allow your prayer altar to grow gradually accommodating both your prayer capacities. The norm is that most couples are not at the same prayer level; therefore the stronger of the two should be able to accommodate the weaker without prejudice. That is each party should be considerate of the needs of the other party.
Do not critize your spouse’s prayer
During our first years of marriage , I particularly had a great challenge in this area. I was this young man “on fire for Jesus”( thank God I am still on fire for Jesus – but wiser) intercessor and very loud prayer warrior. Every prayer I made then, had to be loud and aggressive. My wife Nancy on the other hand was more of a worshipper and quietly soaked in the presence of God. I simply didn’t understand or appreciate her style of worship. Although I didn’t speak it audibly, internally I wanted her to pray like I did. So we conflicted about this and struggled with this issue making our prayer altar very weak. Finally God dealt with me about this issue and I began to appreciate and accommodate our different prayer styles. God has not created clones , we are all different and unique. God loves diversity. Infact most likely it is yuor difference that attracted you in the first place. Do not critize your spouse prayer. God is not looking for eloquence in our prayers , He is more interested in a broken and contrite heart.
Take turns praying
I love it when Nancy prays now, she always seems to remember that one thing that was so important and I would not think of. It is powerful when you take turns and pray with your partner. You are able to cover a vast area together in prayer , because you both think differently. Prayer also becomes restful when you pray in turns. Prayer is spiritual work requiring effort. Praying in turn spreads out the effort , hence making the work load lighter.
While one is praying in the understanding , the other may pray in the Spirit (1 Cor 14: 14-15)
“For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying. Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will also sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in the words I understand.” Great heights of prayer are reached when each partner is filled with the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues. Prayer shifts to a different level when we are able to pray in tongues. Especially when we engage in it as a couple. This gift is available to all born again Christians who desire it. You only need to desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and asked and receive by faith. We will soon be teaching on “Being filled by the Holy Spirit” in details.
Pray for needs that are of Concern to both of You, especially finances, guidance , health , children and family problems.
God answers prayers. It is a great idea to journal your prayer requests and tick them as the Lord answers . This builds faith in a big way and also allows to specifically thank the Lord for the answered prayer.
Use philippians 4:6 as a guide for praying.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

BUILDING THE FAMILY ALTAR
Reasons for Having Family Devotions
It is an opportunity and a command from God to train your children in the ways of the Lord (Deut 6:6 -9).
“And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.”
It gives your children a reverence for the things of God.
It provides a role model for your children in showing them how to present their needs to God, how to intercede for others, and how to do spiritual warfare.
There is power and authority in the prayer of agreement as members of the family touch on a matter in faith.
It teaches children how to pray out loud and read the scriptures,

Guidelines for Family Devotions
Keep them short and simple.
Do not preach or lecture.
Encourage participation from all family members.
Set a definite time and place to have them daily.
With younger children, you may want to teach short Bible stories, followed by discussion and prayer.
You can also do brief topical studies.
Compiled By Pastor Willy Ochieng
Senior Pastor Busia Lighthouse Church