I forgot to post a little wedding love back in June - so here it is in Sept. This prayer was said at my parents wedding in 1977. My Grandpa prayed it at our wedding in 2003. I love to re-read it, and pray it, because it is so so rich in truth. It's amazing how much "all of life and it's issues" are just neatly covered in this prayer.
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O God of love, Thou hast established marriage for the welfare and happiness of mankind. Thine was the plan and only with Thee can we work it out with joy. Thou hast said "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make a help meet for him." Now our joys are doubled since the happiness of one is the happiness of the other. Our burdens now halved, since when we share them, we divide the load.
Bless this husband. Bless him as the provider of nourishment and raiment, and sustain him in all the exactions and pressures of his toil. May his strength be her protection, his character her boast and pride, and may he so live that she will find in him the haven for which the heart of a woman truly longs.
Bless this loving wife. Give her a tenderness that will make her great, a deep sense of understanding and a great faith in Thee. Give her that inner beauty of soul that never fades, that eternal youth that is found in holding fast the things that never age.
Teach them that marriage is not living merely for each other; it is two uniting and joining hands to serve Thee. Give them a great spiritual purpose in life. May they first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the other things shall be added unto them.
May they not expect that perfection of each other that belongs alone to Thee. May they minimize each others weaknesses, be swift to praise and magnify each others points of comeliness and strength, and see each other through a lovers kind and patient eyes.
Now make such assignments to them on the scroll of Thy will as will bless them and develop their characters as they walk together. Give them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them human, enough of failure to keep their hands clenched tightly in Thine and enough of success to make them sure they walk with God.
May they never take each others love for granted but always experience that breathless wonder that exclaims, "Out of all this world you have chosen me."
When life is done and the sun is setting, may they be found then as now, still hand in hand, still thanking God for each other. May they serve Thee happily faithfully, together, until at last one shall lay the other into the arms of God.
This we ask through Jesus Christ, great lover of our souls. Amen.
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