Letter #13: Sabbath rest and prayer

Dear Future Husband,

This whole week this has been on my mind repeatedly to pray for you that you know and experience Sabbath rest and also know the intimacy with God that comes from prayer. Sabbath rest is much more than simply taking a day off from work or just going to church on Sundays. It is allowing body, mind and most importantly soul to refocus on God and what is important. Rest...What a simple word and so often overlooked because we are too busy doing other good things that we forget that this isn't just a good idea or an afterthought, it is a part of the Ten Commandments. It obviously was so important to God that He commanded that we do it. He even modeled it for us after He got done creating the whole world. So why am I so guilty of neglecting to do it? I can't answer that question to be honest because all I see are pathetic excuses when I try. But I do know that because I neglect this practice of Sabbath rest then I am in this constant state of exhaustion that no amount of sleep can cure. So I've been praying for you and for myself all week that we would learn to take this commandment seriously and actually take a Sabbath rest weekly not just when it is "convenient" for us. And I pray that this habit that we are creating now will carry into our marriage.

I have also been praying this past week for your prayer life. As I have been doing this 40 day prayer challenge, I have discovered an intimacy that I always knew was missing from my relationship with God, but never knew exactly how to make that happen. I have urges now to spend time in prayer and get to know God better. It is incredible to me to have this kind of relationship with God or that it was possible. For so long I have talked to everyone else but God about my problems and now lately all I have been forced through different circumstances to talk directly to God first and not just as an afterthought. Oh I pray that you are experiencing this sweet, intimate connection with God through prayer! I desire for us to, individually first and then together, become prayer warriors. I see this in my parent's marriage and that's what I want for ours. Prayer changes things and I sincerely believe that.

Forever and always faithfully yours,
Your Future Wife