This page offers prayers for a stronger marriage, written for husbands and wives who want their love to grow deeper, steadier and more honest. You can pray them at the start or end of the day, in the car before a hard conversation, or at the kitchen table after a long week. Read the prayer aloud as it is written, or use it as a starting point and speak in your own words.
Prayers for a Stronger Marriage
Lord, you know the ordinary distances that can grow between two people who share a home. We bring you our marriage as it really is, with its tired evenings, unspoken hurts, and the small resentments we sometimes carry without naming them. Give us the humility to speak gently and to listen longer than we want to. Where we have grown careless with each other’s hearts, forgive us, and teach us to notice the good things before we notice the faults.
Father, make us patient with each other’s weaknesses and quick to ask for forgiveness when we fail. Protect our time together from being crowded out by work, screens, money worries and the demands of children or aging parents. Help us to keep our promises, to keep our word kind, and to keep choosing one another on the days when love feels more like effort than feeling. Hold us both close, and let your steadfast faithfulness be the foundation our marriage is built on. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, be at the center of our marriage today. Soften my words when I am tempted to be sharp, and open my ears when my spouse needs to be heard. Heal what has been bruised between us, and give us a fresh kindness for each other. Help us to laugh together, to forgive quickly, and to remember that we are on the same side. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
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Pray this passage for the strength that comes from partnership. Thank God that you are not meant to carry the weight of your marriage alone, and ask him to help you lift each other when one of you is struggling.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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Read this slowly and let each quality become a request. Ask God to grow patience, kindness and gentleness in both of you, especially in the moments when those qualities feel hardest to find.
Colossians 3:12-14
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
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Pray this passage as a clothing list for your household. Ask God to help you put on compassion, forgiveness and love each morning, so that unity can be something you wear every day.
Ephesians 4:2-3
2 With all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love; 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
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Bring your need for gentleness and peace to God in these words. Ask him to help you bear with one another and to keep the unity of the Spirit even when disagreements arise.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
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Use this verse when you feel uncertain about a decision that affects your marriage. Ask God to guide your choices together and to make your paths straight when you cannot see far ahead.
How to Pray This Prayer
Many couples find it helpful to pray together for a few minutes at a set time, such as before bed or over breakfast before the day begins. Sit facing each other, hold hands if you are comfortable, and take turns reading a line or two. If speaking aloud feels awkward at first, one of you can read while the other listens, then switch. Keep it short and honest rather than long and polished.
When you are praying alone, choose a quiet corner of the house or a walk around the block. Read the prayer slowly, pausing after each sentence to name a specific person, moment or hurt that comes to mind. You might also invite a trusted friend or pastor to pray for your marriage, especially during a season of strain. Their prayers can carry you when your own feel thin.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord bless this marriage with patience, peace and a deep, lasting joy. May he keep the couple close in the hard seasons and bring them back to gratitude in the good ones. May their love grow steadier with each passing year, and may they always find in each other a faithful companion for the journey.
