Blessed with the Best: A 90-Day Devotional for Newlyweds

By Richard Ward and Ruth Ward

Walking into marriage is one of the greatest experiences, but with it comes a great deal of uncertainty. It can feel as though the independence of singleness is suddenly gone forever. Thankfully, the Bible teaches us what a healthy and thriving marriage requires. Establishing a routine of daily prayer is foundational to achieving this type of marriage.

In Blessed with the Best: A 90-Day Devotional for Newlyweds, Richard and Ruth share from their unique perspective as newlyweds, powerful faith and increasingly stirred passion to see lives fulfilled. From finances and careers to relationships and temptations to dreams and decision making, couples will learn how turning the focus away from a self-centered marriage and toward a Christ-centric relationship changes everything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973688938

Richard Ward

Richard F. Ward is Fred B. Craddock Associate Professor ofHomiletics and Worship at Phillips Theological Seminary. Hisother books include Speaking of the Holy: The Art ofCommunication in Preaching.,

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Richard and Ruth Ward.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The

Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing

ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New

International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,

Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.

zondervan.comThe NIV and New International Version are trademarks

registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living

Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale

House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982

by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by

The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8892-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8894-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8893-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020905393

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/14/2020

We are thankful for our parents,

who for our entire lives have fought through

adversity, sacrificed in love and exemplified lifelong

commitments in Christ-centered marriages.

CONTENTS

Preface

I. THE BIG PICTURE

Day 1: Covenant

Day 2: Rest

Day 3: Shaping a Vision

Day 4: Praying Specific Prayers Together

Day 5: Establishing Habits

Day 6: Supporting Your Spouse

Day 7: Marriage Mission

Day 8: Serving Together

Day 9: Eliminating Pride

Day 10: Building Your House

Day 11: Opening Your Home

II. PRAYING DAILY FOR _____

Day 12: Praying Daily for Yourself

Day 13: Praying Daily for Your Spouse

Day 14: Praying Daily for Missionaries

Day 15: Praying Daily for Church Leaders

Day 16: Praying Daily for Your Family

Day 17: Praying Daily for Your Friends

Day 18: Praying Daily for Your Neighborhood

Day 19: Praying Daily for Future Generations

Day 20: Praying Daily for Your City

Day 21: Praying Daily for Your State

Day 22: Praying Daily for Government Leaders

Day 23: Praying Daily for the Lost

Day 24: Praying Daily for Your Enemies

III. RELATIONSHIPS

Day 25: A Daily Commitment to Christ

Day 26: Drawing Near

Day 27: Confessing Your Sins

Day 28: New Revelations

Day 29: Jesus at the Center

Day 30: Constant Prayer

Day 31: Constant Honor

Day 32: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Day 33: Embracing Your Identities as Man and Woman

Day 34: Constant Effort

Day 35: The Little Things

Day 36: Learning Your Love Languages

Day 37: Servant Hearts

Day 38: Love and Intimacy

Day 39: Expressing Love

Day 40: Purity

Day 41: Surprises

Day 42: Complete Trust

Day 43: Patience

Day 44: Remembering Your Vows

Day 45: Honoring Your Family

Day 46: Influencing Your Family

Day 47: Devoting Time to Your Family

Day 48: Removing Unhealthy Relationships

Day 49: Letting Go of Past Relationships

Day 50: Seeking New Friendships Together

IV. MONEY

Day 51: Roles and Budgeting

Day 52: Priorities

Day 53: Routine of Giving

Day 54: False Insecurity

Day 55: Erasing Debt

Day 56: Transparency

Day 57: Regular Communication

Day 58: Saving Money

Day 59: Leisure Spending

Day 60: Investments

Day 61: Patient Pursuit

Day 62: Giving When God Says to Give

Day 63: Trusting God Through the Struggle

Day 64: Guidance from Experts

Day 65: Realizing Your Financial

Influence on Others

Day 66: Giving to Missions

Day 67: Goals of Working Hard

Day 68: Spontaneous Spending

V. DREAMS AND PASSIONS

Day 69: Discernment

Day 70: Asking for Spiritual Gifts

Day 71: Dreaming Like Jacob

Day 72: Dreaming with Humility

VI. CAREERS AND CALLING

Day 73: Willingness to Follow God

Day 74: Representatives of Christ

Day 75: Discovering Your Calling

Day 76: Feeling Unhindered

Day 77: Asking God to Open Doors

Day 78: Embracing Change

Day 79: Moving When God Says to Move

VII. DECISION MAKING

Day 80: Godly Counsel

Day 81: Taking Action

Day 82: Leadership Through Decisiveness

Day 83: Making Decisions Together

VIII. TEMPTATIONS

Day 84: Expecting Victory Over Attacks

Day 85: Tempted by Time

Day 86: Tempted to Give Up

Day 87: Tempted by Societal Norms

IX. GROWING FORWARD

Day 88: Growing into Who God Wants You to Be

Day 89: Living Out Your Marriage Mission

Day 90: Praying it Forward

PREFACE

The only way for us to begin is to celebrate with you! If you are reading this, you have either just gotten married, are about to get married, are considering getting married, or perhaps you have been married for years and are simply looking for a way to reignite the spark of newlywed love. Whichever category you fall in, we want to celebrate marriage with you.

If you are considering marriage, we hope to encourage you. If you are stepping into marriage, we want to pray with you as you embark on the best journey of your life. If you are a marriage veteran, we want to remind you that it is never too late to choose the path of pure love. Maybe, just maybe, you will discover something that has been missing from your marriage. You and your spouse might be struggling as we speak. At the very least, we hope to offer you a fresh perspective.

Before we were married, we heard a lot of different opinions about marriage from a lot of different people. Surprisingly, one of the most common pieces of advice we heard was, in fact, a warning: Make sure you’re ready because the first year of marriage is rough. We would look at each other in dismay and walk away from the conversation agreeing we would not and could not accept that. Although we thought we perhaps were oblivious, we can confidently say that our first year of marriage was undoubtedly the greatest year of our lives.

That is not to say the first year of marriage is the greatest year for everyone, but we believe it can be if choice and action cross paths. We both have great examples in our lives. Our parents have been married to the same spouse for a combined 75 years. We realize we are lucky to have great influencers like them. We understand that might not be the case for the majority of our readers. Some of you come from broken families, and some no longer have relationships with your parents. The good news is your marriage is not based on your upbringing. Your marriage is based on you, your spouse and your Creator. No one else can do or say anything that has a real impact on your marriage without you taking it upon yourself to act.

Our first year of marriage was not great because we walked into it hoping everything would work out like a storybook fairytale. Our first year was great because we prepared. We decided early on in our relationship to be intentional about everything. We set boundaries. We sought advice from people we trusted. In short, we openly and honestly communicated about every topic we could think of. We established a friendship and discovered what there was to know about each other before we entered into our marriage. We are still learning pieces of each other the further into marriage we go. We must not stop communicating or learning what makes the other person unique.

Regardless of what we were going to do, we intended to keep God at the forefront of it all. Family, friends and careers were a major emphasis in both of our lives, but nothing was as important as making our faith the foundation of our marriage. Before we ever said, I do, we were standing on a solid rock, which was the key to our successful first year of marriage. We knew that God is always good, always reliable and never fails. That firm understanding was our highest priority. Everything that has and will happen is part of His perfect plan.

It is not always convenient or easy to be intentional about growing our relationship. We have to put forth an effort to develop our marriage. Many marriages struggle and fall apart because one or both parties become lazy in loving and serving their spouse. We hope this book can create a habit of being intentional about growing in your faith and in your relationship with each other. We pray this book helps you to discover a new-found faith in your heart. If you are walking in faith and stepping into marriage, we offer this book as a guide along the way. A foundation of immovable faith and prayer is the key to a successful marriage.

As newlyweds, the primary reason we wrote this book is to encourage you and your spouse to pray together and to recognize marriage as a gift from God for your good and for the spread of the gospel message. Sometimes, the people we are closest to are the hardest people for us to pray with. Many researchers say that it takes 66 days to form a habit. If you do not establish a habit of praying together now, then you will struggle to grow closer to each other in the future. These 90 devotionals each end with a prayer for you and your spouse to pray aloud together. Scripture says, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matt. 18:20).

We were married at the ages of 25 and 24, respectively. We’re no experts; however, we do know that our first year of marriage was special. God designed marriage to be a holy union between a husband and a wife as a mirror image of Christ’s sacrifice and love for the Church. That relationship is beautiful, sacred and exciting. The scriptural principles we learned in our first year of marriage were written here for you as a couple to develop your own strategy of prayer for each other. Scripture is clear, but the world will constantly pull our focus as a married couple off of Christ’s example and onto the sticky relationship moments.

With that said, congratulations on your new adventure of marriage. Marriage is a good thing, and we think the first year can be and should be your best year yet.

—Richard and Ruth

30505.png

BLESSED

WITH THE

BEST

30515.png

I

30528.png

THE BIG PICTURE

Like the majority of you, I wondered who my spouse would be, what he would look like and what vision God would give us, but the older I got the less attractive the idea of committing to marriage became. Although my girlish dreams of having someone to love led to butterflies, I had apprehensions toward the characteristics of marriage I often witnessed: distrust, control and frustration. I wanted to believe in the marriage picture explained in Scripture that I have defended and firmly admired, but it seemed unrealistic and idealistic at times. I never would have admitted this, but my cynicism came down to my lack of faith in the model designed by God for men and women. I wanted to achieve large dreams for God, but I selfishly did not want to be tethered to another person. I liked my routine of making my own decisions and scoffed at the idea of men being the head of the household as if women were inferior.

As I stepped back and looked at