Pray For and With Each Other

Note from Mom

There is a special spirit that comes to a married couple as they pray together.  I am grateful to your father for always taking the lead and grabbing my hands as he kneels by the bedside.  We pray for each other and we pray for each of you.  My favorite family prayers are those where you are thoughtful of your siblings and include their welfare in your prayer.  Keep loving each other and praying for each other.

"Husband and Wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other."
~ Family Proclamation

Prayer can heal failing marriages and strengthen good marriages.  Here is some advice that President Monson received when he married his wife, Frances:

On October 7, my wife, Frances, and I will have been married forty years. Our marriage took place just to the east of us in the holy temple. He who performed the ceremony, Benjamin Bowring, counseled us: “May I offer you newlyweds a formula which will ensure that any disagreement you may have will last no longer than one day? Every night kneel by the side of your bed. One night, Brother Monson, you offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. The next night you, Sister Monson, offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. I can then assure you that any misunderstanding that develops during the day will vanish as you pray. You simply can’t pray together and retain any but the best of feelings toward one another.”  (October 1998 General Conference, "Hallmarks of a Happy Home")

"Prayer can be a key component in coming to perceive a marriage relationship as sacred.  Coming to view the relationship in this way can be a protective factor, buffering the marriage against certain challenges (such as infidelity) that can diminish or destroy a marriage" (Lambert, 2012).

Teaching Prayer to Young Children:
Great already prepared family home evening lesson that teaches families that they need to invite Heavenly Father into their family and that they should pray together.

References:

Lambert, N. M. (2012). The eternal family: A plain and precious part of the plan of salvation. In     A. J. Hawkins & D. C. Dollahite & T. W. Draper (Eds.), Successful Marriages and families: Proclamation principles and research perspectives (pp. 196-200). Provo, UT: BYU Studies.