03 Dec IHOP (International House of Prayer) Dining for Two

Posted at 13:28h in Uncategorized by

Have you ever had a “holy heated discussion” with your spouse over whether you were going to eat Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Cajun, Japanese…the choices are almost endless!  Unfortunately, that’s how it is in so many marriages and churches today!  The Bible tells us, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mat. 18:18-20).

There is obviously tremendous power in agreement!  Let’s discuss Six Aspects of Agreement:

Aspect #1:  Agreement in marriage (I Pet. 3:7).

Here the Bible tells us, “Likewise you husbands, dwell with them (your wife) according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered” (I Pet. 3:7).

Thanks to false religious teaching, many people think the Bible teaches male domination.  This is a false concept.  This is however, a leader in every institution from government to the corporate world, from football to the church…but leadership is not dictatorship!  Men, we should consider our wives best interest in all we do.  I don’t ever make any major family decision without discussing it with Anne…after all, we are heirs together!  Anne never has to worry about me coming home with some bass boat that is outside of our budget (now a shark boat is an entirely different matter!).  Seriously, it is so important to be in agreement!

I remember when Anne and I were youth pastors back in the 30’s!  We had just resigned as God was leading us to start World Changers Bible Institute.  We had been very diligent to save money as youth pastors, knowing that God would eventually call us to start our own ministry.  We had saved $30,000 which was our entire life savings.  We only had two solid ministry partners who had agreed to support us for $60 a month!  We know what it means to live by faith!  During that time period, God put it on my heart to give $10,000 of our life savings to another ministry in Texas.  He clearly spoke to me and said, “If you do this, I’ll insure your future.”  I told God I would…but He had to tell Anne!  After two weeks of much prayer, I approached Anne with the news of giving away 1/3 of our entire life savings as we embarked on our faith adventure with no salary whatsoever!  My precious wife completely totally agreed and 15 years later, I can with total confidence say…it was the best $10,000 I ever sowed and God has totally “insured” my future!

 Dear married couples, please don’t let anything divide you:

  1. Don’t undermine each other (I’ve heard so many couples throw each other “under the bus” in public).
  2. Don’t let your children undermine you (they learn that art quickly).
  3. Don’t let in-laws undermine you (don’t forget the “leave and cleave” – Mark 10:7-9).

Learn to disagree in private but come out with one voice in public!  Remember this, you and your spouse should be the best prayer partners…not the last prayer partners.

Next week we will continue our discussion on “Dining for Two”.