Pray about protecting your marriage from divorce. Refuse to consider divorce as an option. When you keep your marriage vows, God stands ready to help you in your relationship. Ask God to help you and your spouse: do whatever it takes to get beyond every impasse and solve every problem as they arise, take away any desire in your hearts for divorce, give you an ongoing passion for Him and each other, be affectionate toward each other, honor each other, recognize things you’re saying and doing that are harming your marriage and empower you to stop saying and doing them, learn how to say and do things that enrich your marriage and start saying and doing them, strengthen you as you face challenges together, lead you to outside help (such as from a counselor or pastor) when you need it, be aware of how evil may be influencing your marriage and fight evil, confess your sins to each other and to God, and repent of your sins regularly to stay close to God.

Pray about infidelity. An affair will devastate your marriage by violating the very trust on which your relationship is built. Ask God to help you and your spouse: protect your minds from thinking wrong thoughts that can lead to adultery, recognize and overcome temptation, keep you each away from people with evil intentions, prevent you from becoming deceived, give you wisdom, empower you to live with integrity, and give you contentment and joy in your marriage so you don’t feel any need to look elsewhere.

Pray about separation. A physical separation always starts with an emotional separation. Ask God to help you and your spouse: always maintain an emotionally close relationship, learn to do what pleases each other and not neglect doing so, be kind when you could be stern, be merciful when you could be judgmental, and be forgiving when we could take offense, recognize what is going on emotionally with each other, realize where you’ve become preoccupied with other things and other people – and decide to pay more attention to your marriage, give you wisdom if a separation is necessary to for a season in order to try to work out serious issues (with the goal of reconciling), and keep you each faithful to Him and each other.

Pray for a miracle if hope seems lost. No matter how hopeless the state of your marriage may be, there is always hope for it to improve if you both trust God to help. Ask God to help you and your spouse: commit your marriage to Him, increase your faith in Him and in each other, renew your love, give you patience while He works in both of your lives, and focus beyond the problems in your marriage to trust Him for the solutions to them.

Stormie Omartian is the bestselling author of The Power of a Praying^® series (more than 11 million copies sold worldwide), which includes The Power of a Praying^® Wife and The Power of a Praying^® Husband. Her many other books include Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On, The Prayer That Changes Everything^®, and The Power of a Praying^® Woman Bible. Stormie and her husband, Michael, have been married more than 34 years and have three grown children.