Can you remember a time in your marriage when you wondered if you had made a major mistake in your choice of a partner, or you wondered if you had grossly overestimated your love story and, even worse, the character of your husband? Think back to a time when you felt that your husband’s performance fell far short of your expectations, or when, somewhere along the way, your beautiful love story took a detour and you weren’t sure you even liked your husband any longer.

You may be reading this with a heavy heart. Your spirit is crushed. Those once-soft glances are now frightened, empty stares. Perhaps privately, you are praying for either a painless parting (which doesn’t exist) or a marriage miracle.

If you are looking for a painless parting, you should look elsewhere. But if you are in need of marriage "mercies," or even if you are in a "sweet place" in your marriage, please read on.

It is true, men battle for their souls every day. The pressures they face are phenomenal. Secular success is equated with how high they climb the corporate ladder and how handsomely they are compensated for those efforts. Their struggles filter into family life, often without them even realizing it. Without vigilant prayer, clear communication, and a time of accountability with others, it’s easy to see how the daily battle of a man’s soul can quickly escalate, infiltrating the marriage and family. Prayer is vital, one young husband learned, as he faced his greatest career challenge.

"It was during my time as a new insurance agent with a nationally -recognized company that I dealt with one of the greatest career challenges in my life. I knew my wife was praying for me. Her prayer, however, was not that I have great success, nor was it that I overcome the challenges I faced. It was only after being informed I would no longer be an agent for their company that I learned what Alesa’s specific prayer for me had been. Only after, I began truly seeking the face of God, as a result of what the world would surely see as a failure. During this ‘gut-check time’ when I was forced to see what kind of man I was, and looking at all I had worked for and lost, I realized I hadn’t really lost anything at all.

"Looking back," he continued, "I saw I had never really given God a chance. I was trying to do it all myself. My wife’s prayer through the painful ordeal was not that I climb the corporate ladder, rather that I would grow closer to God. For I was not created to grab onto the next brass ring but to worship my God and King. Seems simple enough, yet when you think of the verse, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you,’ it brings to light that we are to worship Him first, and all these things will be added. And I believe that means all things.