Preparing Your Heart for Marriage: Devotions for Engaged Couples (A 30-Day Devotional)

by Gary Thomas

Overview

Discover how to grow closer to the Lord in the days leading up to your wedding so you can be spiritually ready for all the days after your wedding.

The wedding is planned, but are you spiritually prepared for your wedding day?

Engagement is bursting with promise, hope, joy, and anticipation of all kinds. It can also be one of the busiest times your life. For some, planning a wedding, with all the decisions involved, can feel less like the exciting onset of marriage and more like a tedious to-do list. Amidst the busyness, this devotional is designed to encourage and guide you through the spiritual priorities and challenges that lie ahead in order to grow a joy-filled marriage brimming with love, grace, and God's blessing.

In addition to helping you celebrate the joys of marriage and become radically connected as you create an even deeper passionate relationship, this lovely book also provides encouraging entries that will help you deal with common issues such as:

• Building physical and emotional intimacy
• Repairing trust
• Celebrating differences
• Being a team player
• Managing finances

With a special section on the marriage vows and thoughtful meditations for the bride and groom, Preparing Your Heart for Marriage will help you grow in your relationship as a couple on your journey from “me” to “we.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310345961
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	11/06/2018
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Gary Thomas’s writing and speaking draw people closer to Christ and closer to others. He is the author of twenty books that together have sold more than two million copies and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. These books include Sacred Marriage, Cherish, Sacred Pathways, and the Gold Medallion-award winning Authentic Faith.

Gary holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Western Washington University, a master’s degree in systematic theology from Regent College (Vancouver, BC), and an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Western Seminary (Portland, OR).

Table of Contents

Congratulations! 1

Part 1 God's Plan for Marriage

1 Celebrating the Joys of Marriage 7

2 God's Invention 15

3 You're Going on a Journey 21

4 A New Dimension 27

5 Make My Dreams Come True 33

6 The Most Important Things 37

7 Stop with the Secrets 43

8 The Enthusiasm Factory 51

9 Pleasure Is Your Friend 59

10 The Work of Marriage 65

11 Intoxicated with Passion 69

12 The Very Best Gift 75

13 Don't Believe the Lies 81

14 Marriage Is a Team Sport 87

15 The Guilt of "Tempting Another Soul" 93

16 Prime Examples 99

Part 2 Preparing for Your Vows

17 The Gift You Are About to Receive 107

18 The Journey from "Me" to "We" 111

19 Love Servants 117

20 Mutual Care 123

21 The Highest Place 127

22 Broken Bodies 133

23 Radically Connected 139

24 Turtledove Love 143

Part 3 The Wedding Vows

25 Own Your Choice 151

28 One Flesh 157

27 Wondrous Marriage 165

28 More Than Conquerors 169

29 Money, Money, Money 175

30 Hungry Again 181

A Wedding Day Meditation for Her 187

A Wedding Day Meditation for Him 191

Notes 194

Acknowledgments 197

About Gary Thomas 198