O God of Love, You created marriage for the welfare and happiness of all of us. It is Your plan and only with Your help can we work it out with joy. You said that "It is not good that man is alone. I will create a helper for him." Now because of that, our joys are doubled since the happiness of one is the happiness of the other. Our trials and troubles have been cut in half since we share them—we share the load.
Bless Ryan. May his strength be Meredith's protection, may his character be her pride, and may he live so she will find in him a haven for which a woman's heart truly longs.
Bless Meredith. Give her tenderness that will make her great, a deep sense of understanding and a great faith in You. Give her that inner beauty that never fades, that eternal youth that comes from holding onto the things that never age.
Bless this husband and wife as they provide food and shelter for their family and home. Sustain them in all the pressures of their labors for income. Teach them both that marriage is not living merely for each other; it is two joining hands to serve You. Give them a great spiritual purpose in life. May they eagerly seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and the other things will be added to them later.
May they not expect to find in each other perfection that belongs only to You. May they minimize each other's weaknesses, be swift to praise and magnify each other's strengths, and see each other through a lover's patient eyes.
Now, allow obstacles in their path as is Your wish that will develop their characters as they walk along together. Give them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them humane, enough failures to keep their hands clenched tightly in Yours, and enough success to encourage them in their walk with You.
May they never take each other's love for granted, but always experience that breathless wonder that exclaims, "Out of all this world you have chosen me."
When life is done, may they be found then as now, hand in hand, still thanking and praising You for each other. May they serve You happily, faithfully, together, until at last one shall lay the other into Your tender arms. This we ask through Jesus Christ, great lover of our souls. Amen.
