Wedding Rituals you might consider for your wedding ceremony Part XI

This is the final one in the series. This is something that is extra special to me. I have a very dear friend of mine who happens to do a lot of ceremonies with me. Over the years as he has found and started to use a 'Prayer of Blessing' at the end of the ceremony to pray a blessing over the bride and groom. Thank you Pastor Jeff Moody from The Family Church for sharing this with me and other couples.

PRAYER OF BLESSING

Let’s Pray.

O God of Love, You have established marriage for the welfare and happiness of mankind. You gave the plan, and only with You can we work it out with joy. You said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a companion who will help him.” Now our joys are doubled, since the happiness of one is the happiness of the other. Our burdens now are halved – when we share them, we divide the load.

Lord, bless this husband – bless Brian. Sustain him in all of the pressures of his life. May his strength be her protection, his character be her boast and her pride, and may he so live that she will find in him the haven for which the heart of woman truly longs.

Lord, bless this loving wife – bless Rhoda. Give her tenderness that will make her great, a deep sense of understanding, and a great faith in You. Give her that inner beauty of soul that never fades, that eternal youth that is found in holding fast the things that never age.

Lord, teach Brian and Rhoda that marriage is not living merely for each other; it is two uniting and joining hands to serve You. Give them great spiritual purpose in life. May they seek first Your Kingdom, and Your righteousness, and You have promised that the other things would be added to them.

May they not expect perfection of each other, for that belongs only to You. May they minimize each other’s weaknesses, swiftly and strongly praise each other’s strengths, and see each other through a lover’s kind and patient eyes.

Give them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them humane, enough failure to keep their hands clenched tightly in Yours, and enough success to make them sure that they 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.”

Then when life is done and the sun is setting, may they be found then as they are right now, hand in hand, still thanking God for each other. May they serve you happily, faithfully, together, until at last one will lay the other into Your arms.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, the great Lover of our souls,
Amen.

So now that you have dried up your tears I hope that you can see why this one is so special to me. I wish I had this for my ceremony. (Wow! That was a long time ago.)
Bless you all!