for my friend Shawn, as he counsels

Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives. Titus 2:1-6 (The Message)

Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands. 2 Timothy 2 (The Message)

God's Message came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
I said, "A walking stick—that's all."
And God said, "Good eyes! I'm sticking with you.
I'll make every word I give you come true."
Jeremiah 1:12 (The Message)

I thank you God that you have put this young couple in connection with Shawn. They very much need guidance and loving support. May Shawn communicate a deep encouragement that there is a path through pain, especially in these days when so many people just call it quits because the work involved in living out love is so hard. Help Shawn stand firm in the gap. May he turn to his church and community of support for a listening ear or a consult as he needs it. Many of us have faced painful and troubled times in our marriages and relationships, and have been grateful for the people you have sent us to help. You specialize in rescuing people from darkness, and in binding up the broken. We claim your hope on behalf of this young couple, and we understand there is also much work to be done if the couple decides to claim it with us. Guide and protect, O Lord. We continue to trust in you.

for a struggling Christian couple

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 (New International Version)

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 (New International Version)

The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Luke 8:24-26 (New International Version)

I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18 (New International Version)

Lord of Heaven and Earth, Wind and Sky: I bring before you this struggling young couple for whom my friend Shawn cares deeply. I don't know how broken their relationship is, but I know how hard it is to navigate when storms seem likely to overwhelm. Sometimes it's all we can do to keep the ship afloat. May this couple remember, even amid the thunder and waves, that you are Lord of All Creation, and that all things respond to your command. May they find plenty of community around them to help them bail out the water that threatens to sink their marriage. Let the past not defeat them, nor the present overwhelm them. Send your Light to guide and your Spirit to warm as you recall them to yourself.