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Speaker 1: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

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Speaker 1: For the husband is the head of the wife, even

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Speaker 1: as Christ is the head of the church, and he

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Speaker 1: is the savior of the body. Ephesians five twenty two

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Speaker 1: through twenty three. Dear Lord Jesus, you modeled perfect submission

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Speaker 1: on the cross. You gave yourself over to the will

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Speaker 1: of the Father and accomplished great things as a result.

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Speaker 1: Teach us to submit to you first and foremost as

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Speaker 1: your church, that we may share in your victory. We

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Speaker 1: also pray for those godly marriages seeking to reflect your character.

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Speaker 1: Grant everyone mutual submission, respect and honor for each other

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Speaker 1: as unto you. Empower wives to prop up their husbands,

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Speaker 1: even when they don't seem worthy of it at the time.

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Speaker 1: Guide husbands to love and nurture their wives, even when

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Speaker 1: they'd prefer to be harsh or neglecting. In all things,

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Speaker 1: have your way among us, humble and guide us. Lord Jesus,

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Speaker 1: and your name, We pray Amen. Thank you for joining

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Speaker 1: me in prayer. Stay tuned for today's free podcast, Meditative

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Speaker 1: Prayers with Zach Clinton, where you can draw close to

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Speaker 1: God and find strength in him.

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Speaker 2: My friends, welcome to your meditative prayer on creating a

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Speaker 2: better marriage. To get the most out of your spiritual journey,

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Speaker 2: use pray dot com every day and make prayer a

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Speaker 2: priority in your life. Again, our goal for today's meditative

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Speaker 2: prayer is all about creating a better marriage. So right now,

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Speaker 2: just tip pause for a minute. Maybe head to your

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Speaker 2: safe spot where you can settle in and settle down,

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Speaker 2: close your eyes, and quiet your heart, and ready your

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Speaker 2: spirit to receive from God. Today we'll be meditating on

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Speaker 2: Ephesians chapter five, verses twenty two to twenty four from

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Speaker 2: the King James version. Wives submit yourselves unto your own

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Speaker 2: husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the

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Speaker 2: head of the wife, even as Christ is the head

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Speaker 2: of the Church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore,

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Speaker 2: as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the

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Speaker 2: wives be to their own husbands in everything. Take a

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Speaker 2: moment now just to pour out your adoration to God. Jesus.

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Speaker 2: I praise you for sending your Holy Spirit to minister

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Speaker 2: to me. I worship you for preparing your bride the church.

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Speaker 2: As the day of Jesus's return draws near, a sovereign

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Speaker 2: and almighty you are selfless and sacrificing. I praise you

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Speaker 2: for your love toward me is steadfast and unchanging. And

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Speaker 2: I worship you God, and I commit all I am

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Speaker 2: to you. Submission to authority. Wives are to submit to

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Speaker 2: their husband's authority. God created marriage to have give and take,

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Speaker 2: each half doing their part so that the whole works

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Speaker 2: in perfect unity. For wives, this means treating their husbands

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Speaker 2: with deference and honor. When wives respect their husbands, they

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Speaker 2: are respecting God as she would treat Christ. So she

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Speaker 2: respects her husband. For God is the head of man,

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Speaker 2: and man is the head of the woman. This is

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Speaker 2: the hierarchy God established to govern marriage. This is how

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Speaker 2: the union between a man and a woman is meant

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Speaker 2: to function. As the Church acknowledges and accepts Christ's spiritrtual authority,

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Speaker 2: so too should the wife respect her husband. Both husband

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Speaker 2: and wife are called to serve Christ and how they

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Speaker 2: relate to each other. Both husband and wife serve God

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Speaker 2: and follow his commandments. The first of his commandments is

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Speaker 2: to love God, and the second is to love others

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Speaker 2: as yourself. This love is selfless and strengthens the bond

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Speaker 2: between husband and wife. Do not seek to keep score

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Speaker 2: in your relationship. For marriage is not a competition. It

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Speaker 2: is not a struggle for power. Marriage is a covenant

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Speaker 2: of two people laying down their own natures to benefit

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Speaker 2: the whole. Perhaps you've been struggling to submit to God's

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Speaker 2: authority over your life. Perhaps you've been struggling to submit

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Speaker 2: to your husband's authority and your marriage. Bearing in mind

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Speaker 2: the importance of submission, draw near to God in this moment.

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Speaker 2: Come before the Lord and confess your sins to him.

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Speaker 2: Confess to Jesus the times you did not respect God's

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Speaker 2: word or your husband, as you should confess the times

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Speaker 2: when you gave into selfishness and did not serve your spouse.

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Speaker 2: Now hand those failures over to Jesus and cast your

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Speaker 2: cares upon him. Now as we transition, take just a

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Speaker 2: few minutes to dwell on what God has given you.

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Speaker 2: Thank Him for your spouse who shares this life with you,

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Speaker 2: his Holy Spirit, who selflessly gives to you without measure, Jesus,

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Speaker 2: who loved us before we returned his love, the Father

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Speaker 2: who draws us with loving kindness and mercy. And thank

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Speaker 2: Jesus for capacitating you to do all things. You see,

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Speaker 2: God is present and he is listening to you. The

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Speaker 2: Bible says we are to outdo one another in showing honor.

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Speaker 2: So ask God to pour out his Holy Spirit without

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Speaker 2: out measure, over your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to

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Speaker 2: remove all bitterness and resentment from your life. To take

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Speaker 2: away what impedes you from selflessly giving to your spouse.

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Speaker 2: Ask God to fill you with his grace and his mercy,

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Speaker 2: and ask the Holy Spirit to impart God's wisdom to

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Speaker 2: you to teach you to have a humble heart and

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Speaker 2: self control. Remember, wives are to submit to their husbands,

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Speaker 2: and the husbands are to be over the wives as

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Speaker 2: Christ is over the Church. God uses this to bless

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Speaker 2: us within our marriages. The Holy Spirit working within you

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Speaker 2: will help you give of yourself without measure. Be assured

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Speaker 2: in the knowledge that as you are serving your husband,

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Speaker 2: you are also serving God. So choose this day to

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Speaker 2: stand firm on the promises of God for your life

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Speaker 2: and be blessed. My friends, thank you for completing today's

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Speaker 2: meditative prayer on pray dot com. By incorporating this healthy

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Speaker 2: habit is a daily practice. I believe you're not only

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Speaker 2: making prayer priority, but you're also strengthening your walk with God.

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Speaker 2: My name is Zach Clinton, Vice President of the American

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Speaker 2: Association of Christian Counselors and we love being a part

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Speaker 2: of your life. Hey, for more help, hope, information and inspiration,

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Speaker 2: I would encourage you go visit our website at AACC

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Speaker 2: dot net. Again, that's AACC dot net.