There is no reference to any marriage vow in Scripture. In 1549, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, created the standard church wedding vow in the Book of Common Prayer. He wrote the book to bring Catholic Liturgy into the English language from Latin. He did not state the extent of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration in his work, but given the marriage failure rate, it seems to be time to bring our vows directly to our Abba Father.
Marriage vows to each other can easily center the focus on this season of life with our Abba Father as an accessory, when the ceremony is only performed in his presence and not dedicated to him. My premise is that if we recognize eternal life with our Abba Father and bring our marriage to him, we stand a much better chance of not parting before death.
Suggested Prayer and Vows
Groom: My love, our Abba Father has blessed me with you, the spouse of my life. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.” (James 1:17). In the eyes of our Abba Father, I join with you today to become one flesh with you in glory and service to him. I offer you this ring as a symbol of our union, which we dedicate to our Abba Father and his design for husband and wife, which will be our guide for all our days.
Bride: My love, our Abba Father has blessed me with you, the love of my life. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.” (James 1:17). I join with you today in the eyes of our Abba Father, to become one flesh with you in glory to him. I offer you this ring as a symbol of our union dedicated to our Abba Father and his design for husband and wife, which will be our guide for all our days.
Abba Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. You are our first love, and tell us if we love one another, you live in us, we live in you, and your love is complete in us (1 John 4:12). What an incredible gift; thank you.
We come before you today Abba Father, with the promise of becoming one flesh, _____________________ and______________________, to lift our marriage covenant up to you. Your covenants with your people are forever, and we ask your help to glorify you with our marriage through all our days.
You have blessed us with each other, and we are forever grateful for your wonderful gift. “You tell us Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen 2:24), and you tell us two cannot walk together except they are agreed (Amos 3:3). We ask you to help us truly be agreed in one flesh in our life together.
You tell us, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:4-7). Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph 4:2). We ask you to give us the strength and wisdom to live in your love.
You tell us to render to each other the affection due and that we do not have authority over our own bodies but to each other’s (1 Cor 7:3-4) so that we can give up ourselves and give to each other without restraint. We thank you for the beautiful relationship for us that you have designed and ask you to guide us down the path of life in glory to you.
You say to the wife to love her husband (Titus 2:3), and you say to the husband to love his wife, just as Christ loves the church. He gave up his life for her (Eph 5:25). You tell us that we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ (Eph 4:15) so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith—that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that it may fill us with all the fullness of you (Eph 3:17-19)
We hear your words Abba Father, lift our marriage up to you, and ask that your continued blessing, guidance, growth, and strength always be with us as we worship and glorify you in all we do. Therefore, what you have joined together, let no one separate (Mark 10:9).
