A devotional for couples can be as simple as this: one short Bible passage a day, read out loud together, one honest question and a brief prayer. This seven-day plan walks through six couples of the Bible, from Adam and Eve to Mary and Joseph, and closes with Paul's description of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Each day takes about fifteen minutes. None of these couples is perfect, and that is part of the point: they show you what faithfulness looks like and, sometimes, what to avoid.
How to use this plan
- Pick a time you can both keep. After dinner, before bed or over coffee on weekend mornings. Same time each day helps more than the perfect time.
- One reads, both listen. Take turns reading the passage aloud.
- Answer the question one at a time. Listen without fixing. You are not trying to win the conversation.
- Pray briefly. One sentence each is fine. If praying aloud together is new for you, our guide on how to pray as a couple has gentle ways to start.
If you miss a day, pick up where you left off. Seven days can easily become two weeks.
Day 1: Adam and Eve, made for each other
Read: Genesis 2:18-25 and 3:8-13
Before anything goes wrong, God looks at the man alone and says, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18, NIV). Marriage starts as God's idea and God's gift. Then, one chapter later, the first couple sins, and the first thing they do is hide. The second thing is blame: the man blames the woman, and the woman blames the serpent.
Talk about it: When something goes wrong between us, do we tend to turn toward each other or point at each other?
Pray: Lord, thank you for giving us to each other. When we fail, help us stop hiding and blaming, and come to you together. Amen.
Day 2: Abraham and Sarah, waiting on a promise
Read: Genesis 12:1-5 and 18:1-15
Abraham and Sarah leave everything familiar together on the strength of a promise. Then they wait, for decades. Along the way they make serious mistakes, and Sarah laughs when she hears she will have a son in her old age. God's answer is a question: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14, NIV). Isaac's birth in Genesis 21 shows that God kept his word, even through their doubts.
Talk about it: What are we waiting for together right now, and how is the waiting affecting us?
Pray: Faithful God, you kept your promise to Abraham and Sarah when they could not see how. Teach us to wait together without giving up on you or on each other. Amen.
Day 3: Isaac and Rebekah, love that comforts and a warning
Read: Genesis 24:58-67 and 25:27-28
Rebekah's story begins with courage. Asked whether she will leave her family to marry a man she has never met, she answers, "I will go" (Genesis 24:58, NIV). When she arrives, Isaac "loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death" (Genesis 24:67, NIV). It's one of the tenderest lines in Genesis. But years later each parent has a favorite son, and that division eventually tears the family apart in Genesis 27.
Talk about it: Is there any area where we've drifted into separate camps, with our kids, our money or our families, instead of facing it as one?
Pray: Lord, make our home a place of comfort. Show us where we've started to take sides, and bring us back to the same side. Amen.
Watch “Adam & Eve” together
“Adam & Eve” is a cinematic series in short episodes, based on the Bible, in Sacred.
4.8on the App Store
Scan with your phoneDay 4: Ruth and Boaz, kindness and integrity
Read: Ruth 2:8-12 and 3:7-11
Ruth is a foreign widow gathering leftover grain to feed her mother-in-law. Boaz notices her, protects her and tells her why: he has heard of her loyalty to Naomi. Later he tells her, "All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character" (Ruth 3:11, NIV). Their story is built on kindness, and Boaz settles every question openly and honorably in Ruth 4. You can read more about her in our profile of Ruth in the Bible.
Talk about it: What is one quality in your spouse you admire but rarely say out loud? Say it now.
Pray: God, thank you for the kindness you have shown us through each other. Make us people of integrity at home and in public. Amen.
Day 5: Priscilla and Aquila, a shared mission
Read: Acts 18:1-3 and 18:24-26
Priscilla and Aquila are always mentioned together. They work side by side as tentmakers, open their home to Paul and to a church, and together take the gifted preacher Apollos aside to explain the way of God "more adequately" (Acts 18:26, NIV). Paul later calls them "my co-workers in Christ Jesus" and says "they risked their lives for me" (Romans 16:3-4, NIV). Their marriage is pointed outward. Our article on Priscilla and Aquila tells their full story.
Talk about it: What could we do together for someone else this month?
Pray: Lord, use our marriage for more than ourselves. Show us who you want us to welcome, help or encourage. Amen.
Day 6: Mary and Joseph, facing the unexpected
Read: Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:41-52
Mary and Joseph's engagement begins with news that could have ended it. Joseph plans to break it off quietly until an angel tells him not to be afraid, and he obeys at once. Later they flee to Egypt with a newborn. Years after that, they lose track of twelve-year-old Jesus in Jerusalem, and Mary says what any parent would: "Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you" (Luke 2:48, NIV). Notice the "your father and I." They face it together.
Talk about it: What unexpected thing are we facing right now, and how can we face it as a team?
Pray: God, you are not surprised by what surprises us. Give us Joseph's obedience and Mary's trust, and keep us side by side when plans change. Amen.
Day 7: 1 Corinthians 13, love described
Read: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud" (1 Corinthians 13:4, NIV). Paul wrote these words to a divided church, not as a wedding reading, but they describe the love every marriage needs. Try this: read the passage aloud and put your own name where it says "love." It's humbling. For a deeper look at each phrase, see the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Talk about it: Which line of this passage is hardest for me right now? Which one do I see in you?
Pray: Lord, your love is patient and kind with us every day. Grow that same love in us, for each other, for the rest of our lives. Amen.
How Sacred can help you keep going
Sacred isn't a couples app, but a few of its features make a habit like this easier to keep. The daily devotional gives you a verse, a short reflection and a narrated prayer each day, which you can do together once this plan ends. Prayer reminders can nudge you at the time you chose. You can also listen to the passages narrated, with each verse highlighted as it's read; Genesis 24 or the book of Ruth make good listening on a drive together.
For Days 1 and 2, Sacred has cinematic series in short episodes, "Adam & Eve" and "Abraham and Isaac," based on the biblical account. Watching an episode together before you read is an easy way into the conversation. Save the verses that mean something to you both as favorites, and come back to them on harder days.
After the seven days
Don't stop at seven. Pick one thing that worked, maybe the question, maybe the prayer, and keep it. A marriage is built in small, repeated moments, and a few minutes with Scripture each day is one of the best of them.
Sacred ShortsA few minutes with God, together
Watch Bible stories in short episodes, listen to each passage narrated and start the day with a devotional.
Scan with your phoneFrequently asked questions
Pick a time you can both keep, such as after dinner or before bed. One of you reads a short passage out loud, you each answer one question, and you close with a brief prayer. Fifteen minutes is enough, and doing it often matters more than doing it long.
Priscilla and Aquila, Ruth and Boaz, and Mary and Joseph are often held up as examples of faithfulness, kindness and shared purpose. Couples like Abraham and Sarah or Isaac and Rebekah show real faith alongside real mistakes, which makes them just as useful to study.
Start with reading the passage and talking about the question. You can pray silently together, let one person pray for both, or pray one sentence each. Comfort grows with practice, and no one needs to perform.
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 to a church about how believers should love one another, not as a wedding text. Its description of love still fits marriage very well, which is why so many couples read it at their weddings.
