My wife and I have found a place of intimacy that far exceeds any level of intimacy within a marriage through our connecting in prayer. We have made this a priority for many years and have grown our marriage in numerous ways through the vulnerability of prayer together. Here are seven benefits that we have identified from praying together.
- When we pray, we find agreement with God and with one another. Agreement is far more powerful, life-giving and life changing than disagreement.
- Through prayer together we are not so self-focused, but rather, we are focused on God, one another and the needs of those we are praying for.
- We are recognizing our need to trust outside ourselves. We are realizing we cannot provide all the needs or answers. We are humbling ourself to say, we need God. Prayer reminds us and our family that God IS our source.
- Prayer helps us to grow in grace and patience. We learn to wait on God. We also learn to confess our needs, brokenness and vulnerability. We, before God, recognize our need for forgiveness.
- We communicate our life issues when we pray and that helps us to hear out loud those needs. We pray what is on our heart and when we hear one another’s heart, we know what deeply touches us and concerns us.
- Prayer changes us as we learn to listen to God. It changes us financially, emotionally, mentally and sexually. In all ways we are changed as we reach out to and then hear God’s still small voice. Our hearts and our minds are transformed through prayer and we experience a greater level of oneness.
- Praying together increases our intimacy. As intimacy increases our trust levels increase and as our trust levels increase, our strength and bond together grows stronger.
Helping you to start your prayer trek
- Purchase a devotional book, read and then pray.
- Take turns praying/reading.
- Start small or brief and grow your time.
- Find a specific focus and pray.
- Walk your neighborhood and pray.
- Pray together with your children teaching them to pray.
- Pray in the car when there is a lull in the conversation.
- Pray when one of you or your children are not feeling well.
- Pray with thanksgiving to God repeatedly.
- Bless one another in prayer. Bless one another’s day, workplace, etc.
- Ask your spouse how you can pray for them.
He showed up one day at my high school. A couple of my friends and I began to pepper him with questions. “Where are you from? What’s your name? Why did your family move here?”
Snowy bowed his knee to Jesus and a brand-new relationship began between us. He allowed me to disciple him and then the request came to water baptize him. His pastor told me the tradition in their church was to baptize two times backward and one time forward and then he said, “Are you okay with that?” I told him if I had the honor to baptize my friend in his church’s baptismal pool, I would do it standing on my head.
Along with the Patriot Guard, I have had the privilege and honor of serving Snowy and his family by ministering at his full military memorial service. It was a final opportunity to bless this man who came from Alaska just to be my forever close friend. Thank you, Snowy, for the laughs, the rides to the beach in your amazingly fast Mustang, hanging out at your garage, the many spiritual discussions and our many, but not enough, breakfast meetings.
My wife cries. My eyes sweat. There is a difference!
Recently my wife and I had the privilege of spending a weekend with some young married couples on a retreat. Amidst our time together, we desired to ask them a question. That question went something like this: If you were given the chance to share with a younger couple just entering into marriage, what advice would you pass on to them? What follows is some of the excellent input we were given.
Marriage, being God’s design from the beginning, is an amazingly creative design. Every time I am on an airplane sitting shoulder to shoulder with a stranger, I wish it were my wife. It’s just so odd to be that physically close to someone you do not know and have never met. Marriage is as close and intimate as an earthly relationship can become. And the fact of the matter is, over time, it becomes even closer.
My wife and I have been practicing debt-free living for years now.* I say practicing because it takes discipline to reach and discipline to maintain. So here are eight encouragements or benefits that we have discovered when it comes to debt-free living.
How much energy do you spend thinking about or trying to correct dead relationships? Perhaps you have a failed relationship from the past, a really bad break-up or even a divorce. In so many of these cases there is simply not a way to relieve the guilt or the false guilt one may feel. We can find ourselves playing mental gymnastics in order to somehow convince ourselves it will possibly one day work out.
Begin by praying about how you can better care for your friend. Put energy and thought into how to better love the person you are married to. Try daydreaming and fantasizing about your wife or your husband. To allow past, dead relationships your precious time just might be robbing, stealing in fact, from your present friendship or marriage relationship. And that might be considered cheating.
Life can be full of regrets, but integrity and high moral character will never leave one feeling remorseful. This blog is not for those who walk in disappointment, but rather those who are doing their best to avoid moral failure and the loss of integrity.
At first I was a bit taken aback by the expression that was just spoken half jokingly. It went like this, “We’re always in agreement; we do what she says.” Do you find yourself all too often acquiescing to your spouse’s desires in order to head off an argument? Should you be doing that?
Why don’t you have an extramarital affair? Seriously, be honest with yourself and answer the question. What did you come up with? If I could guarantee you will never be found out, you’ll never get caught, would your answer change?
Steve Prokopchak 