Making Prayer a Priority in Your Marriage

Married couples are designed for intimacy. Yet, like Adam and Eve in the garden, they often hide from God and each other.

Some couples pretend their relationship is healthier than it is because it feels safer than risking exposure and shame. Hiding feels safer in the moment.

But long-term, it has the opposite effect. Instead of feeling more loved, we feel more lost. Instead of feeling more accepted, we feel more alone.

What’s a good way for couples to break out of isolation and connect with each other? Prayer. Specifically, praying together.

German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer once called praying together the heartbeat of the Christian community. It’s true for marriage, too.

Prayer opens the door for grace and truth in a relationship. And the more grace and truth a couple has the better equipped they’ll be to deal compassionately yet honestly with each other’s limitations. Where there is honesty there is the potential for healing and solutions.

Our guests on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Making Prayer a Priority in Your Marriage,” Ryan and Selena Frederick, have cultivated a “lights on and windows and doors open” policy about anything and everything in their marriage. That means no secrets, no hidden pasts, and a present commitment to create a relationship of safety where they can talk openly about mistakes, shame, and pain. Although they don’t do transparency perfectly, they are committed to living as authentically as possible.

Listen to the Fredericks share how to draw closer to God and to your spouse through prayer on your local radio station, online, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or take us with you on our free phone app.

Before I close, I’d like to extend an invitation for you to become a special partner with us through our monthly “Friends of Focus on the Family” program. When you do, I’ll send you a copy of Ryan and Selena’s books 40 Prayers for My Wife: Drawing Near to God for the Woman You Love and40 Prayers for My Husband: Drawing Near to God for the Man You Love as a way of saying thank you for touching others with the love of Christ. You’ll also receive member-exclusive benefits. To make your pledge, or for more information, visit our website or call 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).