‘“But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you. May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.’ 2 Chronicles 6:18-21(NLT)
‘Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. ‘ 2 Chronicles 7:12-14(NLT)
‘Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.’ Ephesians 6:18(NLT)
‘For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord . “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”’ Jeremiah 29:11-14(NLT)
Now that you have a better understanding of God’s design for marriage, let us look at how we can begin to improve it. The five key points that we will explore during the next five days came from a combination of my wife’s and my personal experience, and observation from dozens of other couples that we have mentored and counseled.
One day my wife, Amy, asked, “I wonder why some of the couples we work with flourish and some of them plateau?” From that question we began to examine our own story of recovery and the recovery of dozens of other couples. What we found was pretty amazing and, frankly, pretty simple.
Each of the couples that were thriving had these five traits in common: Prayer, Community, Church, Reading, and Serving. We are going to cover each one individually over the next five days. Without question, the first one is the most important: PRAYER!
Getting an exact number for the official divorce rate is difficult, but we know it is somewhere between 35% to 46%. Unfortunately, we also know that being a Christian and going to church is not the ultimate fix. There are dozens of factors that affect divorce rates: age, income, race, careers, family influence, etc. Yet none of these have a significant impact as it pertains to decreasing the divorce rate.
With all of the measurable indicators, only PRAYER made a significant difference in the divorce rate. If there is a “silver bullet” for marriage it is simply this: pray together regularly. Couples who report praying together regularly had a less than 2% divorce rate! That’s right, praying together regularly gives you a 98% chance of making it. I will gladly take those odds.
Take a moment and ask God: “Have I taken prayer seriously? Am I even praying with my spouse? If not, why?”
from True North: LIVE Free In Marriage