Should married couples pray together?
Is there something special about praying together that doesn’t happen when we pray separately?
The answer to both questions is – ABSOLUTELY!
Here are 3 reasons you should be praying together with your spouse:
1) Praying together is biblical.
In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus says
“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
So, Jesus is saying that as a couple, when you pray together, He is listening and is present! He is there, as the 3rd Strand in your marriage, making your marriage stronger and drawing you closer to Himself.
2) It lets you know what your spouse is thinking about. (Isn’t that something we’d all like to know?)
As you pray aloud together, each spouse gets to hear the things that are important to the other. You hear each other’s concerns, worries, and joys. We can then pray for our husband/wife more specifically, because we know what’s on his or her mind.
3) Praying together opens the door to better communication and intimacy within our marriage.
Communication is one of the top 2 most important things within a marriage. (The other is commitment.) To have a successful, love-filled marriage we must be able to talk about anything and everything.
When we pray together, we should be open and honest as we lift our prayers to God, after all He already knows our heart. This vulnerability with God will translate to closeness with our spouse as you learn more about each other. When you hear the things that are on your spouse’s heart – both praises and concerns – it opens the door to having conversations about those topics.
This all leads to better intimacy with your spouse. Being intimate with each other means that we share personal and private things that we wouldn’t share with anyone else. These intimate conversations are key to growing closer and stronger together. They give us opportunities to talk freely, to listen well, to seek to understand each other, and then to help and care for each other better.
And in case you need further encouragement, let us leave you with another truth.
Emotional intimacy leads to greater physical intimacy.
Men, listen up! When your wife feels close to you emotionally, she will want to be close to you physically.
So now you know why praying together is important.
If you don’t already pray together with your spouse, try it and see what a difference it makes. Start small, just come together and take turns offering a prayer to God aloud as you hold hands. Then do it again the next day, and the day after that. Commit to trying it for a week. Then do it for another week. Hopefully it will become a daily habit to pray with your spouse and you will see that you grow closer to God and to each other.
