Prayer and Marriage

I recently finished reading a chapter on the correlation between 'prayer and marriage' from Gary Thomas' book Sacred Marriage. A few powerful quotes I thoroughly enjoyed:

"A modern writer, Terry Glaspey, sums it up well when he writes, 'Prayer is a work to which we must commit ourselves if we are to make sense of our lives in the light of eternity.' I like that last phrase - prayer is how we make sense of our lives in the light of eternity. Prayer helps us to regain the proper priorities, discern biblical wisdom, and make right judgments. Without prayer, Glaspey might say, we live as temporal people with temporal values. Prayer pushes eternity back into our lives, making God ever more relevant to the way we live our lives."

I have read I Peter 3:7 many times, but I've never looked at it the way Gary explains in this chapter!

I Peter 3:7 "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

**Gary states, "We are told that if we want to have a stronger marriage, we should improve our prayer lives. But Peter tells us that we should improve our marriages so that we can improve our prayer lives. Instead of prayer being the 'tool' that will refine my marriage, Peter tells me that marriage is the 'tool' that will refine my prayers!"

I just loved that. Looking at marriage as a way to grow closer with God and become more Christ like! He also mentions that God 'views my life as a seamless garment'; he's not divided into 'holy Gary' and 'secular Gary,' and that there is no 'Gary the husband' versus 'Gary the Christian'. God wants all of us, at all times. He wants to be part of our work, our marriages, our relationships, every task, dreams, etc.

At the end of the chapter Gary says, "What I'm suggesting is that we connect our marriage with our faith in such a way that our experience in each feeds the other. The next time you caress your spouse, think about how that caress might open up new avenues for your prayer life. The next time you are virtually overcome by passion for your spouse, consider how you can offer yourself with equal abandon to your God. Don't be afraid to use all aspects of marriage - even sexual expression - to expand your prayer life!"