Jesus emphasized prayer, yet many couples find it difficult to pray together. There may be many reasons why couples feel uncomfortable with prayer. For example, if marriage partners are not treated each other with love and respect, then will not feel motivated to pray together. In other cases, marriage partners never learned to pray with someone else and therefore never established the practice of praying together.
Regardless of how much experience you have praying together, try this learning exercise. Prayer takes many forms, but this exercise develops conversational prayer. In conversational prayer, the husband and wife take turns talking to God about a specific matter. They may each speak one or more times about the same subject. When neither has further thoughts, one of them changes the subject, and they repeat the process, much as they would in a conversation with friends. Consider this brief example of a conversational prayer.
Husband: “Father, I want to thank You for protecting me on the way home from work today. I was so close to an accident when the truck ran the red light in front of me. I’m grateful for your protection.”
Wife: “Father, I too thank You for protecting Vincent. Sometimes I take Your protection for granted. Along with protection, I want to thank You for our health, and I pray for my dad, that You would renew his health.”
Husband: “Father, I too pray for my father-in-law. Please guide the doctors in this series of tests, and give Dad peace of mind during this time of uncertainty.
Wife: “I also ask that You would comfort my mother. Remind her that You are with her and Dad through this experience...”
Couples may pray as long as they like. Some couples like to have a time of conversational prayer immediately after a meal. Others prefer the comfort of the couch. Still others prefer praying before going to bed or before starting the day. Find the time and place that you like best.
Take time to practice conversational prayer together as a couple.
Discuss and reflect:
When is an ideal time and where is an ideal place for you to pray together?
How could praying together more regularly grow you as individuals and as a couple?
More passages on prayer:
Psalm 145:18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.
Matthew 18:19-20 I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.
Acts 1:14 They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.
Luke 11:1-13
One day Jesus was praying(C) in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord,(D) teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom(E) come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c](F)
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”(G)
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.(H)
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you;(I) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f]a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
How will you implement conversational prayer today?
Devotional thoughts from Gary Chapman.