Marriage

Why doesn’t my spouse understand me? Well, I hope I can answer that question for you. I’m Jim Pourteau, and I’m part of the Marriage Helper Team. I don’t even know how often I’ve wondered why my spouse doesn’t understand me in the 34 years I’ve been married. And I’m sure Shannon’s wondered that as well. If you’ve been married for long, or even dating, you know that it can be...

 

Do you know the difference between physical affairs and emotional affairs?

Typically, people refer to an emotional affair as one that has no physical interaction between the two people, or if some physical interaction, it’s not regular sex. What we mean by that is this: “We may have held hands. We may have hugged. We may have even kissed at some point, but we haven’t done anything beyond that.”

A sexual affair, obviously, will include whatever you consider to be sex. But you may be...

 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for showing us what true love looks like. Thank You for showing us what unconditional love and sacrifice looks like. We pray we would be more like You every day. We pray our marriage would benefit as we choose to love unconditionally. We also pray we would get better at surrendering everything to You. We lay aside our worries, we surrender our thoughts, we submit our decisions, and we lay everything at Your feet. Please help us to walk in Your Spirit and not our flesh...

 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the way You have united us to become one in marriage. Thank You for the gift of intimacy. We pray we would not rely on each other to initiate first, but instead we would be bold and initiate intimacy. Please help us to not let things get in the way of us initiating intimacy in our marriage. We pray we would also overcome any intimacy fears or insecurities we may have. We pray we would trust one another and experience extraordinary intimacy. We pray we would enjoy...

 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for our marriage. Thank You for the gift of love. We pray a blessing over our marriage today. We ask that You would guard and protect our marriage from the enemy’s flaming arrows. We also pray You would help us to walk humbly with one another. We pray our relationship continues to mature and deepen. Please use us to bless each other every day that we are given in Jesus’ name AMEN!

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Dear Lord,

Thank You for leading us. Thank You for loving us so perfectly. We pray You would continue to lead us through every circumstance we face. We pray our hearts would be submitted to You and that we would trust in You. We pray we would be better at committing to daily family bible time. Please help us to make time to be in Your Word and studying Your Word. We pray we would help one another know Your Word better and to live it out courageously in Jesus’ name AMEN!

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Dear Lord,

Thank You for refining us. Thank You for maturing us. We pray we would continue to grow spiritually together. We pray You would use us to encourage each other to be reading Your Word daily. We pray we would be prayer warriors for You. Please help set our minds and our hearts on spiritual things. We pray the things of this world do not entice us. We pray we would read Your Word together and talk about how it is impacting us. May Your will be done in our lives in Jesus’ name AMEN...

 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the gift of companionship. We love each other so much. We have been getting use to the regular routine of life and work. Please help us not to neglect playing with each other. Please help us to find joy in the ordinary. We pray we would laugh more. We pray we would be silly together and not always so serious. We pray we would enjoy our relationship and the small interactions we share with each other during the day. We pray we would be a light in each other’s lives...

 

Sex is supposed to be part of a marriage. You can see what I said about that here, here, and here. However, sex isn’t just about the physical connection or release; rather, God’s design for sex involves mutual desire and pleasure, emotional security and intimacy, and continuing to live out godly virtues in the bedroom.

Yet I continue to receive...

 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your amazing grace. Thank You for cleaning our hearts, making us new, and making us white as snow. We pray You would help us to renew our minds. We pray we would not feel shame from past sin. We pray we would not bring up past sins and mistakes and use them to hurt each other or stir up shame. We pray we would be careful to protect each other. We pray we would walk in humility and victory. Please help us overcome shame in Jesus’ name AMEN!

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