A seasoned perspective…
Deborah Raney, married 35 years
At the time we first met, my husband and I had each recently made a new commitment to follow Christ. We believed then, and are more convinced each year we’re married, that God brought us together and intended us for each other all along. Early on, we wanted to honor him and thank him for bringing us together by having a time of prayer and Bible study together each day.
Our intentions were pure. Our hearts were in the right place. But it took us almost twenty years of trial and error to finally settle into a pattern of shared "quiet time." But oh, how sweet the rewards of that time together have been.
In the early years of marriage, our efforts to spend time together in prayer and worship were thwarted by work and activity schedules that left little free time. And probably by spiritual immaturity, too. Sometimes, we were doing well just to have our individual private devotions each day.
As our four children came along, exhaustion was often our excuse for not making time to pray together. At various times, we were successful at having a time of family devotions at the kids’ bedtime, but couple time with the Lord continued to elude us.
Then my husband invited me to accompany him on a business trip to San Francisco. He’d packed his Bible for his morning devotions, but the hotel room offered little privacy, so that first morning before he headed out for his business meetings, he invited me to join him in reading a chapter of God’s Word. We read aloud, taking turns with the verses. Then we spent a short time in prayer for Ken’s appointments scheduled that day, for loved ones who were going through struggles, for our kids (who were having their own adventure at Grammy and Gramps’ farm), and for our marriage.
We both were so blessed by those morning meetings—just the Lord and this still-in-love couple God had brought together—that we determined to continue the practice once we arrived back home.
That was twelve years ago. We’ve rarely missed more than a morning or two in a row since. Even when one of us travels, we choose a book of the Bible to read "together" while we’re apart.
Our appointment on the loveseat in the living room each weekday morning is a highlight of my day. We’ve grown together spiritually through those meetings. We’ve learned to spend some time just praising the Lord for the amazing blessings He’s heaped on us. We’ve learned to bring our problems to Him and leave them at His feet. We’ve grown to love and respect each other more than ever.
Our times communing together with God have been the solid foundation for a marriage that, like most, has had its share of ups and downs. But we’ve discovered that it’s not easy to stay angry with someone you know you’ll meet with in prayer tomorrow morning.
