Spiritual Intimacy

Spiritual Intimacy

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.

Colossians 1:11-12

MARITAL INTIMACY has five essential components. We’ve talked about intellectual, emotional, and social intimacy, and today we’ll look at spiritual intimacy. We are spiritual creatures. Anthropologists have discovered that people from cultures around the world are religious. We all have a spiritual dimension. The question is, are we willing to share this part of our lives with those we love? When we do, we experience spiritual intimacy.

It may be as simple as sharing something you read in the Bible this morning and what it meant to you. Spiritual intimacy is also fostered by shared experience. After attending a worship service with her husband, one wife said, “There is something about hearing him sing that gives me a sense of closeness to him.” Praying together is another way of building spiritual intimacy. If you feel too awkward praying aloud, then pray silently while holding hands. No words are uttered, but your hearts move closer to each other.

You might also consider praying for each other as a way to strengthen your relationship. Many of Paul’s epistles contain beautiful prayers for those to whom he was writing, including the one above from Colossians 1, which asks the Lord to strengthen the believers and give them patience, endurance, and joy. Praying passionately for your spouse’s relationship with God can be a supremely intimate experience.

Father, I know there is nothing more important in our lives than our relationship with you. Help me to be an encouragement to my spouse in this area. Let us be willing to share our thoughts and prayers with each other. Draw us closer to each other, Lord, as we draw closer to you.

Intimacy