Sanctification and Cooperation: How Prayer Helps Strengthen Relationships in Good Times and Heal Relationships in Bad Times
Successful marriages are established and maintained on principles of prayer.
Lesson learned from my Marriage
If we live in a very difficult world and there is also an adversary who has power and who wants to destroy our homes. Why not seek divine help to face these challenges? When reading the Book of Mormon I realized that even the chosen prophets humbled themselves before God, begging for help and forgiveness, as is the case with Nephi, Enos, Alma and many more. How much more we should pray to the Father.
Prayer and Sanctification of Marriage
A key aspect of coming to view a relationship as sacred is to first include God as an active member of the relationship. Ecclesiastes 4:12 refers to a type of “threefold cord” bond that is established when God is included in the partnership when it states, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken
Prayer is the means by which individuals may invite God to play an active role in their relationship. Includ-ing God in a relationship as one of the “threefold cords” through praying for one’s partner should imbue the relationship with perceived sacredness.
Prayer and Restoring Cooperative Goals
Conflict is a universal part of marriage. For many, unre-solved contention eventually leads to the dissolution of the marriage. Prayer, however, can help protect couples from divorce by healing the relationship and restoring harmony to the marriage.
Some preliminary research suggests that prayer has a transformative effect on goals by deescalating conflict. For instance, Butler, Gardner, and Bird (1998) interviewed several couples who reported that prayer invoked a couple God system, or partnership with God, that helped them during situations of conflict. For instance, couples reported that including God in their marriage through prayer appeared to be a “softening” event that facilitated problem solving and reconciliation. This couple God system mentioned by Butler and colleagues is similar to the “threefold cord” metaphor mentioned previously