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Praying for Perspective in Your Marriage Bed

Blog post title + redhead woman bowing and praying

This past week, Chris Taylor of The Forgiven Wife posted this question on our Sex Chat for Christian Wives Facebook page:

Image with "What advice would you give a new wife about having a good marriage?"

My answer? “Don’t assume thoughts, feelings, and motives; ask, and listen.”

My marriage experienced some truly terrible years, and one of the reasons we came out of that fog into the sunlight is because I changed my perspective. I realized I was making assumptions about my husband that weren’t true. Things like:

  • If I said/did that, it would mean X. But it didn’t mean that for my husband, because he’s a different person.
  • If he loved me, he would X. Except that his love language is not mine, so he didn’t always express love the way I expected him to.
  • If he does something I don’t like, it’s personal. Except that his irritating habits would exist no matter who he married, so it’s not personal.
  • If he says or does something hurtful, it shows he doesn’t care. Yet a lot of times, it was about the bad day he’d had, the stress he was experiencing, or not feeling physically good.
  • If he doesn’t do the things I long for when we make love, he’s selfish. But when that happened, it was about him not knowing what would feel good for me and what I needed.

When I dropped those assumptions — when I changed my perspective of my husband and our interactions — several problems went away and I knew better how to tackle the ones that remained.

However, the light bulb didn’t just go on one day and stay lit. Rather, I prayed quite a bit for God to alter my thinking. I needed His help to clearly see who my husband really was and how our relationship needed to change.

That’s why I think it’s important to pray for perspective regarding your marriage and your marriage bed.

Too often, readers ask questions or make comments about the sex in the marriage that shows they’re making assumptions about how their spouse thinks and feels. Maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong. Do you know for sure that your perspective is accurate?

I guarantee God knows what the truth is. You can ask Him.

And the reason I start with God, rather than your spouse, is because some of the issues just dissipated once I saw them more clearly. That is, things I thought were problems with my husband were really problems with how I saw him, and once my vision cleared, I didn’t need to address that issue with him because it was resolved.

But with the problems that remain, it’s still worth praying for perspective so that your conversations with your spouse will go well. Ask God to help you see your husband accurately and to respond with a longing to understand him better.

Let’s try this out with a common scenario: You believe that your husband (or wife) says no to sex because they don’t love you like you love them. But as you pray for God’s perspective, you realize that sex is the primary way you express love, but it isn’t the primary way they express love. So you now recognize the problem isn’t a matter of their love for you. Of course, the problem still remains that you’re getting rejected in the marriage bed. But now that you have a clearer diagnosis, you can tackle the underlying issue.

So then you pray for an accurate perspective as you go to your spouse to talk about your feelings on this topic. You find yourself more willing to ask questions and listen to the reasons why your beloved isn’t up for sex. Maybe they don’t even give you clear reasons, but you make a positive impression on the subject (a first step) by simply being there and listening. Instead of arguing to get your point across, you find yourself listening with a calm that could only be provided by God and a willingness to sort through the information to discover the real problem.

Does the epiphany come right then? Are the problems solved by next Tuesday?

Nope. Not in my experience. But do you know how you climb a mountain? You don’t stand at the bottom grousing about how steep the incline is. You take the first step, then the next, and the next.

But if your perspective is all wrong, your path will be off, and you’ll end up on another mountain, screaming over at your spouse standing on the one you should be on.

Pray for perspective. Start today. Take the first step. Let God work in your marriage.

“[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6).

4 thoughts on “Praying for Perspective in Your Marriage Bed”

  1. J. Thank you.
    You never accomplish anything by standing there complaining about how hard it is. I’m sharing this with my (engaged) daughter!!! As her wedding day (night!!) gets closer I’m sharing more and more of your and Sheila’s articles.

  2. I just celebrated my third anniversary. I had written to you, over a year ago, about my frustration because I was financially maintaining the household while my husband’s money was for his family from his first marriage and his own entertainment. I would think about this and get myself all worked up because to me it felt like he didn’t care about my situation. Suddenly, about 7 or 8 months ago, he started paying three of our recurring household monthly bills, and I felt freed from my bitter feelings, not to mention feeling more financially secure. Last night, I asked him what happened to make things change. He said he didn’t know what happened, other than that two of the grandchildren are now somewhat financially independent. He also said, “You didn’t insist I pay the bills so I figured I didn’t have to.” I wanted him to step up and take responsibility, and he did, but I had to wait two years, while resenting it the whole time. He was waiting for me to tell him what to do. So, I second what Cara said.

  3. Hi J, so, I read and reread a lot of your posts over and over. I spend a lot of time thinking on what you’ve said. Sometimes it takes me a long time to make sense of it all. I know I need to pray more, and praying for perspective is something I’ve never really thought of.

    I’ve been praying for the wrong things. I never considered praying for perspective. I have a hard time praying for myself, but I’m working on it. Slowly. I think hiding behind the “praying for myself is prideful” mantra is a defense mechanism so as not to have to examine things too deeply.

    But praying for perspective. Hmmm. Maybe my perspective IS off. Maybe I should give that a try. Here’s what you said that caught my eye:

    “Do you know for sure that your perspective is accurate?
    I guarantee God knows what the truth is. You can ask Him.
    And the reason I start with God, rather than your spouse, is because some of the issues just dissipated once I saw them more clearly. That is, things I thought were problems with my husband were really problems with how I saw him, and once my vision cleared, I didn’t need to address that issue with him because it was resolved.”

    My husband would probably LOVE it if my “vision cleared” and I didn’t feel the need to address every issue. ?

    1. ♥
      I do speak from the experience of Having Done It All Wrong and Learning the Hard Way. I’d like to spare others unnecessary time in marriage purgatory. Many blessings!

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