Marriage Tips

<u>1. Spend time together</u> – One of the marriage tips I want to initially suggest requires the importance of spending time together. Even though this point seems too obvious to mention, it is still surprising how this simple truth can get away from us.

Recently Reader’s Digest reported about 1001 couples who were surveyed regarding the elements they value the most in marriage. The statistics were interesting with the importance of laughter being 52%, compatibility 30%, quality sex 13% and frequency of sex just 9%. It is clear that if you want to experience lasting love in your marriage, you need to make time to relax, laugh and enjoy one another.

<u>2. Emotionally connect</u> – When it comes to marriage advice, one of the best suggestions I can offer is to connect with your spouse on an emotional level. Gary Smalley says; "If a man truly wants to communicate with his wife, he must enter her world of emotions." This can be a scary thought for most men.

I can remember when Bonnie and I began to implement this in our own marriage. We realized that if this was going to happen, we needed to schedule it. Our scheduled time was to be on Wednesday nights. Bonnie called it our “going deep” night. First of all, I didn’t like the name at all. It sounded pretty scary to me. I likened this time with her to jumping into a well that I feared had no bottom. I asked, “How deep are we going to go? How much feeling stuff are we going to explore?” I admittedly in the past had struggled with a fear of intimacy.

Well, I can announce to you that I survived. Not only did I survive, but I began to actually look forward to these times. Bonnie and I began to see the intimacy of our marriage grow to a level we hadn't previously experienced.

<u>3. Pray together</u> – With all the marriage tips we can look at this one is the most critical; praying with your spouse. This doesn’t require a great deal of time. It can be as simple as taking time before bed, first thing in the morning or anytime that fits your busy schedule. Times of prayer remind us who is the Lord of our marriage. When you pray together you also continue to build the level of intimacy in your relationship.