1 True Talks
1 True Talks
Deepening Faith Together: Strengthening Bonds Through Shared Spiritual Practices
Can faith truly deepen your connection with your partner? Discover the transformative power of shared spiritual practices as we explore how integrating faith into your daily lives can foster deeper emotional intimacy and a stronger bond. Inspired by Matthew 18:20, we discuss practical ways to incorporate meaningful spiritual activities such as praying together, studying the Bible as a couple, and maintaining a prayer journal. These practices not only enhance your relationship with each other but also with God, creating a spiritually supportive partnership that's both enriching and fulfilling.
I recount my personal experience of learning to pray out loud and the growth that came from overcoming initial discomfort with the support of loved ones. We focus on the importance of open communication and mutual commitment to spiritual growth, providing actionable advice on starting small and being consistent. By creating a nurturing environment for your spiritual practices, you and your partner can embark on a rewarding journey of spiritual maturity. Don't miss this episode, filled with insights and practical tips, and stay tuned for next week's discussion on navigating relationships with in-laws.
Hi, I'm Renee Rochell, the founder and president of One True Match. I'm here to help you find and cultivate the love of your life. For over a decade, I've dedicated my life to the importance, purpose and dynamic of human relationships. My team and I are disciplined by faith, love and integrity to help our clients find the quality relationship they've always dreamt of. Each week, I will be sharing the tools and tips I've learned that have rooted my success as a matchmaker with other leaders around the world. Hello, loves, Welcome back. Today. As we discussed last week, we are going to talk about faith in tandem and how to strengthen your relationship through shared spiritual practices. If you have not listened to our other podcasts before they come out every Thursday, Please tune in and listen to some of our previous podcasts that have really shared tips and tools on how to do this and do it right, so that you have the spiritual relationship that you are thriving to find and also continue to grow. So we're going to dive right into it.
Renee Richel:In today's fast-paced world, it is easy to feel disconnected from our partners Our partners Maybe our parents too, Anyways from our partners. But when we bring God into the center of our relationships, we find a deeper, more lasting connection. Today we'll explore shared spiritual practices that can help you grow closer to each other and your relationship with God. Everybody knows that is something that we have to practice on a regular basis, just like brushing our teeth or doing anything else, if we obviously want to get in routine of a relationship, and it first needs to start with God. I cannot tell you how many times I've had this conversation with many couples that have started to drift apart because they've lost their faith, either independently with the Lord or spiritually together. It is important to share faith as number one, obviously, Like it says in Matthew 18, 20, for where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. That is huge to remember. Always remember he's always with you. This speaks to the power of unity in faith. When we come together in God's name, especially with our partner, his presence surrounds us and strengthens our bond, just naturally because he's so proud that two people are spending time in his word to grow stronger together. How shared practices spiritually can lead to greater emotional intimacy, which we just did a podcast on this. So if you're not tuned into that one, definitely go back and listen to emotional intimacy in a relationship, because all of these are great tools and tips for you and your relationship. It's going to help you have better understanding with one another, and we just did one on love and respect prior too, so make sure you listen to some of those other podcasts.
Renee Richel:The important impact of praying together and studying the Bible as a couple is also huge. A course called Love Starts With you. I've been preaching it, teaching it, sharing it, and couples and singles have been taking it for well over a decade and more now, and the core principle of that course talks about knowing your identity, not only in your faith, but also sharing that in a practice. Whether you're single, we share. We introduce our singles to buddies to practice, or a couple dating, engaged or married to take it singly but then share together. A big part of that course is learning how to pray together, how to feel more confident in prayer and to feel in a unjudgmental and safe environment. To feel safe, uplifted and encouraged so that you can incorporate this in your relationships on a regular basis, to have the spiritual practice to flourish in all relationships and, obviously, the love of your life that you want to continue to grow.
Renee Richel:Practical ways to cultivate shared spiritual practices are key to what you need to going forward. So one of the most intimate things you can do as a couple is to pray together. I can't express that enough. Couples that pray together, stay together is my motto that I'm always sharing is it's not only brings you closer to God, but it also brings you closer to each other because you're sharing your hearts and burdens in the Lord's presence. It's amazing, the power of prayer, how the Lord blesses us when we put that into practice and we intentionally pray, not for what we want, but asking for his wisdom and guide us so that we can put the pieces together for his plan.
Renee Richel:Other tips on how to start this practice, such as settling like setting aside the time each day and creating a prayer journal, is another way to get into practice of. Maybe you're not good at expressing how to pray or saying it out loud right now, because it is something that does take practice and it takes confidence and it takes time. But then write down in a journal your thoughts and prayers and maybe share that with your partner if you're more better at writing and reading than you are with maybe speaking out a feeling when it comes to praying out loud. You know, study the Bible together, Allow to grow in your knowledge of God's word and apply it in your relationship. It's just like when you're in a life group or you're doing something of, maybe, a fellowship and you're having that devoted time to then talk and share more and ask questions and seek God's wisdom and rely on mentors and people that are in your life. And I think there's something that's definitely true to be said that couples that seek the Lord and obviously spend more time in curiosity and learning more about the history of all of it it's just another area that's growing your relationship, not only together, but also keeping it fresh with new topics to talk about.
Renee Richel:Start with a devotional or reading plan to focus your relationship or marriage. So I recommend to all of our clients single dating, engaged or married, as I personally myself too start off with a emotional wholeness calendar, flip calendar with each day and I love having a cup of coffee that I have in the morning, reading that, setting my intention for the day, being prayerful for all of my clients and the people that need it most, and then closing my day out with the Jesus calling to really set my intention for the day, being grateful for all the things that the Lord has brought me, and then that's a perfect opportunity whenever it works in your schedule whether it be in the morning or in the evening, to you know, pray over meals to just have that time to connect with your mate. So you're grateful for all the positive things instead of sometimes we get caught up in the negative things that often the news can also do for us those days. So spend that time instead of being around the things that take you away from the Lord. Spending that time 30 minutes a day or whatever it is, or even 15 where you're practicing this rhythm with your partner.
Renee Richel:Remember, worship is also huge, whether it's attending a church together, worshiping at home or even just singing worship songs during your daily routine. Right, I don't know about you, but a lot of us love just singing in the shower or singing in the car or think we have good vocals. But praise the Lord, right, we do it in church. Why not do it more in our regular walk, in what we do, or when you're getting ready, turn on Christian music. It's important to worship together and invite others to worship with you, so you're surrounding yourself around other healthy relationships.
Renee Richel:You know another thing that I mean we all have our playlist right of songs where we're either working out or we're going on a walk or we're just background music. I definitely encourage couples to you know background music. I definitely encourage couples to you know create a playlist, share it with your friends maybe some of your favorite worship songs. Or if you're somebody that has never really listened to Christian music in the car, it is nothing's better than getting in the car, not only for the whole family, but having some Christian stations playing. So it also is always positive reinforcement in your mind, especially when you have some crazy lunatic of a road rage person around you, right, or just something's happened and you're on the road and you need to be a good steward to other people around you and you need to be in the right mindset to be able to do that. So I encourage and we share this all the time is sharing a playlist to always be pumping in positive words, positive messages.
Renee Richel:I love inviting other couples or ask them you know what church do you go to and if they're seeking an opportunity, if they're seeking a church, it's a great opportunity. Tell them to come. Invite your friends that are surrounding our lives or even just friends that are obviously in the same walk that we are, to continuously encourage us, to strengthen us and to be a better version of what God's designed us to. You know it's definitely. We have to shift our focus from what's ordinary to what I always say is extraordinary to go, you know, strengthen that bond as you work together for the common purpose of what we're talking about today, which is building that relationship spiritually with your partner, whether it be, you know, volunteering together, joining life groups, you know, just even thinking about going on a mission trip, I don't know but start having the conversations around things that you want to do, not only today but also in the future. You know upcoming challenges that can also come with this is obviously, you know, overcoming obstacles.
Renee Richel:That acknowledging starting this is something that's going to take maintenance and it's going to take something that's going to be a little bit different. But when you put it into practice and you both devote the intentional time to starting this, I promise you it will transform your relationship and the partner that you have for more of a spiritual, mature relationship that will only bring you so many more fruits of your labor for doing this and also the reward, just internally, for your relationship, and when we're all so busy. I mean, I can't even tell you. There's so many times I'm like, how can I fit something else in my schedule? But when I do this and I make that time in every day, my day, every day, is so much better. So remember, even though it might be difficult to start, remember when you start something and you continuously enrich it, it obviously is something that grows and also is a huge reward back. It's definitely normal to, though, face some of these challenges when you're trying to start something new, so don't beat yourself up. At the end of the day. None of us are perfect. There's days I miss, maybe a devotion here or there. You just pick it up the next day. Just whatever you do, don't get so far out of routine once you start it, Because, as we all know, when we stop working out, we stop working out. If we continuously maintain and obviously keep our body, we stop working out. If we continuously maintain and obviously keep our body, mind and spirit strong, just like this, then there's greatness that comes from it.
Renee Richel:Practicing praying out loud is not something that came natural to me personally. It was something that I actually believe, it or not. In one of my churches, they were offering a class how to pray and I thought, well, actually I don't know how to do that, so let me take that class. And it was this adorable British couple, so they were just engaging to listen to and I love it that they partner us up with complete strangers. My example because the Lord loves to laugh and have I feel like popcorn and laugh and create funny stories for comedic, comedic, comedic, comedic relief is um, I was actually partnered up with the pastor's wife on my first experience of praying out loud.
Renee Richel:I was so, so nervous. She was the sweetest person in the entire world and just said to me Renee, just shut your eyes and pretend like you're talking to somebody. The Lord will lead your words. And so remember you know, if you're ever, I always tell everybody if you're nervous, pray before anything happens, because it gives you that opportunity, that excuse, to shut your eyes and be intentional with thinking about the Lord speaking through you in all things that you do. So I encourage you to try that, not only in your own time, to hear your voice, to practice it out loud, which might sound, feel kind of weird, but it's just you, right by yourself, to then get into habit of being around people that are unjudgmental. That will encourage you.
Renee Richel:So this is something that becomes fun and it's something that you just pick up and naturally start doing when the Lord is pushing you to speak and maybe pray with or over somebody. Start small and build from there. You know, even just a few minutes it doesn't have to be 30 minutes like just short little devotions that are, maybe you know, a paragraph or a small four or five lines, right? Don't overwhelm yourself because you won't continue to grow. You know. Talk to your partner about practicing this regularly. Obviously, this needs to be a decision that you're both going to do of trying something new, right, Because you never know until you try and when you're doing this activity together, I'm telling you it is just a, it's like the glue that holds you together. It's definitely about making an effort to grow in your faith together too. So I don't recommend without I always call it coach talk conversations when it's something like this. If you've never done before, just starting to do without, maybe you know, speaking to your partner about this and seeing where they're at Before you even get into a relationship.
Renee Richel:Obviously, us, as Christian matchmakers, we want to make sure that people are prayerfully praying at the same rate and the same speed together so you find somebody you're equally yoked with that wants to continue to grow their relationship. And I would say in summary, to remember strengthening your relationship through shared and spiritual practices is a journey, it's not a destination. It's about growing together with God at the center every step of the way. Together with God at the center every step of the way, and if you remember that in every detail and every walk in life that you go through, that is like the foundation and the rock to remember, because the rest the Lord can do brilliantly beautiful things together. I hope you have found this helpful and beneficial and I cannot wait to have our next chat every Thursday. I love it when you write in and you share your thoughts with us of just questions that are on your mind and your heart, so that I can continue to answer the questions that you have through our community of advisors. And just in general, clients and people's life experiences, so that our world can be surrounded of more healthy and loving relationships is our mission Next week.
Renee Richel:Tune in to navigating in-laws in relationships. So this is for any of my married folks, or maybe even thinking about past in-laws, or however, it is a big piece of when you're coupling in a relationship with somebody that you have to remember. So we're going to dive into that more next week. I hope that podcast speaks to you. If not, share with a friend or family member or somebody else that you know it absolutely would, and go back to any of the other podcasts that you may have missed in the past. I'm going to love and leave you and I hope you have a blessed week. It's been another great talk on this episode of One True Talks by Renee Richel. I look forward to our next chat. Please write in your questions and comments so I can be sure to talk about whatever it is you want to discuss in our next upcoming episode. Lots of love, god bless, xoxo.