This episode of the Inspiring Marriages Podcast focuses on the importance of spiritual intimacy in marriage and offers insights on preventing spiritual atrophy through consistent prayer. Jeff and Teresa Fields emphasize that just as physical muscles can weaken without use, so can our spiritual lives. They discuss how deep, open communication and vulnerability between partners can enhance their emotional and spiritual connection. The episode highlights practical steps couples can take to build their prayer life together, fostering a deeper relationship with each other and with God. Listeners are encouraged to increase their prayer time, establishing a routine that promotes growth and intimacy in their marriage.

In a world where the hustle and bustle of daily life can easily overshadow meaningful connections, Jeff and Teresa Fields shine a light on the transformative power of spiritual intimacy in their latest episode of the Inspiring Marriages Podcast. With over 33 years of marriage under their belts, the Fields offer profound insights into how spiritual practices can significantly enhance the depth of marital relationships. They draw a striking analogy between physical fitness and spiritual health, explaining that just like muscles require regular exercise to thrive, so does a couple's spiritual life need consistent attention to prevent atrophy. The discussion is both relatable and enlightening, emphasizing that neglecting spiritual intimacy can lead to weakened connections and emotional distance.

The hosts explore four key areas of intimacy—spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical—articulating how these facets interweave to create a robust marital bond. They provide actionable advice on how couples can increase their prayer time together, reinforcing the idea that inviting God into their relationship cultivates a safe environment for vulnerability and shared growth. This episode is not just a theoretical discussion; it is filled with practical tips and real-life examples that encourage couples to prioritize their spiritual journey together. By fostering consistent prayer and open communication, the Fields illustrate how couples can alleviate stress and enhance their marital satisfaction, ultimately leading to a deeper, more fulfilling partnership. The episode wraps up with a call to action, inviting listeners to embrace the life-changing power of prayer and to become intentional about nurturing their spiritual and marital intimacy.

Takeaways:

• Spiritual intimacy is essential for a thriving marriage, reflecting the relationship of Christ and the church.
• Building trust and respect takes time, but it is crucial for deep marital intimacy.
• Prayer is a powerful tool to strengthen our connection with God and each other.
• Consistent prayer helps prevent spiritual atrophy and builds our spiritual muscles together.
• Intimacy involves sharing thoughts and emotions openly without fear of judgment or shame.
• Creating a routine for prayer can help deepen your spiritual connection as a couple.

web: www.inspiringmarriages.net

email: inspiringmarriages@att.net

music: @joseph_fields_texas

“The marriage relationship is doubtless a great mystery, but I am speaking of something deeper still—the marriage of Christ and his Church” Ephesians 5:32 Phillips

Intimacy: "Into me, see." A profound connection built on trust and mutual respect, where the deepest thoughts and emotions are shared openly, without hesitation or fear of judgment. It is a space where vulnerability is met with understanding, and true closeness flourishes spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and physically.

“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not embarrassed or ashamed in each other’s presence.” Genesis 2:25 AMPC

“And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.” John 17:3 AMPC

“Eternal life means to know and experience you as the only true God, and to know and experience Jesus Christ, as the Son whom you have sent.” John 17:3 TPT

“And in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed.” Mark 1:25 AMPC

“'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts'." Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV

“pray without ceasing;” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB1995

“I don’t often spend more than half an hour in prayer at one time, but I never go more than half an hour without praying.” – Smith Wigglesworth

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:18 NLT

Friendship Builder

During your daily quiet time, increase the time of prayer

Links referenced in this episode:

• inspiringmarriages.net

SA.

Welcome to the Inspiring Marriages Podcast. We are Jeff and Teresa Fields and we are thrilled to have you with us today.

The incredible music that you heard in our intro was the incredible work of our very own son, Joseph Taylor Fields.

We've been happily married for 32amazing years.

Along the way, we've been blessed by by three incredible children and we have a fantastic son in law and the most precious grandbaby you could imagine.

Get ready to be inspired as you open up about our journey. Our mission is to ignite a spark in couples everywhere.

We're all about nurturing deep friendship and cultivating marriages that thrive in in every way spiritually, emotionally, romantically and physically. Join us on this incredible adventure.

Be sure to check out our website@inspiringmarriages.net Dive into all our previous episodes with detailed show notes that will enrich your listening experience, please. Plus scroll down to find our keep in touch section where you can sign up and receive our latest offsprings absolutely free. That's right.

And don't miss out on the inspiration. Visit us today.

Today on the Inspiring Marriages Podcast we're going to continue our series on spiritual intimacy and we're going to talk about the answer to spiritual atrophy. And Teresa has, as you know, of course, you know that if you don't work out a muscle for a long time or you don't use it, your arm becomes atrophied.

Right?

The muscles like if you have, if you were ever knew a child or a classmate in school who had a cast on their arm.

Oh yeah.

So after their, after that cast is removed many weeks later that those arms muscles haven't been used so they, they get weaker and they shrink in size.

That's right.

So that can also happen to our spiritual life. And we're going to talk about an answer to that, how to prevent spiritual atrophy.

But we are excited about this series on on spiritual intimacy because we know that is the pathway to greater and deeper marital intimacy.

That's right. That's right.

So God wants to transform your marriage to reflect the relationship of Christ and the church. Paul said in Ephesians 5:32 in a Phillips translation.

The marriage relationship is doubtless a great mystery, but I'm speaking of something deeper still, the marriage of Christ and his church. We are working on a definition of marriage.

Inmost inward, internal, near, close, a noun, a familiar friend or associate, one of. To whom thoughts of another are entrusted without reserve. And it is a verb, intimate, to share together.

Right.

So we have this definition, intimacy that we've been working on. Intimacy into me.

See, a profound connection built on trust and mutual respect, where the deepest thoughts and emotions are shared openly, without hesitation or fear of judgment. It is a space where vulnerability is met with understanding and true closeness flourishes spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

That's so good. I like that profound connection. That's so true.

So is a point where we're not hiding anything from each other that we can share. We can be really open to each other in all areas of our lives. And it you don't get there on day one. On day one, your. Your wedding, you're not there.

You're not where you're not open in every single area of your life. That's just not. Yeah, it takes a time. It takes time building that trust up, doesn't it, Teresa? And that respect.

Yes. Yes, it really does. We've been talking about that over some episodes.

It takes time for each of you, husband and wife, to open up to the other in areas that you're not usually sharing with other people. But in a marriage, you do get to share that with another person when that trust is there and you feel like it's a safe place.

Like you said, this is a place where you can be vulnerable and your spouse understands and doesn't judge you. Right, Right. That's such a fear with some people.

Like, if I even tell my friends or my spouse something that I've kept secret or something that's very personal to me, that I'll get judged or maybe ridiculed or, you know, made to feel silly or embarrassed. And none of that should happen when you open up in your marriage.

But it takes time to build that trust, to say, okay, I can start revealing this part of myself that I usually don't share with anyone. And that's so special about marriage. And that's the way God designed it to be, that safe place. Everybody longs to have that.

And of course, we have it with God the Father and God the Son, and with the Holy Spirit, with another human being. That's really a treasure to share that with another human being.

We found there are really four main areas of intimacy that spiritual intimacy that you connect on a deeper spiritual level. Intellectual intimacy. Intellectual involves deep conversations and shared ideas. Emotional intimacy based on trust and respect.

And Physical intimacy includes physical contact and affection. This is the most exclusive part of your marital relationship.

Exactly.

Genesis 2. 25, the amplified classic says, and the man and his wife were both naked and were not embarrassed or ashamed in each other's presence.

I love that.

And you know, we have that restored in the Christian marriage that we can be unashamed with one another no matter what we reveal to each other, no matter, you know, if you are feeling naked emotionally or any other area, you know, you don't have to have any shame. And that's, that's a gift from God really, to have no shame. Because the shame is everywhere out in the world, the embarrassment, the awkwardness.

And it should not be that way when it's a godly, God centered marriage.

So spiritual intimacy, we feel, is the pathway to a deeper marital intimacy that you shouldn't have your, your marital life and then you have your spiritual life that they need to be shared. Tell me Teresa, how is important, speaking from viewpoint of a wife, how is it important for us to share on the spiritual level?

Wow.

I think, as for me, I don't know about every woman that's married, but for me it's something I always long to share with Jeff because that spiritual intimacy just helps us get so grounded.

And like I said, having God at the center and in the midst of our marriage and you know, sharing places we like to go or eating foods we like, or going to a movie or, you know, those shared experiences are nice, but when you share that spiritual intimacy, it just drops something down deep in your heart. Just that security, that sense of oneness and that that is because God is in it.

God is in that spiritual intimacy that you are having together, that that's so important, that's the place where he can reside in your marriage.

And that means if we're partaking of spiritual intimacy, you know, sharing scriptures, praying together, sharing things that God is showing each of you, then that is a place for him to dwell and you're experiencing more of him in those moments, right?

Oh, that's so, that's so good.

So this week we're going to talk about really the importance of as you're building up your spiritual intimacy both with God and with each other, they're really the importance of consistent prayer. And Jesus talked about spiritual intimacy in John 17:3 in the Amplified Classic. And this is eternal life.

It means to know, to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with and understand you, the only true and real God, and likewise to know him, Jesus, as the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, whom you have sent that is the definition of eternal life is to know God and to know the Father and to know his Son.

That's right.

And John 17:3 in the passion translation says, eternal life means to know and experience you as the only true God and to know, experience Jesus Christ as a son whom you have sent.

That's so good.

Now, Teresa, everyone knows this. If you go and work out, say you work out once a year, you're not really workout really building muscle, are you?

No, no. Probably just getting very sore and not wanting to do it anymore.

Now Teresa is way ahead of me on this. Teresa is very consistent in her, in her workouts.

She's very, she's very disciplined and she does some really hard workouts and so, but she's very consistent in it. And her, the results are seen. She's like the best shape that she's been.

Yeah, I, I, my confession is my 60s are my new 30s. I mean, that's what God gave me when I turned 60. So. Okay.

But it took me a year or two to start really running with that, because when I was in my 20s and 30s, I was taking good care of myself and, and I have, but not at the level I wanted to be. So, yeah, to be more consistent has made a difference for me. I can tell a difference. I have more energy. I feel stronger all the time.

Like, yeah, I can do that because I know I'm strong enough, you know, and that's, that's, that's reassuring because when people get in their 60s, they think everything is on the decline. And I'm not accepting that. That's not for me.

Being consistent in prayer is how you build your spiritual muscles.

Yes.

Prayer is indeed one of the most powerful tools that we have in our walk with God. It's not about having the most eloquent words or sounding like an expert. It's all about the heart behind the prayer.

Jesus invites us to come as we are, with honesty and sincerity, knowing that he listens and desires to hear from us. Through prayer, we not only communicate with God, but also open ourselves to his transforming presence in our lives.

That's right.

And Jesus, he gave us the examples. He had a life of prayer. Yes, exactly as Mark 1:25 tells us.

Okay.

In the Amplified classic, Mark 1:25 says, and in the morning, long before daylight, he, meaning Jesus, got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And this was not once in a while, this was every morning.

He prayed for hours before making decisions like choosing his disciples or before making a Trip, walking and traveling to another city to go minister there. He would pray all night. Sometimes before a big. A big, you know, feeding of the thousands or anything like that.

There was a lot of prayer that went into everything that he did.

Right. So then that the last night he was on this earth, he spent the night in prayer.

Yes. Yes, that's right.

Consistency in prayer is the key. Just like any relationship, regular communication with God strengthens and deepens that connection.

The more we pray, the more we allow ourselves to be shaped by his love, wisdom, and guidance. Over time, prayer becomes a powerful means of aligning our hearts to God's will and discovering the depths of his character.

Prayer is not just about me going, I want, I want, I want, I need, I need, I need. It's not. No, it's not. Is is a way for us to align our hearts with his will. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55, 8 and 9 in. In the new King James Version.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways. My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So how do we think God's thoughts? How do we learn his ways?

You have to put the Word in right into your eyes, into your heart, meditate on it, talk about it.

So then we can think like God thinks and we can learn the way he his ways.

But it takes being connected to God and consistent. Consistent in prayer.

All we do is sit around and pray.

Right? Right.

But we should be praying about everything.

Yeah. Paul also says to pray about everything and Philippians chapter four. Right. And not be anxious about anything.

So prayer is very big part of the Christian life. Okay, we have a really good quote here from Smith Wigglesworth to talk about being consistent.

He said, I don't often spend more than half an hour in prayer at one time, but I never go more than half an hour without praying. So it was kind of like breathing to him. And that's what I like to think of. You know, if I'm breathing, I can be praying.

I can be thinking about things and talking with God all through my day and listening to God all through my day.

Paul said, Ephesians 6:18. Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

When we make prayer a consistent part of our lives, we begin to witness God's glory in ways we never expected.

Through the simple act of reaching out to him in prayer, we open ourselves to his divine revelation, learning more about his plans for us and growing in intimacy with Him.

So if you've been hesitating or, or wondering if your prayers matter, you can know that they do. Your beloved Father is always waiting for you, ready to meet you in the quiet moments and show you more of his grace and glory. Don't wait any longer.

Step into the life changing power of prayer and let Jesus reveal Himself to you like never before. So we can apply this both individually during our quiet times and we also apply it between each other. Right.

In our marriage.

In our marriage.

That's right. Never go long without praying.

So one of our everything, one of our friendship builders is to pray together.

That's right.

On a regular basis, pray together with your spouse and, and you may not feel like you don't know how or it's awkward, or I feel silly, or I don't have anything to say. Just start, start where you are.

That's right. That's right. Pray about whatever concerns you.

It's much better to pray than to stay concerned and not even communicate together about something that's going on. You know, talk about it and then pray so you can turn it over to the Lord and find out what his will is, see what His Word says about it.

And you know, it's great to have your Bible with you when you pray, because a lot of times I know if I'm concerned about something or I've been praying about it or asking God about it, he'll tell me a scripture to look up. I mean, chapter. He'll tell me chapter and verse.

But even if you don't hear that, a lot of people have guides, you know, where you can look up scriptures by a topic.

And if you got a topic like your health or finances or parenting, anything, you can look up scriptures, find them online or find them in your devotionals and it will help you to have scriptures to pray over and to pray for your marriage and for your family. Because then you are getting the mind of God and the will of God and you're aligning yourselves with that Word of God. And it's very powerful.

It's very powerful. That's what we all need because our ideas can only go so far. But God has thought these things out way, way beforehand.

You know, before he created anything, he already had this all figured out. So he knows what we need.

And he can give us that wisdom that we need and that guidance and that direction that we need and sometimes correction, because we've been trying to do it our own way. You find that all out when you pray together. But it's so good. It's so good.

It's so good.

It's so helpful. And it's. It's what we all need in our marriages. It's what we all need in our walk with God. We are not supposed to do this on our own without him.

Right? That's so, so good, Teresa. Yeah. So prevent your spiritual muscles from atrophy.

Atrophy, Atrophying.

To prevent spiritual atrophy, build up a consistent life of prayer both in your quiet time and with your spouse.

Amen.

Amen. Exciting news. Catch our audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon podcasts.

We would love to hear your thoughts, so please leave us a review. Do you prefer watching? Head on over to YouTube and search for the Inspiring Marriages channel to see us in action.

And for the ultimate convenience, listen with your smart device, just say, siri, play the Inspiring Marriages podcast. Join us wherever and however you prefer to tune in. This week's friendship Builder.

This week's friendship builder as we continue to talk about spiritual intimacy. This friendship builder this week is increase your time of prayer during your quiet.

So we talked about, we've talked about the importance of quiet time and how it is really important for, to build a, a strong spiritual life and to increase your intimacy. Spiritual intimacy. It's important to have quiet time.

And we talked about that last week, the last podcast, but now we want to talk about just increasing the time of prayer. Now you don't have to go six hours or, but just increase the time that you have now.

Just increase it so you have a consistent time of prayer every day. And we like, and we gave pointers before of how to, to set up a quiet time. Try to have it in the same place every day.

Same place, same time every day. A place where you're not distracted, there's not other things going on. It's really hard to have to do that while you're driving to work.

Oh, yes, it really is.

And so, because you need to concentrate.

Right.

So.

Right.

So this week's friendship builder is just to increase the time, the amount of time that you're praying. And it's different for everybody. So I'm not going to give you a time, but if you're doing one minute, try two minutes. Right?

If you're doing five minutes, try 10. Minutes. Just. Just increase that. Consistent. Like we said, consistency matters.

It does.

But if, if, if you went to the gym and you start out on five pound weight, and a year later you're still on a five pound weight and you exercising every day. So something's wrong, right? Yeah, you should have been. You should have moved up to £20.

Yeah.

So something like, if you started out and you're praying an hour, a minute a day, and now it's been a year later, you should be further along then a minute a day, right?

That's right.

So increase your. Increase your spiritual strength of your spiritual muscles. Our spiritual muscles. And an increased amount of time. You're praying every day.

Consistently every day.

That's right.

And that'll spill over into your married life where you can increase your time that you're praying with your wife. Because you.

Because one of our first marriage builders, friendship builders, is have 30 minutes of uninterrupt interrupted conversation every day where you connect right together emotionally. And that can include prayer time. It really can. Just praying together. So, Teresa, what does it do for a wife for the husband to pray? Pray with you?

Wow.

I think we mentioned this, like, early on in our podcast, that it just really helps the wife to feel like she has a head of the home spiritually and she doesn't have to be that head of the home, really. Men are meant to have that responsibility. I know single moms will.

Will be doing this on their own and may have a friend that they can trust to, you know, be praying about things in their household.

But really for a wife to say, you know, here, honey, you know, here's what we're praying about, or this is what I need us to be talking about and praying about, it just really brings the stress level way down and, and that sense of carrying burdens, you know, because women can definitely carry burdens without realizing it a lot of times, just because we're deeply concerned or we feel strongly about something, and just to have the husband, you know, become.

Come alongside and say, let's pray together, I just think that relieves so much, you know, the weight of the situation, the feeling of having a burden to carry, and we're not meant to carry those burdens anyway. It really starts harming us if we carry around these things. We're supposed to be turning these things over to the Lord anyway.

But this is meant to be shared, shared in your marriage and of course, shared with the Lord.

Let him pull the weight of this situation and bear the load and turn it over to God, you know, he wants us to be able to sleep at night because we need rest. You know, he doesn't have to sleep at night, but if we're worried and we're carrying cares, it really is hard on you personally.

It's hard on your marriage. So you want your marriage to be light and fun and that's right, you know, enjoyable.

Then come together and pray together and turn these things over to God and, you know, he may tell you something you can do in the situation, but as far as the whole thing being worked out, he can do the rest. You know, we do what we can do in our own natural arenas and what we're able to to work on, but let God do the heavy lifting.

Let him do the supernatural part. That's pretty awesome. So, yeah, I really enjoy that.

Getting to pray with Jeff and sharing things in prayer and going to the Lord together, it's so faith building for me that the Lord is so good. Give me a husband that will do that with me. It's awesome.

Amen.

Amen. Stay connected with us across all platforms. Join our vibrant community on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Make sure to like, follow and subscribe for the latest updates and behind the scenes moments.

Got something on your mind? Shoot us an email@inspiringmarriagest.net we're all ears for your questions or suggestions on how to enhance our podcast.

And if you have any ideas on topics you love us to dive into next, let's keep the conversation going and remember, husband and wife are friends for life. It.