What are the odds?
The odds are, you plan on living happily ever after. Three-fourths of us plan to do that wedded to the perfect princess or prince charming.
The quintessential romantic, Cinderella sings, “If you keep on believing, every dream that you dream will come true.” I don’t think it is from a lack of dreaming, but the odds are stacked against a forever marriage.
A widely accepted statistic claims that only 50 percent of marriages will last “until death do us part.” Craig Groeschel, pastor of LifeChurch.tv asked in a recent sermon,
Where else in life are you satisfied with 50 percent odds against you?”
If you have a 50 percent chance of getting in a car wreck today, will you hop in the car? If there is a 50/50 chance you’ll lose all your savings if you chose a certain high-stakes investment, will you take that risk? What can you do to improve the odds? Groeschel says, you have to do something different. What the rest of the world is doing, isn’t working.
You can flip the odds in your favor with a little bit of work. Just as in the examples, walking instead of driving requires more effort, but in this case is safer. Putting money into savings instead of a risky investment won’t land you a windfall over night, but your wages will be secure.
If you want a one-time, God-honoring, “till death do us part” marriage, you have to do something different from the rest of the world. According to Pastor Groeschel, in his sermon series, From This Day Forward, there are five keystone habits that will fail-proof your marriage. The first is, seek God and specifically: pray together.
In the twenty-first century, life is busier than ever before. Pausing long enough for a personal devotional and one hour on Sunday morning feels like all the time you have. In the car between one commitment and the next, you shoot up a prayer for your sick friend, a business decision or good weather. But coordinate your schedule with your spouse, pause and pray? It won’t be easy. However, prayer comes with a promise.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus promises that if we seek God first, all these things [our physical needs and desires] will be given to us. The effort is worth it.
Before marriage, in the midst of the golden years, or if your marriage is a train wreck, pray together. Prayer is intimate. Prayer changes hearts.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him…And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick…And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven…The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:13-16
