Holy Matrimony IV

‘Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposed of prayer and fasting –but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it’ 1Cor.7:5 [MSG].

I am trusting that God will lift every burden in our homes even as He takes us to answers in His Word to nagging questions in our lives and Jesus will be glorified. Some people are amazed about how weighty the topic of intimacy is in marriage. The truth is that it is a very important topic and the Bible dedicates 1 Corinthians 7 to answering a lot of questions that might arise in this area. For instance, there are some husbands/wives that do not feel that it is right to be intimate with their spouse while fasting. And some other husbands/wives will not hear of it. As trivial as it sounds, this is enough to drive a wedge into some marriages. Technically there is nothing wrong with intimacy while you are fasting except otherwise specified. Otherwise specified meaning, for certain levels of fasting that both of you will agree to abstain from intimacy because of the nature of intervention you are seeking from heaven. I believe it is more potent that way. Agreeing is important because in spiritual things two cannot work together except they agree. The Word of God says, ‘abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purpose of prayer and fasting –but only for such times’. So intimacy when you are fasting is not necessarily bad but again you must agree to it. So if your husband/wife insists on intimacy during a fast and you had not previously agreed to abstain then please indulge otherwise you will be defrauding him/her. ‘Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it’. Some couples are facing divorce right now because they have been denied intimacy. Some are facing serious temptations of infidelity. In some cases, the reason why intimacy is absent from the marriage is purely spiritual and for such cases God will deal with them completely. For some others, it is that one person in the marriage has begun to use intimacy as a bargaining tool. Be careful that you do not allow your spouse fall into temptation because of your own selfishness.

Thought: Devote time to examining what goes on in your home currently. Open a conversation line with your spouse today and prayerfully agree on a way forward.