A Relationship Seems Beyond Repair?

“If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for in prayer, it will be done by God in Heaven.”
—Matthew 18:19

(pg. 65 – 40 DPC Book)

We have discovered that no marriage or relationship is “too far gone” to be rescued by God when two people enter into an agreement of daily prayer.

This story proves it.

Ross & Leah’s Story

We were looking forward to our lunch at the Ivy Restaurant in Santa Monica. Louise had received an email from Ross, an old friend, whom we’d both known from the early days of our careers.

“I can’t believe two of my old friends met and married,” he wrote excitedly, going on to explain he too had gotten married—to a wonderful woman who was a singer at a church.

And here we were, barely three weeks later, having lunch with Ross and Leah, in a beautiful setting, learning about her talents and aspirations, while catching up on a decade of Ross’ career activities.

Louise and I prattled on about our work with Baylor University and—as we tend to do with anyone standing still—began regaling them with amazing testimonies from couples whose marriages had radically improved after taking The Prayer Challenge.

It was a wonderful visit and, before departing, we extracted a promise from Ross and Leah to visit us if they ever got to the East Coast.

As busy people do, we went right back into a state of disconnection for the next six months. That’s when Ross called and said they had a confession to make.

“Remember that lunch we had at the Ivy?” as if it was really possible we could have forgotten the delightful occasion.

“Well, we almost didn’t make it to the restaurant that day. In fact, at that time, our marriage was hanging by a thread … a perforated thread.”

Louise and I listened with dropped jaws, recalling the picture of the perfect couple sitting across from us; we had described them later as “Ken and Barbie.” Their marriage wasn’t solid?

“On the drive home that day,” said Ross, “I looked at Leah and said, ‘Well, we’ve tried everything else, why not try what SQuire and Louise are talking about.’”

“I don’t want to pray with you,” she snapped.

“Well, I don’t want to pray with you either, but nothing we’ve tried has worked.”

Louise and I were now like captivated attendees at a demolition derby.

“So, we tried it,” said Ross, giving no indication of the outcome he was about to dump on us. “For the first seven days, we prayed together … through gritted teeth. But, by the second week,” Ross continued, “our jaws began to relax. We began to smile at each other. And when we got to the 40th day—I have to tell you—our marriage has never been better.”

Louise and I literally didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I think we did both—at the same time.