{"id":3133,"date":"2016-08-29T15:18:15","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T19:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=3133"},"modified":"2016-08-29T15:18:15","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T19:18:15","slug":"a-prayer-for-intimacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/08\/a-prayer-for-intimacy.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for Intimacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, \u201cThe two become one.\u201d Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever\u2014the kind of sex that can never \u201cbecome one.\u201d There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for \u201cbecoming one\u201d with another. Or didn\u2019t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don\u2019t you see that you can\u2019t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. <\/em><\/strong>(1 Corinthians 6:16-20 The Message)<\/em><\/p>\n

In Mere Christianity<\/em>, C.S. Lewis has some interesting things to say about the pornography of his day:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get a large audience together for a strip-tease act\u2014that is, to watch a girl undress on the stage. Now suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food?\u201d <\/em>
\n\u2015 C.S. Lewis<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s gone wrong with our culture\u2019s sexual appetite? It is void of intimacy, void of true vulnerability, void of commitment, and utterly void of covenant.<\/p>\n

After pondering this today, I happened to turn on a Bethel Podcast I had missed from this past July called \u201cThe Process of Belonging\u201d by Kris Vallotton. In it, he talks about the \u201cJudas spirit.\u201d Judas made his exit during the last supper just prior to Jesus’ presentation of his new covenant with\u00a0his disciples. The \u201cJudas spirit\u201d wants the benefits without the\u00a0inconvenience of\u00a0commitment, the blessing without the covenant.<\/p>\n

It simply doesn\u2019t work that way.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pray for intimacy in our relationships, our marriages, our churches, and, most importantly, with Jesus Himself!<\/p>\n

Father,<\/em><\/p>\n

You placed within me a yearning for relationship, for you\u00a0love intimacy. You desire close-knit connections between the people in Your family. When I became born again, I became a part of that new family. I belong. Help me to improve\u00a0my understanding of what that means, of how to grow in my vulnerability with the people in my life, how to grow in my capacity to allow people to know the true me, how to grow in the joyful bonds I experience with kindred friends. Help me to put intimacy in its rightful place, as you have designed. Help us as a culture to rid ourselves of all that is not true intimacy, for it is decimating our capacity for close connection, which is your blessed will for our lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, \u201cThe two become one.\u201d Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever\u2014the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1861,1859,1214,1860,1862,1863],"class_list":["post-3133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-gods-will-for-our-sexuality","tag-joy-bonds","tag-pornography","tag-sexual-intimacy","tag-the-dangers-of-pornography","tag-the-two-become-one"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer for Intimacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/08\/a-prayer-for-intimacy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for Intimacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s more to sex than mere skin on skin. 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