One of the major themes on our prayer lines is relationships.
We have Tara Lalonde here who is a therapist and will help us understand this great need.
Tara says our culture has one idea of what marriage is and she doesn't believe it matches up with God's intent. Our culture says it is about "me" and "my needs". I need to be happy and that is the purpose of marriage, to complete me. God's purpose is to make us "holy" not necessarily "happy". We can be happy when we are holy and relying on Him and being the spouse that He has called us to be regardless of whether our spouse cooperates.
Tara believes all problems in marriage CAN be fixed but she doesn't know if all problems ARE fixed. Both people need to be willing to work at it.
If one spouse is abusing another spouse that can be fixed, that can be redeemed. The abuser and the one being abused need to be able to work at it and do things differently. If the abuser doesn't want to, it might not be able to be fixed.
There is a lot of irritation in marriage. Can we still be happy if our marriage is not perfect? Tara says YES! You can be happy even if your marriage is not perfect. Even if you don't have a healthy marriage, you can have a happy marriage. The key is taking personal responsibility for your side of things. Take control, rely on God and ask how you can be the wife/husband God calls you to be.
God wants us to love our spouse even when they are being unlovable. We need to take care of our own well-being and then love sacrificially our spouse even if they don't deserve it. So often we don't deserve the love of our spouse.
Tara says that the 100 Huntley Street prayer lines can make a huge difference.
Real life can be painful. The prayer line gives an opportunity to regularly be able to get prayer and make you feel that somebody cares for you - makes you feel like somebody is listening and understands what you are going through. It makes you feel heard and understood.
God can empower you and make you feel better.
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If you need prayer, please give our prayer lines a call at 1866-273-4444
For More Information about Tara Lalonde, PhD:
