Cole & Sav: Put God In The Center Of RelationshipsSample

Knowing God by Reading the Bible and Prayer

Cole

I had feelings for Savannah that I’d never allowed myself to have for any girl before. I’d prayed, trusting God that whenever I met the girl, He would let me know. I felt in my heart that He had. If she was the one, I knew God would confirm that over time. One way God did this was through the open communication we had when we were in a long-distance relationship. We didn’t keep any secrets from each other, and we shared the details of our lives constantly. This is crucial for any relationship to work. We could have easily kept things from each other, but if we had, we would not have the relationship we have today.

We talked about God and the Bible a lot. I was pretty familiar with the Bible, but wow! Some of Sav’s questions really challenged me, and it wasn’t just the questions. God used her excitement about Him to help me not take my relationship with Him for granted and to reawaken my faith. I had to step up my game, dig deep, and really think about what I believed and why I believed it. I loved our times talking about God’s Word and what Jesus was doing in our lives. I still do. We grew so close through those conversations.

Eventually, we realized that a long-distance relationship was not sustainable. Savannah and I prayed a lot about me moving out to California, and I became convinced that, yeah, I should do it. And as we prepared to get married and I thought about becoming a full-time dad, I prayed about those changes, opening my life up to Jesus and asking Him to give me peace and patience in every situation. Our experiences together showed me that God listened to and answered our prayers.

Savannah

One of the first gifts Cole gave me was a Bible. He went through and circled all his favorite verses and labeled them with Post-it Notes. Cole’s timing was perfect. After our first conference experience, I had a real hunger for God. I wanted to read the Bible. I wanted to pray. I wanted to go to church and worship. I’d never read the Bible that much, and now I couldn’t get enough of it. Cole and I talked about the Bible together on the phone and when we were together. I had a lot of questions, and he was always so patient and answered them the best he could.

During our engagement, reading the Bible and praying together were two of the most important things we did to prepare ourselves for marriage. Even though we both loved Jesus and loved to worship openly in church, I found that you connect on a much deeper, spiritual level when you walk together with Jesus. When problems came up or when we needed to make a decision, we prayed together about it. Praying together helped move us away from focusing on what Cole or I wanted; instead, we asked, What do You want, God? 

The Bible says that if we need wisdom, God will give it to us when we ask Him (James 1:5). There are times when I definitely needed God’s wisdom, and I asked Him what I should do. I didn’t hear a voice from heaven, but I sensed God telling me what I needed to do. When God has asked me to share difficult things with Cole, his response has shown me that this was the man for whom I had prayed. This was the man I wanted to marry. If I’d ever had any doubts, those doubts were gone. I saw Cole’s best come out. I loved him even more for it.

Respond

How would you describe your conversations with God? How do you listen to Him? Prayer isn’t just about talking; it’s about listening too.

How can you use the Bible and prayer to help you put God in the center of your life?

How would praying together and spending time in God’s Word together deepen your relationships with others?