5 Reasons Why You Should Keep a Joint Relationship Journal

Today, just as to title speaks we will be discussing 5 reasons why you should keep a joint relationship journal but first let's talk about what a journal is before we dive into what it can do for us.

Journal?

A journal is a book where you write down occurrences and events, lessons learned and Memories shared in your life. It is just like a diary. Some people have different journals for various aspects of their life: spiritual, health, physical, relationship e.t.c while some people have mastered the art of fitting all the happenings in their life into one journal. Either way, keeping a journal is very important for you as an individual. Now, having a joint journal with your partner is an interesting and essential thing to do. Are you wondering why it was so? Then stay with me till the end. Here are 5 reasons why you should have a joint journal in your relationship.

It is a way of Keeping Memories:

Keeping a memory is a way of reminding yourself about life's experiences. Keeping memories that you and your partner have had together is one of the most interesting things you can ever do together because every time you go back to the memories emotions of the past is brought to life in the present.

It is a Way of Tracking Your Growth:

The second reason why you should keep a joint relationship journal with your partner is so that you can track your growth. As a couple, you both have outgrown some things while some other things have been added to you since the time you've been together. A joint journal will help you to have it in the records.

It Helps You to Learn from The Past to Make the Future Better:

Consistency in journalling activities that are occurred in your relationship will give rise to a great number of memories; good, bad, happy, sad. With those memories, you can always go back to learn from the various things that have happened and use the lessons to make better decisions.

You can use it at Your Wedding Reception:

Funny right? When you are finally ready to walk down the aisle, you can get a good photographer or videographer to take pictures of your preferred part of the journal and make nice slides of them then you can share the memories with your friends and families at your wedding reception.

It Strengthens Your Bond:

Journalling is a way of pouring out emotion in a written form. Doing this with your partner is going to help you both spend quality time together while recording and sharing different memories. Doing things like this will help to strengthen your bond and increase your connection.

Note: because you are keeping a joint journal with your partner does not mean you cannot have a personal journal.

I hope to see you again tomorrow. Remember, love is beautiful and we cannot show it to bliss. I love you so much.

Book Review: 40 Great Lessons Marriage has taught Me by Pastor Jane Arowolo

The book, 40 Great Lessons Marriage has taught me" by Pastor Jane Arowolo is a resourceful book that helps you to discover the unrealistic expectations which couples bring into marriage, the challenges of young marriages, how to overcome differences, having a smooth relationship with in-laws, how to keep the fire of love burning and many other secrets to marital bliss.

The 78 paged book opens with an introduction with three questions that define the experience of couples in marriage. According to Mama Jane Arowolo, everyone should define marriage based on:

• Why you are getting married
• How you look at marriage
• What you expect from marriage

These questions determine your experience in marriage.

All 40 lessons are arranged into ten chapters, with each chapter treating four lessons. The first chapter talks about sex for newly weds, sex during Pregnancy and the real definition of romance.

No great marriage exists without great sex.  Also sex can be made out of duty and can be made as a result of love. We also learn that if you expect love in your relationship, you have to always give love.

Like sex, money is important for fruitful romance. It is a fantasy to go into marriage without expecting some changes.

That nothing will change when you get married is a lie. That everything will change when you get married is a bigger lie. Learn to change what you can change and accept what you cannot.

Five love languages are important. Know what works for you and your partner.

In-laws are family. You must treat them as such.  If you expect perfection from people, you will get frustrated. Don't go to marriage with a pepper lifestyle or plans to deal with any in-law. Character is ultimate when dealing with in-laws

A man's ego is as fragile as a woman's heart.

A woman is not wired to carry the financial burden of a family. She is a helper and not a sponsor.  If a woman carries financial burden, that becomes a quick way to lose your honour as a man.

Patience will change many things.

Your partner is a work in progress. Don't go into marriage with unrealistic expectations.

Somebody lacks what you have. Stop comparing your relationship or marriage with another's. -2nd Corinthians 10:12

The two golden rules are in Ephesians 5:22-23 and verse 25 respectively. When a marriage fails it is a sign that the rules have been disobeyed.

Reciprocate respect

Family is Royalty. There is a king, a queen,  princes and princesses. Learn humility in royalty.

There is also honour in royalty

Love is hard work. You need almost no effort to  fall in love but you need so much effort to stay  in love.

You must fall in love again and again with each other. You must also evaluate your relationship.

When children start growing, know that they are watching your steps and will likely walk in it.

You must determine to give the best impression and help them become better spouses in future.

A woman is fragile

Communication is the best way to handle conflicts. Don't stop talking.

Be a woman and don't feel cheated. You don't need to compete with your husband  or argue submission. You don't need to bring the law of rights and equality to marriage, thus changing the creator's narrative and manual. When your head is too big as a woman, your crown will not size you.

Also, get a mentor. Proverbs 20:18 talks about good and godly counsel for relationships and marriages

Be a woman and don't feel cheated. You don't need to compete with your husband  or argue submission. You don't need to bring the law of rights and equality to marriage, thus changing the creator's narrative and manual. When your head is too big as a woman, your crown will not size you.

Also, get a mentor. Proverbs 20:18 talks about good and godly counsel for relationships and marriages

Instructions are never convenient but they are always profitable.

Variety is the spice of life as William Cowper's poem,  "The Task (1785)" puts it. Introduce new and exciting practices in your relationship. Get rid of routine and explore

With godly wisdom, bring new wine to the table of your relationship.

A woman is an administrator

There are three seasons in the life of a man. Morning, noon and evening. Treat the wife of your youth with care and love so that you last till evening and enjoy the benefits of building a godly home.

The fear of God in you guides your actions towards your spouse/partner. Unresolved conflicts will not make you enjoy God's presence in your relationship/marriage. God's presence detests strife and contention.

In marriage, God answers every cry for help. Learn the art of prayer. War with prayer! 

The best time to pray is when all is going smooth. A farmer who starts planting while others are harvesting will stay hungry. He will have to wait until those seeds germinate before he can eat.

There is no marriage in heaven. Your marriage can work out fine. Do not look at the failing marriages around you. Just do your part and let God bless your marriage.

 

The second chapter talks about Romance and finance, Romance and child nursing,  the principle of opposite sides attracting and the love language of spouses. On the other hand, chapter three goes on to talk about dealing with in-law and how life is a farm that obeys the law of sowing and reaping. She also writes about refusing to fight for yourself.

In chapter 4, mama Jane talks about feeding the man's ego and knowing how far to go as regards certain issues.  She also discuses the subject of domestic violence and the best way to teach. Chapter 5 goes on to tell is how a wife is a helper and a sponsor. Here, mama Jane Arowolo says that a woman should not fully take on the financial responsibility of the home. She also talks about how patience is a virtue and that your spouse is a work in progress. She ends this chapter saying that somebody lacks someth]ng you have.

In chapter 6, mama Jane talks about the greatest assignment in marriage. She then proceeds to talk about the two golden rules in the book of Ephesians. After this, she opens our eyes to 5how respect is reciprocal and that wisdom and knowledge are really needed in every marriage.

Chapter seven opens with the concept of royalty. It discusses how the man is a king in the palace and the woman is a queen in the palace. It also talks about how love is hard work and ends with the fact that your children (when they start coming) are always watching you.

In chapter 8 we learn that women are fragile and that men should learn to deal with it. We also. See a different side to handling conflicts and the need for a worthy mentor in your relationship or marriage. It finally discusses how rk be a woman without feeling cheated (shunning the extremist views of feminism)

Chapter 9 talks about variety being the spice of life and the need to avoid a boring relationship at all cost. To do this, you simply need to think. Out of the box and bring up. Exiting things, build. Memories and engage activities to make your relationship or. Marriage beautiful. This chapter then talks about the old. And new. Wine and the need for constant new, fresh Wine in your relationship or marriage. She then proceeds to talk about women being the best administrator in a marriage or relationship and how that there are three seasons in the life of a man (with specific emphasis on the evening of a man's life).

She concluded with chapter ten talking about the need for the fear of God and the presence of God in every relationship or marriage. She also talks about prayer, the greatest weapon in marriage and how that as believers, you. Must live your fullest in your marital life because there is no marriage in heaven...

 

This book is a true testament to the fact that God is still very interested in building perfect relationships and families. The author,  Pastor Jane Arowolo (popularly called mama Jane) has a mandate to teach what it takes to succeed in marriage.  She is a graduate of Public Administration from Ambrose Alli University  and has been into active ministry for over 18 years. She is a co-pastor at Glorious Dynamos Life Ministry and the Vice President of Success and Life Network.  She anchors "Direction for Singles and Married", "Ladies and Gents Conference", "Just4Ladies", "When Mother's Pray" and "Daughter's of Zion". She is happily married to her best friend, Apostle Wale John Arielle and their union is blessed with three covenant men.

 

How to Hold Up in a Long Distance Relationship

Intimacy in any relationship is built through constant communication and a level of distance between both partners, but then in a long distance relationship, the question remains: How far can you truly be from love? 

 

In our four years relationship (as at the time of updating this post), we have witnessed the close distance and the long distance cases. We have learnt that holding up the relationship at each other's end is a result of what both partners agree and make committment to. If both partners really want to make the relationship work despite the distance, it definitely will.

How we managed through these long distance relationship times, especially the activities that have kept us going through the long distance period have been compiled into this book. It is a list of engaging activities that can spice up Long distance Relationships and how you can go about them. All of these activities are based on our personal experience, so you would find words like ―us, we, my, ours and other word classes affiliating to us. 

You can also tag along as Hold Up or Uphold 😀. Someone mentioned this to us after we published. Whether you choose to hold up your relationship or up hold it, it is still a conscious effort to ensure that your relationship works.

 

If you are not in a long distance relationship either, you can choose to engage any of these activities. As a plus, we have included thirty five date ideas for you and your partner. These date ideas will come in handy especially when you need to relax and evaluate your relationship from time to time.

 

We would be happy to receive your comments and testimonies here after reading this book. It is our prayer that your relationship will continually glorify God (Amen).

To get your FREE copy, kindly click here to download or click on the download button below.

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Relationship Lessons from Elkanah and Hannah

In every godly relationship, one tough issue for both partners to agree on or make a compromise on is the question: "What if I can't have children?"

Children are regarded as a blessing of marriage and a significance that such marriage has blossomed and that both the wife and husband has performed their duty right. In countries like Nigeria, having children is a big deal to most people and parents often look forward to getting to meet and nurture their grandchildren before the call from the Creator. Some families have issues and are going through a hard time these days with the issue of not having children. Pressures from in-laws, the society and even from within leaves a woman broken at heart, emotionally disturbed, and could affect some women's performance in their day to day activities. Lack  of children causes issues  sometimes between the couples and fights, disagreements,  shouts and pleas for patience is often heard in such  homes. Blame games are always on and the truth never comes out till tests are taken (and it's discovered that it's the man that can't actually have children).

Marriage vows are deeper than what we just see on the surface, some people take these vows with no intention to keep them. When you promise that special someone to always be with such person for better for worse, in sickness and in health, in riches and in lack, the gravity of those words come to play when real life situations occur. Thus, this vows should be taken with the conciousness that those times where things ain't rousy will come. Might not be a delay in child birth, it could be anyother thing. The question is, would you still see that special someone as "special" when life throws big issues at you? Therefore, don't go into marriage because you are being forced or because everyone around you is getting married. Vows are made to be thought about deeply and to be kept sacredly.

Today, we are looking into the lives of a couple who was faced with one of life's challenges as regards to marriage. Although, Elkanah had a polygamous home, he had a wife (Pelinah) who gave birth to children for him, but Hannah His beloved didn't have children. And just like typical rivals, Pelinah was a thorn in Hannah's delicate flesh, delibrately stepping on her toes where it hurt most up to the point the Hannah broke down and couldn't eat (and i can imagine one of Pelinahs children innocently asking Hannah if she wasn't interested in her meal so he or she could devour it). Elkanah loved Hannah so much and although he couldn't give Hannah as much as he gave Pelinah (cos she needed it more), he wanted Hannah to be happy, he even asked her if he wasn't more valuable than ten sons. Although, Elkanah loved Hannah so much, it didn't dispute the fact that the voices of young babes would fill the void Hannah felt deep within her.

Elkanah could have as well added to Hannah's sorrows by concentrating on Pelinah the mother of his children but he didn't.

The truth is marriage is never a bed of roses and having a great marriage takes a whole lot of hard work which starts from courtship. Conflicts would arise but it depends on if we are ready to stay put with the person we claim to love so much or if we decide to run at the slightest show of conflict. Love isn't enough but it goes a long way in making things work especially if it is true, unconditional and without boundaries. We can't always run from conflicts and challenges therefore whatever we are going through, (relationship wise, academics, finances, looking for jobs, admission issues, whatever) lets ask for strength from God to scale through the challenge and let's ask that God opens our eyes to lessons we are to learn. God wouldn't have promised us His strength when we are weak if He wasn't ready to help us and He wouldn't have promised us His Spirit if He wanted us to walk through life alone.

Lastly, let's remember that delay doesn't necessarily mean denial. Hannah was delayed only to give birth to a prophet who was known and is still known throughout the history of Israel. He was used by God greatly and I'm sure his parents were proud of him.

Think about it: of all Pelinahs children, who among them did half the things Samuel did? Did any of their names come up in the bible at all?

Date on His Purse or Dutch on Us

Right! Whenever you man up and foot every popping bill, it does this wonder boosting to your ego, you feel manly and when she sits there and watch you pay each time, it does this cruel bruising to her pride.

Every lady who has a premium-quality-starter-packed for a wife material wouldn’t comfortably watch you settle the bills every time. Yes! She will want you to know that you two are in it together, she’ll itch to make you see her as the helper she’s been made and not siphon from you always.

A parochial approach to things however causes some men to view ladies who pulled out their wallet and settle bills as depriving them of feeling manly. Or worse, claiming equality with them. No she’s not.

There is this mutuality that doing things together fosters rather than you always being at the bill end all the time. If you maintain it’s your sole responsibility to settle the bill and wouldn’t even want to see her pulse anytime another one pops up, don’t be surprise you are going to make her stick to the kitchen and never expect your help in that zone too. When something benefits two people and only one person is the whole burden, the relationship becomes a sinking ship but when something benefits two people and both are all hands on deck about it, the relationship then becomes partnership. Ladies too, don’t wreck your guy because he is a man, he is a man and not an iron rod.

Dutch is simply each man for himself and God for us all. You pay for your meal and I pay for mine. While this may be cool, however it will subconsciously introduce this distance feeling into your relationship on the long run. Compared to dating couples who simply come together and get it all done as a twain.

So on your next date, how about let her the bills if she offered to and you get the movie tickets. Relationship can be a lot of fun without one party feeling like she is becoming a burden or the other thinking his place as a man is being threatened.

 -Adeyemi Comfort Oluwatoyin

Baby mi jowo, je ka Jo maa gbadun

Every Saturday, I wake up to remember the lines in Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey's grand song. It tells a love story with the male, prompting his lady to come to him while they enjoy till forever.

Every Saturday, many love stories are shared with many witnesses. Some of these stories end up being very blissful marriages while others end in divorce, separation and anything worse. The sad thing about all of these is that there are plenty weddings but few marriages. Many factors are responsible for this in our society especially with celebrity marriages which seem to be the main attack-target. For non-celebrity marriages too, there is a whole lot covered because there is minimum social media and paparazzi tracks. In extreme cases, all these factors pump out a breakup or divorce cases.

One of these factors is the presence of a pursuer and a distancer in many relationships today. This happens in cases where both parties feel uninterested in the relationship and one party (the pursuer) is trying to make it work while the other (the distancer) is tearing walls down. The pursuer-distancer relationship comes when the first party (pursuer) keeps chasing for new and fresh love while the other party (distancer) keeps running off because they are disinterested in the relationship. If this is also the case, there is definitely no happiness

 

Below are a few tips to make your relationship or marriage work when it seems crashing.

1. Pray for your spouse

We are not usually conscious of the streams of opportunity that we hold when we pray, a reason why individuals do not seem to take prayers, especially for their spouses as a serious assignment. If you would pray for your spouse long before you two meet, you will enjoy great bliss and will not bother raising some issues again in prayer. There is so much to pray to God about your partner and there is more than enough time to do those prayers. It is wrong timing to pray about your partner's characters fifteen years into the marriage when you saw those traits before courtship and refused to pray and work on them. Praying for your partner is not overemphasized. You will not reap  the appropriate benefits if you undervalue prayers for your partner. You can check our online guide here to help you pray for your partner. You can also read our article about what happens when you two pray

2. Recreate Memories and Rebuild Attractions

You got into your relationship because you two were attracted to each other. You probably met at some random outing - at a seminar, a beach, or a house party. In the same way, visit fun places, love locations and engage in activities to help you sustain attraction for each other. In our book Hold Up, we made a long list of thirty five amazing date ideas for partners. These date ideas are flexible enough to fit in for short and long distance relationships. You must also know that fun is scheduled and even if your personal schedules do not permit, find out time to recreate these memories with your partner.

3. Love and Respect each other

Women are made to love, want to love, and expect love. On the other hand, men are made to be respected, want respect, and expect respect. Love is vital, especially for the wife, and at the same time, respect is vital, especially for the man. The point of balance is where both partners decide to understand the need to love and respect each other without any negative will to claim love or respect. The woman should learn that certain actions will make her man love her deeply, while the man must also learn that he has to earn and command respect in a thoughtful and loving manner. One book widely recommended as regards Love and Respect for each other in a relationship and marriage is "Love and Respect" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

These are just few of many other points. When you do this consistently in your relationship, you will find so much happiness and discover one cool evening that your playlist contains this song. You'd be glad to listen😃. 

10 Games Every Long Distance Couple Should Play Today

The essence of playing games as a couple is to have activities that always bring you together. With nothing bringing you together, your significant other will gradually become insignificant. Hence, the constant need to stay connected. One of the ways to foster quality connection between you and your significant other is to create time for each other irrespective of your tight and busy schedules.

The essence of this article is to ease the stress of thinking back and forth on how best you should spend your time together, or what to spend your time with your partner doing. This article discusses ten (10) fun and exciting games you can play with your partner even when you are miles apart.

How to Make the Game Fun

You can choose to play the games with other couples onsite or online. If you decide to play the game online due to the distance between you and your partner and you also decide to play the game with other couples, can create a common group for all of you either on WhatsApp, Telegram, or Facebook where essential information about the game will be discussed before the start of the game.

If you and your partner are the types who enjoy playing large and having a good time on a larger scale, you can make your game nights/days even more enjoyable by choosing platforms where your games are more open to a broader audience. It'll resemble a reality show. Twitter spaces, Clubhouse, Instagram Live, and Facebook live can all be used to do this. You can invite random couples to participate or keep it closed to just you and your couple buddies.

Try to explore all your options and do what works best for you, most of these games are simple and there are a few on the list for real gaming enthusiasts too. Without further ado, let’s dive straight into the games.

Read: How to Manage Exes in Your Relationship

1. Truth or Dare

This is an age-long game played among friends and couples. The rule of the game is to take turns on who is to ask the question truth or dare. Turns can be taken onsite by spinning a bottle or randomly if the game is being played online. The person whose turn it is has to pick “Truth" or "Dare"

Picking "Truth" requires you to give a totally honest answer to a question asked by one of the players while Picking "Dare" requires you to carry out whatever action you're dared to, failure to do so means disqualification.

2. Never Have I Ever

This is one game you have to play with an open mind, each person has a limited number of "lives" let's call it that for the sake of this article, a statement is read out from a source, could be the internet or the players could come up with their own, so, for instance, the statement is "never have I ever gotten drunk" every player who HAS gotten drunk loses a life, anyone who HASN'T retains their life, the last player with lives left after a series of questions wins the round. In a game like this you can easily get to find out things you probably didn't already know about your partner, try not to take things personal, see it as a chance to get to know them a little better, and have discussion topics for later.

Read: Top 10 Restaurants in Ebonyi for Lovers this Valentine’s Day

3. Complete the Lyrics

This is quite simple and would be really fun for music lovers, one of the players says the lyrics to a song, and the player whose turn it is would be expected to correctly finish the lyrics, you might know the song or you could guess what it could be and find out if you're psychic.

4. Yes or No

This is another game that could make you and your partner burst into laughter now and then. To play the yes or no game, a simple and direct question that is supposed to have the answer YES or NO will be asked but you are not allowed to answer the question with either YES or NO.

For instance, if you ask a question like “did you fall in love with me at first sight?” a normal answer will be YES or NO but for this game the player is required to answer by saying something like, “from the first time I set my eyes on you, I knew that you were the one for me” or “oh, it was after we became

friends and got a bit closer”. Now, the game gets more fun and intense after the first question because you are to keep asking questions that require them to reply either yes or no without giving the player time to think about it. So, you can follow the first question with “did you say you just fell in love with

me at first sight.” and “did you think I was beautiful” or “were we sitting close to each other when we met” and you can go on and on and on until the person finally answers a question with either yes or no. The person who lasts the longest without saying any of these words (Yes or No) wins the game.

Guess the Movie

This game would be enjoyed by couples who see movies a lot. Depending on what you have access to, it might be a short clip, a picture or you can say out loud a statement from a movie and your partner will be required to guess the movie where the clip, picture, or statement was gotten from.

I Spy

This game is really popular and you have probably seen it done in movies when a family is on a road trip or vacation but

it doesn't always require players to be in the same space, I think

playing this game when you're in a different space than your partner adds to

the excitement and fun, you get to really think about where your partner could

be and what they could be looking at. In "I spy" a player says "I spy with my little eye, something..." then leaves a clue about what they're looking at, the clue could be a color, shape, or both, players set the rules and can have all the fun they want for as long as they want.

Two Truths and One Lie

I'm a terrible liar so I probably would be terrible at this one, the game requires you to make three statements about yourself, two of them should be true and one should be a lie, the aim is to make the lie sound as convincing as possible or at least not obvious and the other player or players have to try to figure out which of the statements is false.

This or That

This or that is a simple game that helps you know a person's preferences, it's really straightforward: two options are given by one player say "strawberry or chocolate" and the other player or players simply pick one over the other. You might've thought your partner or friend loves strawberry ice cream just to find out they're actually mad over chocolate, makes for a good laugh and conversation and gives you a little more insight into your partner or the other players.

Need For Speed

This game is one of many classic car racing games and has different versions some of which have multiplayer capabilities. If you and your partner are car lovers of just like a good healthy competition then you'll enjoy this.

Set up your cars how you like and see how your racing machine and skills compare to your partner's, take on different challenges, events, and race tracks, and don't be scared to rub it in your partner's face when you leave them in your dust, I'm kidding, don't take the bragging too far.

Call of Duty

The mobile version of this game has gained traction over the last few years, call of Duty is a multiplayer game that can simply be summarized as teams taking each other out to achieve an objective or till there is only one team or player left. The game allows teammates to communicate with each other during matches so you can strategize, experience each other’s reactions, or just have good conversation while playing. There are loads of ways you can play games like these and they tend to pull pure undiluted reactions from players especially in heated moments while playing. There are several ways a couple can enjoy this game together, here are a few suggestions; build each other's load-outs, have a kill race, give each other in-game challenges and play with another couple as a team or against each other to spice things up.

Remember these games are all aimed at helping you get closer with your partner, get to know each other better, and create fun memories together irrespective of the difference in your location. You can decide to have all the fun you want while

playing any of these games. Also spice things up and make them

work for you. I hope to see you in the comment section where you can share with

us your favorite of all 10 games. Also, feel free to share new and fun games

that couples can also play in the comment section. 

Communication in Your Relationship The essence of playing games as a couple is to have

activities that always bring you together. With nothing bringing you together, your significant other will gradually become insignificant. Hence, the constant need to stay connected. One of the ways to foster quality connection between you and your significant other is to create time for each other irrespective of your tight and busy schedules.

Conclusion

The essence of this article is to ease the stress of thinking back and forth on how best you should spend your time together, or what to spend your time with your partner doing. This article discusses 10

fun and exciting games you can play with your partner even when you are miles

apart.

How to Make the Game Fun

You can choose to play the games with other couples onsite or online. If you decide to play the game online due to the distance between you and your partner and you also decide to play the game with other couples, can create a common group for all of you either on WhatsApp, Telegram, or Facebook where essential information about the game will be discussed before the start of the game.

If you and your partner are the types who enjoy playing large and having a good time on a larger scale, you can make your game nights/days even more enjoyable by choosing platforms where your games are more open to a broader audience. It'll resemble a reality show. Twitter spaces, Clubhouse, Instagram Live, and Facebook live can all be used to do this. You can invite random couples to participate or keep it closed to just you and your couple buddies. 

Relationship Gist (Things You Should Talk About In Your Relationship)

Read: 5 Tips to Help You Build a Better Relationship

Try to explore all your options and do what works best for you. Most of these games are simple and there are a few on the list for real gaming enthusiasts too. Without further ado, let’s dive straight into the games.

Conclusion

Remember that these games are all aimed at helping you get closer with your partner, get to know each other better, and create fun memories together irrespective of the difference in your location. You can decide to have all the fun you want while playing any of these games. Also spice things up and make them work for you. I hope to see you in the comment section where you can share with

us your favorite of all 10 games. Also, feel free to share other fun games that couples can also play in the comment section. 

5 Ways to Effectively Pray with Your Partner

When Jesus said this in scriptures, He actually meant "any two persons" and not specifically for individuals in a relationship. Now, imagine you two in a relationship then take this much serious and choose to pray together... How much more great things happen.

Sometimes, you just need somebody to agree with you in prayer; somebody who knows how to stand on God's word and intercede with Him for you two. It yields in two different ways.

Firstly, when you two pray together, you settle joint decisions in prayer. Far from all the wokeness and really fun things going on as regards enjoying a relationship and being with the special one, if you two don’t pray together, you would have a huge problem in sustaining the relationship.

Many calls and texts in counselling about how issues are beginning to pop up in some relationships have 80% of them linked to the absence of joint prayers in a long time. It’s an advice or counsel to pray. This is because it is disheartening to see relationships at the verge of or breaking up when things are not working out.

Let's see several things praying together can do for both of you.

First, the family that prays together stays together. Prayer is both conversation and encounter with God. Always love to have that encounter alone with God and enjoy having your prayer time together. We pray together just about anytime and anywhere - In a restaurant, on the phone, in the house, at church, anywhere and anytime.

You actually have to give your whole life for the relationship and become a totally new person. Look at your relationship as you and Jesus. You have to give your whole self to Jesus to die and you then resurrect with a renewed life as a new person.” This is what happens with Jesus! How much more our partner?

Praying teaches you to be other-focused: Spending time talking and praying together about issues and concerns helps you see life and the troubles of your spouse in a better light. Praying helps you focus on your spouse and others, too.

You’d stop thinking about just you. Your sad and happy moments are shared. Your benefits are shared. Your debts even are shared. You focus more on ‘we’ instead of just you.

It’s so important for courting couples to pray together. Praying with your partner, if you haven’t made it a habit, can feel awkward at first, but will then become something you will find comforting and encouraging.

Praying together also humbles you: Praying about your concerns and struggles keeps you humble as you share with God and your partner what things worry you and tempt you, or what you need to figure out. When you pray to God, you are not only talking and listening to Him but also recognizing that He knows all things and controls all things.

When you know what they need, what they are struggling with and what they are praying about, you trust them so much that you just need to pray to God to get most of the information you need.

Again, Praying together strengthens the bond of the relationship: Prayer is also a way to seek God’s wisdom together. As you pray and come to agreements on matters, that discipline then builds unity and strength in the relationship. It is also where you can fight for your relationship together when the difficult days come.

Read: How to Manage Exes in Your Relationship

Joint Prayers encourages vulnerability and grace: Prayers of confession or for asking God for help against a temptation allows you to be vulnerable with each other, and to show forgiveness and grace towards each other. That vulnerability can also strengthen the love and affection you feel for one another.

Also, Praying together increases trust and intimacy with partner: Intimacy is built on trust, and trust is built on how we respond to being vulnerable with each other. Praying together helps you show and receive trust that strengthens the bonds of intimacy in your relationship.


If you find it weird praying together or opening up to God with your partner there. You can try these together:

1. Attend spiritual meetings
2. Attend relationships seminars
3. Review books
4. Record a song you both know together
5. Take turns in attending your services if you worship at different centres.

Instead of fighting and considering a break up, prayer becomes a resort for you because in there you’d find results and wisdom on what to do. If you don’t pray together on these issues, your Spirits cannot be in sync to receive an instruction God has for both of you.

Finally, Prayer changes people: This one is a huge hack! There’s something your partner is doing or an opinion she holds that you don’t like, go and change it in prayer. Use this well! Stop nagging all the time!

Praying together reminds you that God is the sole source of life, truth, love, and hope: When you pray together, you are focusing your minds, hearts, and marriage on God. You are making your marriage God-centered. You are sharing with Him your deepest needs and desires, hopes and dreams together.

You’re basing your parenting on God putting you through holding both of you in his hands side by side. Gosh! What a position to be in with God!

 

Matthew 18:19

Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.