Prayer

It's Friday and you know what that means? It's the very first installment of Let's Get Physical Fridays! And I for one am just dying to start. I've been praying so much about this and just know that God is putting some wonderful things on my heart to share with yens.

Okay, so I was all set to start out with a fun tip, one that might knock your socks off, but felt like God was telling me to start from the start, where all of us should begin our intimate relationships, where we should turn to stregthen every aspect of our life, including our marriage bed.

Say it with me:

"Prayer."

I'm going to make the assumption that all of us here pray for our husbands. We pray for their safety as they travel to and from work. We pray for their jobs as they bring home the bacon. We pray for their health and well-being. Sometimes we even pray that they'll understand that they're wrong and we're right. Praying for our husbands is one of the best ways to support them!

But how often do we pray for them as they face sexual temptation each day? Based on my own personal marriage and prayer life, the answer is probably not enough.

The truth is, I didn't really think this was that important until last year. Of course, if Big A was traveling for a business trip or if a new, younger, cute woman started working at his work place, I'd say a prayer or two that would God help him avoid temptation. But I never really prayed about the seemingly harmless temptations he faced on a normal, day-to-day basis.

As we neared the close of our first decade of marriage, I was still a little naive about how Satan tempts a man in this way. My thought was, "Can't they just close their eyes?" I mean, duh. It's so simple. But one day as I was talking to an older friend, she explained sexual temptation to me the way her husband explained it to her.

Let's call this The Steak Epiphany. 

"Say your husband sees a scantily clad woman and looks away, but not before noticing her bra strap is showing (or her skirt is a little short, or blouse too tight)," she said. "To a man, that's a steak. Now he may not be hungry at that moment and he may even know that he'll be having steak when he gets home, but pretty soon, he's got steak on the brain. It doesn't take much to make him think of having steak."

I pondered this thought. Could it be true that men are tempted so often and so easily? Images of steak on TV. The sound of steak sizzling on a grill (or radio). Glimpses of steak on the magazine racks at the gas station. A female co-worker showing a little too much meat when she leans over or wearing steak-sauce scented perfume.

Sexual (steakual?) temptation is everywhere, and our men are being bombarded.

Fortunately, the Bible addresses temptation about a gazillion times, and over and over, we're given the solution: PRAY.

Luke 22:46
"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

Mark 14:38
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

And so on.

Being tempted isn't a sin. Acting on that temptation is. The good news is that there is no temptation that we can't overcome with God's help.

1 Corinthians 10:13
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

When a man succumbs to sexual temptation, marital intimacy suffers BIG TIME. So this first week, I urge, no, I beg you to lift up your husband in prayer in this area. Be his prayer partner when it comes to this sensitive issue. Commit to praying each day this week that his mind will stay focused on what is right and pure, that when Satan throws risque images or conversation his way that he can tune them out and that he'll be able to avoid questionable situations.

Now, is anyone else hungry?