Customer Reviews

Couples Who Pray: The Most Intimate Act Between a Man and a Woman

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(50)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Wow...this book doesn't just promise to change your marriage. It really delivers. It's got the research to prove it, yet it reads like a conversation with a trusted friend. Husband and wife, SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt have combined their entertainment backgrounds with their faith to help couples navigate their way through the very personal (and sometimes scary) process of praying with your partner (or sister, parent, etc.).

Rushnell is the author of the When God Winks series of books and the former VP of Children's Programming at ABC. DuArt is a celebrity impressionist who's been on tour with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman from the old Carol Burnett Show and currently co-hosts "Living the Life" weekdays on ABC's Family Channel. Their humor and down to earth approach takes "the most intimate act between a man and a woman" and breaks it down step-by-step into something that's easy, understandable...and even fun.

My husband and I took the 40-day challenge and are seeing amazing results. Before, we used to have the hardest time communicating because we both had such a need to be right. Now, we just look at eachother and say "we need to pray!" Marriage is hard work, but it's comforting to know that we don't have to go through this alone. And, judging from the other couples who are featured in the book (celebrity as well as regular), we all have something we can learn from each other and God.

Buy this book! You will not be disappointed!

Couples Who Pray: The Most Intimate Act Between a Man and a Woman

I love this book and have seen transformative results from couples who have used the 40 day challenge in their own marriages. I am impressed with the quantifiable research to back it.

It's easy to read, and SQuire and Louise provide such a warm and friendly testimony of their own relationship. Even if you're a novice at praying, this book is for anyone who wants to invite God into their marriage and miraculously renew it. Here's the tool to do it.

I puchased this item because I'm a man who has had three failed marriges that didn't have GOD as the center piece. I now know that GOD has to be the center piece of my life as well as marrige.

Book was an easy and short read. I enjoyed each chapter's practical nature and quotes from persons who have done the 40 day trial.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this book has the potential to reduce the divorce statistics among Christian couples! It's that powerful. Rushnell and DuArt make a compelling case for couples to pray together daily--and it's my best bet that after reading this book you'll find yourself encouraged and inspired to do just that. The back-cover of Couples Who Pray says, "Warning; This Book will Change Your Marriage!" and in fact, it will. Praying with my husband each evening has brought a deeper sense of comfort and connection to both of us.

I enjoyed reading about the Christian celebrities who were interviewed for this book. Folks like Denzel & Pauletta Washington, Kathie Lee & Frank Gifford, and Gavin & Patti MacLeod share how the act of praying together revolutionized, and in some cases even salvaged, their marriages. Personal transparency is always appealing, and I found the fact that these celebrities gave an honest account about their marriage struggles refreshing.

Rushnell and DuArt are gifted writers and you'll enjoy the dry humor sprinkled throughout the book. Enjoyable, enlightening, and powerful...Couples Who Pray is an important book, and one which will greatly benefit married couples who read it and take it to heart.

I just finished reading skimming through When Couples Pray by Squire Rushnell and Louis Duart. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I was with this book. The introduction was consumed with author self-accolades and ravings about the celebrity couples whose quasi-perfect marriages were improved by the 40 day prayer challenge. After I trudged through that completely useless section, I was lucky enough to read about the "Life-changing Lovemaking" that results from the methods in this book. The rest of the chapters followed in the same way, giving story after story of how the prayer challenge revolutionized marriages near and far. Some of this is nice, of course, but seventy pages of it?Seems like a little much.

Finally, in section three, you think you've arrived at the prayer challenge only to find you have to read through a bunch of theology on the demise of marriage -- some of it very faulty. One example I found especially alarming was the woman who started "tithing" by promising her clients that 10% of her commission would go to a charity of their choice. Apparently, she felt pretty strongly that you could use this act of worship as a business tactic and God would be completely okay with that.

The book never actually outlines a 40 day prayer challenge -- I guess you're on your own for that. If I were you, I'd skip this book and all its ridiculous testimonials and just start praying with your spouse.

I'm loving this book because we are having such warm experiences while we are praying together. My husband had prayed aloud only a couple of times before. He was out of his comfort zone at first, but now, after three weeks, he prays aloud comfortably, confidently. We plan to continue this time together, as it has been warm and binding to our relationship -- a marriage of 50 years! Kuddos to SQuire -- another winner!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

I intentionally picked up this book as a "love dare" kind of challenge before Valentine's Day. I've felt that my prayer life is something that needs some exercise in 2011, and while my wife and I used to pray together before we had kids, we've been missing that for a while, and I was hoping that this book would be a good roadmap we could use to get back on track.

This review is going to get a little negative, so I want to first say that I think that praying together as a husband and wife is not only a fantastic way to keep close and strengthen your relationship, but it also seems to be a necessary component to a man's role as spiritual leader in the household. If the husband takes an active role in ensuring that he prays with his wife regularly, then kids pick up on that and recognize the importance of prayer other than when dinner is served.

Unfortunately, this book never really delves into such issues. The first chapter basically sets the premise for the book: that couples who pray will have better sex (sorry, "lovemaking" p.12). Now, that's not a bad reason to pray and you certainly could argue how it promotes marital fidelity, but that seems like such a base reason to lead off with.

The book itself is poorly written in the cheesiest language possible. The authors insinuate that Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford are close in their marriage because they share the same birthday. The book also says that it includes a 40 Day Prayer Challenge, but nothing practical is really offered. They give you tips on how to get started and some advice to start a journal for the process, but other than that, you're on your own.

But, my primary reason for not liking this book is so simple that I can't believe it was missed: there's very little involvement of the Bible. 36 pages and almost 2 chapters in, we get our first Scripture (1 Cor 13:8), and from there a handful are sprinkled throughout the rest of the book. Personally, it made me feel like the book had very little authority other than it makes sense for couples to pray together, because look at the outcomes.

Part 3 of the book is a little bit more practical and less fluffy, but by then they had lost me as a reader. One of the treats of the book is that they interview celebrity couples who pray together, and it is neat to see how role models and people with great demands for their attention fit prayer into their lives. Pauletta Washington (wife of Denzel) was particularly inspiring to read, and I would much rather read her stories as opposed to many of the others in the book.

All in all, I'm disappointed, but I'm continuing to look for a good book on this topic for a belated Valentine's Day read.

I enjoyed this book. I am a new(er) Christian and felt that there could have been some more specific "instructions" for guided prayer. The stories were good. They were inspirational.
My husband and I are growing even closer to God and each other!

Better than we expected. Used for a group discussion. Found it very humorous!!