Hands up if you’ve ever prayed before sex
No. Read that again. I didn’t say ‘Hands up if you’ve ever prayed for sex.’
I have to confess that I haven’t prayed before sex – well, not since the first time when it was more of a panicky ‘Oh God-dy God’. But the Catholic Truth Society is encouraging couples (married ones, of course) to pray before getting down to any bed dancing, among other things, in their Prayer Book for Spouses. Click here to find out more
I think sex can be spiritual, it can be transcendent and it can allow us a glimpse of an aspect of love (God being Love). It can also be mundane, a way of creating distance rather than closing it and it can be just plain yuk. And clearly, I’m talking about consenting adults here, instances where sex is abusive, non-consensual or used as a weapon are entirely different matters.
I think praying can be great, vital and significant. It too can offer us a glimpse of who God is. It can also be mundane, empty and brittle.
But all things considered, I’m not convinced that in the heat of passion a couple will make the quick hand brake turn into praying for what they are about to receive. Isn’t it going to, um, dampen things a little, if there was a pause to ask the Virgin Mary to intercede or to ask to be placed within a “self-offering [love] that tells the truth and does not deceive”?
Seems to me like this turgid prayer is perhaps another form of contraception.
Where’s the joy and the energy and the passion and the hearty drive for life we read in the Song of Songs? What about the thing about God thinking it was a good idea to create sex for us to enjoy?
But praying about your sex life? Well now, that’s a different kettle of mackerel…
I always used to pray that a
I always used to pray that a baby would be the result, but sadly my prayers were never answered.
Hands up if you've ever prayed before sex
I read a play earlier this year - Jacon Slovak - where the male character says the the female character he is wooing that there is no higher form of prayer than two people making love. In the heat of the moment, one inclines to agree.
I think you may have missed the point.
We are talking about consensual sex between adults, and given that we are talking about prayer, we must be talking about believers. As Christians our key means of communicating with our Creator is prayer. This article concludes with the remark that God created sex to be fun! Should we not thank God for this shared pleasure before, during and after the event?
This is not about stopping the sexual act and getting out of bed to kneel side by side on the bedroom floor. This is about taking a moment to thank God for the beautiful woman who is touching you, to praise God for creating the tender man who holds you in his arms, to worship God for sharing Godself in such a way that we can experience the joy of mutual love. Why does any of that have to be off putting or a form of contraception? When I pray before, or even during, sex it is part of the spiritual connection we share, part of the faith we experience together as a couple and is all about love. It does not diminish our sexual union, it enhances it.