Intimacy Prayer Journal

Prayer is one important method of communicating with God. We initially took the first approach, defining spiritual meaning as one facet of spiritual intimacy and did not include spiritual meaning as a potential mediator. Reflection on the model, however, led us to believe that spiritual meaning was more central to the processes we were exploring, and not merely a subcomponent of spiritual intimacy. This second approach, and our initial expectations regarding relationships among the variables, are summarized in Figure 1.

Our conceptual model posits that, for spiritually oriented married couples, spiritual meaning i. Spiritual meaning seems to be importantly related to well-being. Well-being is a broad concept with varying definitions and measurement tools. In this study we focus on the constructs of life satisfaction and perceived psychological and physical health. These include commitment to God, a God-centered life purpose, communication through prayer, and feeling safe and cared for by God.

Because these values lay the foundation for purposeful living and intentional intimacy with God, we propose that this perceived intimacy with God will through spiritual modeling, positively affect marital intimacy and individual well-being. There is limited research that simultaneously addresses how spiritual intimacy and marital intimacy are related to well-being, and how spiritual meaning might relate to all three. In addition, research in this area has focused primarily on young adults, leaving unanswered questions about how these factors might look for older adults in long-term committed relationships.

Studying spiritual intimacy among Christians is particularly fruitful because the Christian religion has a unifying effect among the beliefs of its adherents. This effect is more pronounced in conservative religious denominations, such as Seventh-day Adventists; thus this study will focus on this distinct group. The aim of the BRHS was to examine a cohort of Seventh-day Adventists and determine how religious experience affects cumulative risk exposure involving quality of life and health, as well as to look at how religious mechanisms might operate in influencing health.

Data for this study were collected from the first wave of the BRHS in — The page BRHS questionnaire was sent to a random sample of approximately 21, individuals 10, responses , ages 35 and above participating in the AHS The questionnaires included items pertaining to physical and socioeconomic stress; affective, cognitive, behavioral, and social aspects of religion; lifestyle and other factors such as health behaviors, social interactions, emotions, coping strategies, and self-efficacy; and areas of well-being such as quality of life, life satisfaction, and medical histories.

Participants missing any of the study variables were excluded, resulting in a final sample size of 5, or Table 1 shows the sample demographics in more detail. The sample with no missing data was significantly younger Tests assume equal variances. Age and length of relationship were selected as control variables since both appear to be strongly related to spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being in our preliminary correlation analyses and in the literature.

Three initial primary latent constructs were formed: It was then hypothesized that the secondary construct of spiritual meaning might play a more direct role as shown in Figure 1 , thus it was added as a primary latent variable to the second model. Spiritual intimacy was conceived as a composite of two latent constructs: Perceived relationship to God consisted of four manifest variables: Responses ranged from not true 1 to very true 7.

Going Deeper in Intimacy with God - Prayer Help

Communication with God was measured using a composite created from seven items from the Luckow et al. Our factor analytic examination of these seven items suggested a single factor in our sample. Contemplation of God was measured using the five items of the Paloma and Pendleton contemplative prayer scale e. Responses ranged from never 1 to very often 5. Each scale was composed of three items for a total of 12 items with the following items as examples: The latent construct of well-being was assessed using measures of physical health, psychological health, and life satisfaction.

In the structural equation model these three were used to indicate one latent variable measuring overall well-being. These three are described in more detail below. Accomplished less than you would like? Did work or activities less carefully than usual? The scoring weights were based on two separate factors repeatedly found in factor analysis of the SF items Ware et al. Life satisfaction was measured using the 5-item life satisfaction scale Diener et al.

To test the relationships between spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being, structural equation modeling SEM, Amos 22; Arbuckle, was used, as well as SPSS 22 to run descriptive statistics and to manage data. The causal model consisted of 18 manifest variables reflecting the overarching constructs in Figure 1 of spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, spiritual meaning, and well-being with age and length of relationship as control variables.

Modification indices were examined to check for correlations between the error variances of these variables. Three separate models were run: The basic model is shown in Figure 2. All pathways were positive. The weakest path was between spiritual intimacy and marital intimacy.

All other path coefficients were. Spiritual intimacy is also potentiated by improving marital intimacy which in turn improves well-being. Standardized regression coefficients from structural model are shown.

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Age and length of relationship are controlled. Structural model of relationship between latent variables is shown with bold-faced arrows and coefficients. Numbers beside latent and manifest variables are squared multiple correlations for all arrows leading into that variable. Numbers on arrows are standardized path coefficients. Figure 3 shows the final structural equation model with spiritual meaning included as a mediating variable.

The direct connections from spiritual intimacy to well-being and to marital intimacy became negative when spiritual meaning was added as a mediator, demonstrating strong indirect associations of spiritual intimacy with marital intimacy and well-being, acting through spiritual meaning. To determine whether adding spiritual meaning in this central position was an improvement over a model without connections through spiritual meaning we tested the model shown in Figure 3 with the paths from spiritual meaning to marital intimacy and to well-being constrained to zero.

The results of this model not shown were very similar to the model without spiritual meaning we initially tested in Figure 2. The direct paths from spiritual intimacy to marital intimacy 0. These findings suggest that spiritual meaning is the vehicle through which spiritual intimacy is modeled to facilitate greater marital intimacy and well-being. The strongest positive change is seen for individual well-being in that spiritual intimacy, by improving marital intimacy, also improves well-being.

Direct, indirect, and total effects among all latent variables are shown in Table 2 along with their confidence limits and p values. While all the direct paths among latent variables were significant, those pathways from spiritual intimacy to well-being and to marital intimacy were both relatively weak and negative. This shows the importance of spiritual meaning to marital intimacy and well-being and raises the specter of what is left that creates a negative relationship when spiritual intimacy is bereft of spiritual meaning.

The indirect effects were mediated by spiritual meaning. The direct negative associations of spiritual intimacy with marital intimacy and with well-being were both strong and positive when considered as indirect effects working through spiritual meaning. This suggests the strong role of spiritual meaning when examining the relationship among spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being.

As shown in Table 2 , the total effects of spiritual intimacy to spiritual meaning, and of spiritual meaning to well-being were both strong relative to the other effects. The paths from spiritual and marital intimacy to well-being were somewhat weaker and the path from spiritual meaning to marital intimacy was the weakest though still significant. Spiritual meaning, thus, is strongest in relation to well-being, but also strong in relation to marital intimacy. Using the methods outlined in the analysis section, potential interactions were tested across the following groups: There were no significant interactions suggesting that gender, length of relationship, and ethnicity do not change the strong mediational role of spiritual meaning in the association of marital and spiritual intimacy with well-being.

When spiritual meaning is not included in the model the spiritual intimacy to well-being relationship is strongly positive. However, when spiritual meaning is added, the direct positive connections of spiritual intimacy to marital intimacy or to well-being become negative. Thus, spiritual intimacy primarily predicts spiritual meaning, and what remains from spiritual intimacy predicts well-being and marital intimacy only weakly. However, although the direct negative relationships of spiritual intimacy to marital intimacy and to well-being after spiritual meaning was included in the model are counterintuitive and do not match our original conceptual model Figure 1 , the connections between spiritual intimacy and both well-being and marital intimacy through spiritual meaning are in the expected direction, and substantially stronger than the direct pathways in the model without spiritual meaning.

This is consistent with Wnuk and Marcinkowski findings that hope and meaning in life are mediators between spiritual experiences and the life satisfaction portion of well-being and affirms the observed relative importance of life satisfaction to the latent variable of well-being in the model used here.

Study Objectives

Baumeister, Vohs, Aaker, and Garbinsky examining life satisfaction found that happiness was associated with being a taker, whereas meaningfulness was associated with being a giver. This suggests another possible mechanism for explaining how spiritual meaning—birthed from tangible personal experiences with God—might enhance both marital intimacy and well-being.

A finding we did not initially anticipate was that spiritual intimacy would be associated with poorer marital intimacy and poorer well-being once spiritual meaning was accounted for. Why is spiritual intimacy without meaning associated with negative outcomes?

At least two areas in the religion and health literature not included in the model suggest possible explanations, and in light of the findings are important to discuss: The focus in this study is on positive religious coping, but religiously-oriented yet maladaptive coping strategies also exist and may contribute to the portrait of someone high on spiritual intimacy. Despite positive religious coping acting as a buffer for romantic attachment or avoidance it does not attenuate the negative issues Pollard et al.

Another factor is that not all spouses are homogenous in their religious beliefs, which in turn, could create inconsistencies in whether spousal spiritual intimacy is a positive or negative factor for marital intimacy Vaaler et al. Because the interplays between spiritual intimacy, spiritual meaning, marital intimacy, and well-being are complex, it is not surprising that the path coefficients initially seem contradictory. One must also consider extrinsic religiosity outward religious observance , not included in this conceptualization of spiritual intimacy but which might help explain its direct negative associations with well-being and marital intimacy.

Steffan found that extrinsic religiosity was related to increased maladaptive perfectionism and therefore contributed to decreased life satisfaction and increased negative affect. This might help to explain why, when the positive effects of religious coping and a perceived relationship to God working through meaning are removed from our model, what is left are the negative direct effects of spiritual intimacy on marital intimacy and well-being.

Some of the strengths of this study include the large nationwide sample of Christians who believe in a personal God, and the increased uniformity in understanding of study questions because participants share the same conservative Christian faith Seventh-day Adventism.

This study also included a large number of older adults with long-term marital relationships thereby providing a perspective not typically included in studies of intimacy and allowing us to address this gap in the literature. The methodology included measurements that are well validated. Using archival data is not without challenges.

Although these manifest variable measures are all valid and reliable, latent variable indicators were selected from what was available in the data set. Being able to more thoroughly define each latent variable and, in particular, to more fully explore the latent factor of spiritual meaning would have strengthened this study. Additionally, although the BRHS has two waves, only cross-sectional data from wave one was used because data from the second wave was not ready for analysis at the time this study was developed.

The longitudinal relationships among these variables should be explored in order to better understand how perceived spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being associate and influence each other through the different seasons of life. These findings highlight the importance of meaning to relationships, notably among spiritual intimacy, marital relationships, and well-being. Further investigation is needed of the weak negative effect of spiritual intimacy apart from meaning when it operates on both well-being and marital intimacy, possibly by considering negative religious coping. Within the bounds of Christianity, religion and its efficacy in life can be seen as a two-edged sword with both costs and benefits Pargament, Additionally, people do have meaningful lives outside Christianity, so further study of those who espouse some other faith or no religious faith is needed to better understand how spiritual meaning functions Jirasek, The question also remains as to how current marital and spiritual intimacy paradigms will influence the lives of young adults and how this influence will be manifested over time in their lives, marriages, and families.

Martin, La Sierra University. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Author manuscript; available in PMC Aug 1. Holland , Jerry W. Lee , Helen H. Marshak , and Leslie R.

1. God's Call for Intimacy.
2. Die heilige Hure - Zur Figur der Violette in Brentanos Roman Godwi oder Das steinerne Bild der Mutter (German Edition).
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4. The Gnatcatcher.

Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Karen Holland.

Going Deeper in Intimacy with God

The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Psycholog Relig Spiritual. Abstract Objective Intimacy is an essential part of marital relationships, spiritual relationships, and is also a factor in well-being, but there is little research simultaneously examining the links among spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being. Results In the original structural model, all direct associations between the three latent variables of spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being were significantly positive indicating that there was a significant relationship among spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being.

Conclusions These findings suggest the central place of spiritual meaning in understanding the relationship of spiritual intimacy to marital intimacy and to well-being. Marital Intimacy Intimacy within relationships is multi-faceted and depends on several factors. Communication Communication is a vital factor in determining the tenor and perceived closeness of intimate relationships. Spiritual Intimacy For the Christian, the idea of intimate oneness is a key aspect of spirituality because it characterizes the perceived relationship to God as stated in Acts Communication through prayer As with marital intimacy, communication is key to spiritual intimacy.

Open in a separate window. Well-Being Well-being is a broad concept with varying definitions and measurement tools. Study Objectives There is limited research that simultaneously addresses how spiritual intimacy and marital intimacy are related to well-being, and how spiritual meaning might relate to all three.

Table 1 Sample Demographics. Measures Control variables Age and length of relationship were selected as control variables since both appear to be strongly related to spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being in our preliminary correlation analyses and in the literature.

Latent constructs Three initial primary latent constructs were formed: Perceived relationship to God Perceived relationship to God consisted of four manifest variables: Well-being The latent construct of well-being was assessed using measures of physical health, psychological health, and life satisfaction. Analyses To test the relationships between spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being, structural equation modeling SEM, Amos 22; Arbuckle, was used, as well as SPSS 22 to run descriptive statistics and to manage data. Effects of Adding Spiritual Meaning Into the Model Figure 3 shows the final structural equation model with spiritual meaning included as a mediating variable.

Connections Among Latent Variables Direct, indirect, and total effects among all latent variables are shown in Table 2 along with their confidence limits and p values. Direct effects While all the direct paths among latent variables were significant, those pathways from spiritual intimacy to well-being and to marital intimacy were both relatively weak and negative. Is He perhaps your Sunday obligation? Do you yearn to know Him, to walk and talk with Him daily? God loves you and is passionate about you! He desires more than anything to have a meaningful love relationship with you.

We can have a saved soul, yet live a wasted life. Life finds meaning and purpose when we know our Creator.

Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Are you satisfied knowing God as a mere acquaintance? Read more Read less. I'd like to read this book on Kindle Don't have a Kindle? Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Showing of 3 reviews. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Will be reading it again and again. Have learned how to make time for God.

I am totally enjoying this Journal!! This bible study is "the bomb" as they say it up here. You totally out did yourself once again. I just can't get enough of this study and the amazing things that it does for me. I am not the best at understanding the bible and you make it so easy for me. Thank you so much for doing what you are doing and touching our lives in such a way that we will never forget.