This book seemed so awesome….“In this entertaining, highly readable book, couples learn that a fabulous marriage can be the outcome of learning to pray together, a minimum of five minutes a day, causing a 20 to 30% increase in romance, conversation and happiness.

Best-selling author Squire Rushnell and his wife, entertainer and talk show host, Louise DuArt take readers step by step through The 40 Day Prayer Challenge™ in which couples commit to praying together five minutes a day for forty days. Backed by compelling research from Baylor University and Gallup Poll, the true-life experiences of 24 test couples reveal that daily prayer is a “life changing experience” in which most couples report positive outcomes in less than two weeks.”

This book makes some lofty claims and the description makes it sound like there is an outline for the 40-day prayer challenge. I thought it would be fun for Brittney and I to work through the “prayer challenge” together and then blog our experience. However, there is no prayer challenge structure at all.

The book was really just a stringing together of some pithy stories of celebrity couples who pray together. It read more like an infomercial than anything else. I found some of the “marriage theology” to be weak and unconvincing.
Up front, there are some interesting statistics of couples who never pray together vs. those who do and the way they describe their marriage, sex life, etc. I have to wonder, though, how much the results were based on causation as opposed to correlation.

Bottom line…pray with your spouse. It will build a stronger and happier marriage. You do not need this 200 page infomercial to get started…good premise, poor delivery.

Take your own prayer challenge….commit to spending at least 5 minutes a day together in prayer and watch the results.

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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”