Welcome back to a new week on the Aspastor John podcast with long time author and pastor

John Piper, and a listener named Matt writes in, Pastor John 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse

5 says that a husband and wife should quote, not to prive one another of sexual relations,

except perhaps by agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

My question is, how does our sex life interfere with our prayer life, and when should there be

a time in which a couple takes a break, so as to devote themselves to prayer? Is this like the

principle of fasting where the desire for sexual relations is meant to put our focus back on the

Lord to remind us that he is our ultimate joy and satisfaction above all else. Pastor John,

what would you say to Matt? Okay, let's get the whole verse in front of us. Matt leaves out the

last half, which really creates a helpful paradox. At least I have loved it ever since I first struggled

with it. Here's the whole verse, do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a

limited time. That means deprive one another from sexual relations, do not deprive one another from

sexual relations, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves

to prayer. And that's where he stops. Here's the rest of it. But then come together again so that

Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Now, what's paradoxical about this

is that on the one hand, Paul sees the suspension of sexual relations as a means of intensified

devotion to prayer, presumably because the couple wants a breakthrough in some answer to prayer,

because the devil is doing something they don't want him to do, and they want to resist the devil,

resist unrighteousness that he's promoting. And so abstaining from sexual relations for prayer is

a way of making war on Satan. But then on the other hand, Paul says the married couple should come

back together and continue to have sexual relations so that Satan may not tempt you, which means

that the regular relations in marriage is a weapon against satanic triumphs. So abstaining from

...