Why Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton's Beliefs Are 'Crucial' for Marriage

Reflecting on his marriage to Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton gushed about what makes them work so well.

“She’s my best friend,” he told Access Hollywood last year. “Maybe that’s the key… we literally have so much fun together,” he mused. “Whether [we’re] having a cup of coffee in the morning or watching a movie or performing in an arena somewhere.”

Add “praying together” to that list. Blake, 48, and Gwen, 55, “are devoted to God. Their faith centers them and keeps them strong as a unit,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style. “Life can get crazy for everyone, but with their careers and fame, it’s that much more intense. A shared belief in a higher power and purpose is crucial for their marriage.”

The No Doubt singer said as much during an April appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she shared her advice for maintaining a healthy, happy relationship with daytime viewers. Pointing up to the sky, Gwen declared, “Make sure you have a third party.”

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani Make a Joint Effort in Their Marriage

Blake often attends Mass with Gwen at her Catholic church in L.A., as he did on Easter Sunday. But when they’re on his 1,300-acre Oklahoma ranch, “she doesn’t have that community, so she and Blake have created their own way of worshiping, which includes making time for God on Sundays for a solid hour,” says the source.

Blake “touched Gwen’s heart” when he built her a chapel on his property — it’s the site of his 2020 proposal and their 2021 wedding.

“Now that’s where they’ll watch live streaming services from her church in L.A. They pray together there as well,” says the source. At some point, “it would mean a great deal to Gwen to renew their vows in their little chapel.”

Blake Shelton Believes Divine Intervention Sparked Relationship With Gwen Stefani

According to Blake, God is responsible for bringing him and Gwen together.

The pop star admitted to The Guardian last fall that she’d “never listened to country music, so while Blake was super successful, I never even knew he existed before I met him” in 2014 when she joined him as a coach on NBC’s The Voice. But after their respective marriages imploded in 2015 — Blake’s to country singer Miranda Lambert, 41; Gwen’s to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, 59, with whom she shares sons Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and Apollo, 11 — they bonded amid their shared heartbreak.

“I was at rock bottom, in the middle of hell… Gwen saved my life,” Blake later told Billboard. “Who else on earth could understand going through a high-profile divorce from another musician?”

Mutual support turned into something more and by year’s end, Blake and Gwen were a couple.

“I believe in God now more than I ever have in my life,” he told The Tennessean in 2019. “The biggest part of that is just how [Gwen] came into my life and now our relationship. It’s just too weird. If you take God out of it, it doesn’t make sense. If you put God into it, everything that’s happened with us makes sense.”

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s Guiding Light

Gwen’s divorce was the catalyst for her return to her faith.

The “Sunday Morning” singer “had my routine through my 20s of going to church with my family,” she said in a March Instagram post from Hallow, a popular Catholic prayer and meditation app she’s promoted. “But those rhythms that had always served me so well eventually faded out of my life as my music career started growing.”

Then came the breakup she never saw coming. As Gwen struggled with the “emotional” and “mental stress” of ending her nearly 13-year marriage, she felt “desperate” for relief, she said, and started praying daily again.

“I asked God, ‘Please, please, get me well. Please, use my gift of music again. Please, let me be the person I used to be.’” Since then, she continued, “my faith has carried me through it all.” So has support from Blake.

“His love for her and their faith in God has given them the strength to face challenges,” says the source, as well as “taught them to appreciate their blessings.”

Gwen, adds the source, “believes God is always watching over them.”