"I’m so thankful," he concluded, "that I am married to a true woman of God. Alesa’s prayer was a selfless prayer of great discernment. She knew what was best for not only me but for our family as well. Today I work for a small, but successful insurance agency. The owner is a Christian, and we have the privilege of integrating God into every phase of the business. Because of my wife’s commitment to prayer, I am a man blessed. I am a man who, most definitely, has grown closer to God."
When Your Heart Grows Faint
As you read this, you may not even be sure how to pray for your husband. Perhaps you are stumbling through the dark night of your relationship. You may feel angry, fearful, and emotionally exhausted because your husband is not living up to his end of the bargain. You may even feel spiritually inept. I have felt, at one time or another, all of the above. But I have learned that uncertainty, sorrow, anger, and exhaustion do little to improve a situation.
If you’re not already doing so, begin praying with your husband. There is nothing more precious than entwining your hearts and souls in prayer. God will bless you, your husband, and your marriage!
Prayer, on the other hand, will improve any situation, no matter how desperate. Growing in our prayer commitment for our husband and concentrating on our faithfulness make us more keenly aware of God’s desire to shower His faithful with blessings. If you have ever wondered if God hears your prayers and petitions, keep a prayer journal. His responses to your prayers and petitions will astound you. He is faithful!
But there are times when discouragement and desperation grip our hearts. At such times, before we can pray for our husbands, we first need to pray a heartfelt prayer for ourselves:
"Hear my cry, O God;Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." ~ Psalm 61:1–2
When we pray, we, like David, can know that God does hear our cries.
"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God." ~ Psalm 40:2–3
Many times during our family’s most chaotic season of kids, careers, and multiple commitments, it was those Scripture verses and others that lifted my feet out of the "miry clay." Only then was God able to show me that my husband was, in fact, His favored son. Seeing our husband as His favored son equips us with the faithfulness and persistence we need to become and remain a praying wife in all circumstances—not just when he remembers to pick up his dirty laundry, or sends us flowers, or takes the kids to the park on Saturday so we can shop, or remembers to buy tickets to our favorite symphony performance the day they go on sale.
