The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional (29 page)

L
ORD
, I pray for my husband to be released from any disturbing thoughts in his mind. Set him free from all unreasonable fear, and liberate him from every lie of the enemy. Enable him to see the enemy’s lies for what they are, and give him the strength to refuse to entertain them. Help him to recognize enemy encroachment on his mind when it happens. Teach him that he doesn’t war in the flesh against the enemy, but in the Spirit. Help him to cast down every argument against You in his mind. Strengthen him to reject anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of You. Teach him to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Take away all mental unrest from him and give him Your peace.

Show me anything I need to see so that I can pray specifically. Help us both to see the truth in Your Word that sets us free. I declare on his behalf that You have given him a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Give him faith to believe that. Enable him to face his thoughts armed with Your Word and Your power, and to refuse to allow them to control his mind and his life. Open his eyes to see You as his deliverer.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

54

You, brethren, have been called to liberty;
only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love serve one another.

G
ALATIANS
5:13

A
S WE GROW
in the liberty God gives us, we also find freedom to stop thinking about ourselves all the time. When we are in the flesh, we dwell on what
we
need and want and must have in order to be happy. But freedom from self-focus liberates us to serve one another. God says we must think of others first—and most importantly our
significant other
—and we must serve him. That doesn’t mean becoming a slave who is taken for granted, mistreated, not allowed freedom, and not given value and equality as a person. Serving one another is an attitude of the heart that comes from seeing our lives from God’s perspective.

If either you or your husband needs a new perspective in order to see things God’s way, then that is something worth praying about. Ask God to give both of you new insight and the ability to see everything—especially your lives together—from
His
perspective.

Ask God to show you how to serve each other in a way that blesses and strengthens you both. Serving is something you
give
in a marriage, not something that is demanded from you. If it is demanded from you, that’s slavery. Even God doesn’t demand that we serve Him. He wants us to
offer
ourselves to Him. The same is true in a marriage. Willingly serving each other is a setup for God’s greatest blessing in your lives. And it is probably the hardest thing to do consistently well. That’s why you must pray for a new perspective to happen in each of your hearts.

My Prayer to God

L
ORD,
I thank You for the liberty we have in You. Thank You for how You have set my husband and me free from our past and ourselves. Continue to liberate us. Help us to be rid of any wrong thinking and blindness. Help us to see things from Your perspective—especially the way we treat each other. Keep us from becoming selfish in the freedom we have in You.

I know You are continually setting us free to better serve You and others, and especially to serve each other. Help us to do that well. Give us a new perspective in our hearts and minds, because our natural tendency is to be self-focused and self-centered to the point that we neglect each other. Teach us how to bless each other in the way we act and speak. The proper attitude of heart and mind can only fully come from You. Fill us both with Your love, peace, humility, and mercy. Enable us to always act and react out of those good qualities. Lift us above our private concerns, and help us not to keep score over what one of us owes the other. Help each of us to make a greater effort—beyond what we have done in the past—to give of ourselves to each other. Give us Your perspective on our marriage relationship, and enable us to understand what we need to do to make it great.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

55

If you bring your gift to the altar,
and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your gift there
before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother, and
then come and offer your gift.

M
ATTHEW
5:23-24

J
ESUS MAKES IT CRYSTAL CLEAR
that if you need to apologize to someone for something, you had better get it done right away. That’s because you must be able to say “I’m sorry,” “Forgive me,” and “I apologize”
before
you come to the Lord with your offering of worship. God will not receive your worship of Him until you have first apologized to your husband for whatever is needed and made the way for reconciliation to come between the two of you. This is a serious requirement. If God doesn’t want to hear your worship until you have apologized to whomever you need to, then you must do it now to avoid separation of any kind between you and the Lord.

Usually you know if you need to apologize to your husband for something because you feel guilty about what you have said or done—or
not
said or done. If you have trouble apologizing because doing so feels awkward, it’s probably because of pride. You’re embarrassed, you don’t like to admit you’re wrong, or you don’t want your husband to gloat. But if you think of it in terms of what the
Lord expects
from you, saying you’re sorry becomes easier because you want to obey
Him.
Again, you definitely don’t want any barrier to come between you and the Lord.

Ask God to show you clearly if there is some reason you need to apologize to your husband. If the Lord reveals something, don’t waste any time in apologizing. You’ll be amazed how a simple thing like this can make an enormous difference in your marriage relationship, as well as in your relationship with God. It will open up your time of worship in the Lord’s presence, and that will make room for the healing, wholeness, and blessing you need personally, as well as in your marriage.

My Prayer to God