Sunday, January 22, 2012

Lifting My Husband through Prayer


Have you ever considered whether you are committing your marriage to the hands of God? I found myself in this place a few years ago and have only in the last few months tried to truly rectify my problem. I struggled so greatly to morph into this idea that I had of the perfect, God fearing wife, yet the idea I had came from my own interpretations and not the Word of God. The more I focused on my relationship with God, the more clearly I saw His will for all wives—me being one of them.

He wanted me to be my husband’s helpmate, companion, champion, friend and support. I needed to create a peaceful, restful place for him to come home to {this one I’m still working on, thus my gentleness challenge}.

I needed God to teach me to take care of myself and continue to be attractive to him. I needed to become a creative and confident woman—one who is rich in mind, soul and spirit

 He should be proud to say that I am his wife—not label me “the old ball and chain”.

I needed to lay all of my expectations down at the cross and release the burden from my husband of fulfilling me in the areas that only HE could.

I needed to accept him the way that he is and not change him…the changing needed to be the Spirit and not the nagging wife.

I needed to accept that neither of us is perfect and never will be. Only our Lord is and I needed to look to Him to perfect us both.

And finally I needed to learn how to pray for my husband and make my prayers a language of love.

Once I accepted these realities, our marriage began a new course; one that was centered on Christ, and not ourselves.

He is truly the man that God gave me as my soul mate and I am so thankful to His ordainment in our lives. For without Him, I would have missed out on the one of the greatest gifts of my life. 

 (this was 3 years ago, WOW) 

We as wives hold a special place in our husband’s life. We are the one in which God gave to help through his time here on earth—until we both meet our first soul mate, The Savior.

If we just stop fighting against our husband’s, stop trying to fill the role that God gave them, our marriages would not be in the state they are in today.

We are equal’s in God’s eyes, both created as good, but we were created for completely different roles. Once those roles are filled, we step out of the marriage created by this world and into the marriage set forth by God.

Excerpt from The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian (copyright 1997 by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 97402):
…the power of a praying wife is not a means of gaining control over your husband…In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s laying down all claim to power in and of yourself, and relying on God’s transforming power. This power is not given to wield like a weapon in order to beat down an unruly beast. It’s a gentle tool of restoration appropriated through the prayers of a wife who longs to do right more than be right, and to give life more than get even. It’s a way to invite God’s power into your husband’s life for his greatest blessing, which is ultimately yours, too. You have the means to establish a hedge of protection around your marriage…

Be patient to persevere and wait for God to heal. Keep in mind that you are both imperfect people. Look to God as the source of all you want to see in your marriage and don’t worry how it will happen…leave it in His hands.

Wow, Stormie hit the nail right on the head. I pray that my marriage is blessed by God’s loving and gracious hands and that each of you, whether married or not, experience a marriage completely consecrated to His hands. May He lead your marriage to this place or may He lead a man devoted to Him into your path!

 

2 comments:

Erin James said...

okay girl, this is such a good example and something to learn from - even as a single gal right now, i want to be this kind of wife someday! :) you are such a sweet wife.

... said...

You are such an amazing wife and daughter of Christ! :) Thanks for reminding us all how we need to be in our relationships!!