The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional (17 page)

L
ORD
, I pray You would deliver my husband from all fear. Whenever he is controlled by fear, liberate him to know You in such depth that Your love perfects him and casts out all fear. Keep him from making decisions motivated by fear rather than being led by Your Spirit. Take away any fear that oppresses, alters, or limits his life. Help him to understand that freedom is found in Your presence. I pray that when he is set free, he will recognize it is You who liberated him and he will give You the glory. I know that when You set him free, he is free forever.

I pray You would set
me
free from all fear as well. Wherever Your love has not been perfected in me so that I am free from all fear, I pray You would overflow me with Your liberating love that brings wholeness. Help me to overcome all my fear so I can be a support and encouragement to my husband in overcoming his. I know fear indicates a lack of faith in Your ability to take care of us. Strengthen our faith to believe that we have not received the spirit of bondage (Romans 8:15). Instead, we have received a Savior who loves us to wholeness.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

30

Submit to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

J
AMES
4:7

W
E ALL HAVE A SPIRITUAL ENEMY.
For those who don’t know or believe that, their ability to identify the enemy’s work in their lives and resist it will be nonexistent. The enemy wants to destroy marriages because God has joined together the people in them in order to glorify Him.

The enemy comes “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). He is the author of lies. “He is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). By enticing you to believe his lies, he can steal your joy, kill your love, and destroy your relationship. He will speak thoughts into your mind that contradict the Word of God, that play on your insecurities and doubts, and cause miscommunication between you and your husband. He will feed you suspicious and critical thoughts and try to make you think that his lies are true and that God’s truth is a lie.

When something happens between you and your husband to undermine or threaten your marriage, ask God to help you discern how much is due to works of the flesh and how much is the plan of the enemy in operation. Then take steps to resist both. Pray often that you and your husband will have the ability to recognize the enemy’s lies. In order to do that, you must have a clear knowledge of God’s truth. So fill your mind and soul with His Word. Ask Him to show you clearly what is true and what is not. Keep praying and God will reveal this to you. Resist the enemy by choosing to live in obedience to God’s ways and by worshipping God for who He is. The enemy hates that and has to flee from you.

My Prayer to God

L
ORD
, I pray You would help my husband and me to discern the lies of the enemy—especially when there is strife or tension between us. Open our eyes to recognize any spirit of division or confusion as the enemy’s plan to divert us away from the plans of God. On behalf of my husband, I submit our lives to You. Help us to surrender to You in every way and choose to live according to Your laws. Teach us to submit to You by reading and speaking Your Word so that it is implanted in our hearts and becomes part of our lives as we live in obedience to it. Help us to submit to You in prayer, in praise, in worship, and in gratitude.

I pray whenever my husband and I have a disagreement that turns to strife, or have unholy attitudes, suspicions, and criticisms that destroy our unity, that we will stop and say, “Enough! We refuse to allow any spirit other than the Holy Spirit to have a place of influence in our lives.” Thank You, Lord, that You have given us victory over all the plans of the enemy. Thank You that he has to flee from our lives when we expose his plans to the light. Give us both wisdom to identify the enemy’s work in our lives and the power to resist him.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

31

She watches over the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many daughters have done well,
but you excel them all.”

P
ROVERBS
31:27-29

E
VERY WOMEN
—married or not—wants to excel in all she does. Whether her work is to take care of children and manage her house, or she is a highly paid CEO of a corporation—or somewhere in between—she wants to do it effectively. Don’t ever underestimate the importance of the work you do to build your home. Even if you are working full time at a job outside your house, or you are not working outside your home at all, everything you do
in
your home is important and you want to do it well.

If you find fulfillment, purpose, joy, and reward in each day’s work, you gain strength instead of being depleted. You are excited about life instead of lethargic. You are more interesting and enjoyable to be around. The way to excel in all you do is to submit your work to the Lord. He can take even the most difficult, challenging, or boring aspects of it and turn it into something meaningful and productive.

Every woman wants to be a great wife, mother, creator of a home, and worker at a job, occupation, or career, or whatever God has given her to do. This doesn’t mean being all things to all people. It means being your best for your family and depending on God to help you excel in everything you do each day.

My Prayer to God