The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional (18 page)

L
ORD
, I pray You would bless everything I do. Help me to understand all You have for me to accomplish and enable me to do it well. Show me how to find purpose in even the most difficult or mundane aspects of my work. Reveal exactly what my work is to be, and enable me to accomplish it beyond what I know I can do on my own. If I need to make any changes in all I do, show me what I should be doing instead. Give me the energy and clarity of mind to make those changes.

With regard to my work outside our home, help me to find favor with those I come in contact with in the process. Teach me better and more efficient ways to do what I need to accomplish. Help me to have a great attitude about whatever it is I am doing at the time—whether it is maintaining a home, working at a job, or running a business—so that I can always do my best. Above all, I need to have a clear sense of Your purpose in my life and of the gifts You have put in me. I want to know I am always in the right place doing the very thing You would have me do. Enable me to sense Your presence guiding me every step of the way. If my work right now is to establish our home and raise children, help me to find all the great fulfillment and satisfaction You have for me in that. Enable me to excel in everything I do so that I can be a blessing to my family and others. Most of all, I want to know that what I am doing pleases You.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

32

Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.

R
OMANS
12:2

W
E ALL NEED TO
periodically have our minds renewed, recharged, and changed. Each one of us can get into habits of thought that are off, and we may even be blind to the fact that it’s happening. Our thought habits profoundly affect who we are and what we become. If we are more affected by a godless world than we are by the kingdom of God, it will have a profound effect on our marriage relationship, where it is crucial that we have the Spirit of God influencing our mind at all times.

The world encroaches upon us every day in some way if we are not vigilant. Pray for your husband to recognize that and be drawn toward the goodness, greatness, and power of God in his life. While a wife cannot always change her husband’s mind, she
can
pray to her husband’s heavenly Father to bring about a desire in him to not conform to the world’s system of thinking, but rather to the Lord’s ways.

You must pray frequently for your husband’s mind because you don’t know what thoughts can creep into his thinking, sometimes without him even realizing it. If you ever see that his thinking is off or not lining up with God’s truth, pray that God will give him the mind of Christ and change his mind forever. Ask God to renew your husband’s mind so he will not conform to this world, but will instead “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

My Prayer to God

L
ORD
, I pray You would bring about a change in my husband’s mind. Take away any desire for the things of the world and replace it with a desire for more of You and Your kingdom. Renew his thoughts so that they are pleasing in Your sight. If what he is thinking is not acceptable to You, expose that to the light of Your truth. Enable him to see the error of his plans and considerations. Wherever he has gotten off the path You have for him in his thought life, reveal that to him in ways he can clearly see. Don’t let him accept worldly attitudes and mind-sets that will lead him astray. Only You, Lord, know his thoughts. And only You can transform them and line them up according to Your will for his life.

I know how a wrong thought, when it is accepted as truth, can lead us away from all You have for us. Don’t let that happen to him. Don’t let that happen to me, either. Open our eyes to see the truth so we can reject any deception we may be under. Where there is a specific issue that I truly feel my husband needs to have a change of mind about, I ask You to either renew his mind completely about that or show me if am wrong and therefore should seek Your renewal in
my
mind instead. Thank You for giving us the mind of Christ. Help us to rely on You and the truth of Your Word imprinted on our heart.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

33

Many waters cannot quench love,
nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
all the wealth of his house,
it would be utterly despised.

S
ONG OF
S
OLOMON
8:7

A
S
S
OLOMAN SAID
, none of the situations that wash over our lives can put out the flame of love, nor can problems drown it. If you had to give up everything for the love of your life, the wealth you had would be worth nothing to you. And if you kept your wealth and gave up your love, you would come to despise your wealth. Nothing that you have—or have to do—is worth more than the love between you and your husband. That’s why you must make each other a priority.

We all know how easy it is to devote so much time to work, career, business, children, friends, church, or various activities that we neglect each other. In our busy lives, it takes a concentrated and specific effort to stay connected to each other in deep and meaningful ways. But when you both are drowning in exhaustion at the end of the day and flooded with stress and preoccupation, meaningful connecting with your spouse may seem like more effort than you have the strength to put into it. But your love may be drowning and your heart flooded with regret if you don’t. And if love fades or dies, it’s devastating. If that has happened to you, ask God to help you both become each other’s priority again. Even if it
hasn’t
happened, ask God to help you
continue
to make each other a top priority.

If you haven’t been each other’s top priority for a while, ask God to enable you to break that cycle and start devoting time to each other. Even if you feel the marriage has died and it is too late, God can resurrect it. It is one of His specialties. Invite the Holy Spirit to rekindle your love and communication. No matter how busy and tired you are, set aside time together alone. Dinner out once a week is so much cheaper than a marriage counselor or a divorce lawyer. The money you save by not doing that will mean nothing if you lose the love of your life.

My Prayer to God