The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional (40 page)

L
ORD
, I know You have made my husband and me to be one, but there are times when our selfish pursuits have gotten in the way of that. Where we have pursued our own interests and not Yours, I confess that to You as sin. Forgive us and keep us from working against Your will in that regard. Give us one heart and a new spirit so that we can walk together on the path You have for us.

I pray it is Your Spirit poured out in us that rules our lives. Only You, Lord, have the power to transform us and take away our selfishness, critical spirit, contempt, disrespect, or separateness. Pour Your love into our hearts, minds, and souls so that it rules like the powerful life-changing force it is. Break the back of any hard-heartedness in either of us. Give us softened hearts that can be molded by Your hand to become what You want them to be. Help us to grow together and not apart. While You already see us as one, I pray You would enable us to walk in the oneness of soul, spirit, and purpose You have called us to.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

76

He heals the brokenhearted and
binds up their wounds.

P
SALM
147:3

T
OO OFTEN WE WOMEN
accept a lie from the enemy as truth in our lives. The enemy tells us we can never get free of negative emotions such as sadness, loneliness, anxiety, fear, depression, feelings of failure, hopelessness, anger, or whatever else. But that is a major deception. And deception will happen to anyone who is not deliberately seeking the Spirit of truth. We need to frequently ask God to help us remain undeceived so we can be free of negative emotions. Negative emotions are the opposite of what God has for us.

King David said of the Lord, “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3). In fact, the entire Twenty-third Psalm is healing to your soul and you should read it often. Being in God’s presence also brings emotional healing because He brings wholeness to every part of your life. That’s why praise and worship, along with the Word of God, is your greatest weapon against negative emotions. When you feel the constraints of negative emotions trying to control you, lift up praise to God and thank Him that He restores health to your soul and heals you of your wounds (Jeremiah 30:17).

Whatever you have struggled with in your emotions, name it before the Lord and ask Him to heal and renew you. Ask God to set you free from all doubt in His ability and desire to heal your soul completely. Don’t settle for anything less than the emotional wholeness God has for you. He wants to restore your soul and lead you in paths of righteousness. He wants you to know that His “goodness and mercy” will follow you all the days of your life (Psalm 23:6).

My Prayer to God

L
ORD,
I thank You that You are the healer of my soul. Thank You that in Your presence I can find freedom from all negative emotions. I lift to You the specific negative emotions I am dealing with lately and ask that You would deliver me from them. Where there are wounds of my soul needing to be healed that I am not seeing, reveal them to me so that I can bring them to You in prayer. I don’t want to continue another day entangled in any yoke of oppression from which You want me liberated.

I lift up praise to You and thank You that in Your presence I can find freedom from everything that keeps me from becoming all You created me to be. Open my eyes so I can see any negative emotions in my life as unacceptable. Work in me Your perfect rejuvenation, cleansing, and restoration of my soul. Take away all sadness, depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, self-focus, emotional pain, and whatever else I am living with that is not Your will for my life.

I know that any negative emotions I have will greatly affect my husband and my marriage. I don’t want anything like that affecting my life, especially when You have a way for me to be free. Keep me from being deceived by the lies of the enemy, who seeks to make me think that this is the way I have to be. Renew me in my mind and soul. Set me free from all negative emotions so I can live in the wholeness You have for me.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

77

This is my comfort in my affliction,
for Your word has given me life.

P
SALM
119:50

M
EN DO NOT LIKE
to be incapacitated. Women don’t like it either, but most tend to be less miserable about it with regard to everyone around them. Pain can help us straighten out a bad attitude, or it can make a bad attitude even worse, depending on how we react to it. No one likes to be injured or in pain, but even in our misery we still can choose to glorify God. The way to do this is by frequently praising God that He is our healer and deliverer, which opens up the channel by which He pours forth healing and deliverance in our life. Your prayers and praise can help your husband not only find the healing and deliverance he needs, but also maintain a right attitude in the process.

The Bible says to “pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). It goes on to say that the “effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Your fervent prayers for your husband have great power and effectiveness. Make it a habit to pray for protection from injury
before
anything happens. When you do that and an injury or accident still happens, the results can be miraculously minor compared to what they could have been.

If an injury has already happened, pray not only for the healing touch of God upon his body and mind, but also pray that he will be able to discern whether this is caused by an attack of the enemy. Understanding this can encourage him to be mad at the devil and not at God. If it is caused by something he has foolishly done, pray for revelation and wisdom about that. Or if it happened through no fault of his own, pray that he not be bitter. No matter what happens, thank God that He is your healer and He can restore brokenness in body as well as in soul and spirit.

My Prayer to God