The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional (50 page)

L
ORD,
I pray that sexual temptation will not find a place in my husband’s mind, for You have said that even looking at a woman with thoughts of lust means a man has committed adultery in his heart. I pray that any attack of the enemy upon his mind in regard to this will be stopped immediately. Take away the source of temptation, whether it’s a person or an image he has seen. Give him wisdom to recognize it as a trap to destroy his life. Give him the strength to reject it.

Show me how I can build up my husband in every way by showing appreciation, interest, desire, and support. Show me how to keep him fulfilled in his mind, heart, and body so that he isn’t out in the world empty and exposed to the spirit of lust that infects it. Help me to not withhold myself from him in any way, for I know that displeases not only him but You as well. Give him the commitment of heart to honor our marriage in every way. Keep him from entertaining a secret life, even in his mind. Bring to light all lustful thoughts and help him to reject them. Reveal to me anything I need to see, and show me how to pray specifically. Free us from this enemy invasion.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

96

Blessed is the man who endures temptation;
for when he has been approved,
he will receive the crown of life
which the Lord has promised
to those who love Him.

J
AMES
1:12

G
OD
’
S PROMISE IS
to give us “the crown of life” when we endure all kinds of temptation. That means resisting temptation must become a way of life. And in these times and in our society, there are few places we can go to avoid being tempted. We are faced with temptation to look at things we shouldn’t and do things we must not do. We all have the enemy of our soul searching through our weaknesses in order to find a way to destroy us. We have our own desires drawing us away from God and His ways. With the world, our flesh, and the devil constantly working against us, we must be extra vigilant in prayer.

We all have some susceptibility or insecurity that makes us vulnerable to temptation of some kind, and it can overwhelm us at any time. But we can fortify ourselves daily in the Lord in order to resist it. The reward for resisting temptation is that we receive God’s blessings and long life. We also ultimately receive the crown of life for eternity. This is the greatest incentive, for who doesn’t want that?

You and your husband want to receive all God has for you. So pray that God will help you both stand strong in resisting every temptation to do, think, or say anything that you know doesn’t please Him. Specifically name before Him the areas where you are most tempted to stray from His best for you. Ask Him to take away all desire for anything that doesn’t add to your life, and replace it with a desire to do only that which glorifies Him.

My Prayer to God

L
ORD,
I pray You would take away all temptation in my husband’s life, and in my life as well. Remove any ungodly desires we have and help us to resist them. I know the enemy of our souls works to destroy us through temptation to violate Your laws, so I pray You would strengthen us to resist him at all times and in all places. Keep us from having weak moments and succumbing to them. Put impenetrable layers of Your protection around us, so that the temptations of the culture that are so readily accessible cannot penetrate our hearts, minds, and souls.

Reveal areas of temptation we are not seeing that can become a threat to us in the future. Open our eyes and keep us undeceived. Help us to see Your truth in every situation so that we don’t fall unwittingly into any traps. Enable us to spot the pitfalls before we come close to stumbling into them. Where either of us has fallen into temptation of any kind, I pray we would confess that before You, repent of it, be forgiven, and set free. Deliver us from the tempter and enable us to stand strong against all that is not Your will for our lives. Help us to stay on the path You have for us each hour of every day, knowing we will receive “the crown of life” as Your reward when we do.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

97

Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God;
and everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God.
He who does not
love does not know God, for God is love.

1 J
OHN
4:7-8

H
OW MANY TIMES
have we heard someone going through a divorce say, “We just fell out of love with each other”? True and lasting love is not a condition people fall in and out of, depending on the circumstances. A person may fall in love, but it’s not
true
love until a commitment is made.

The kind of love that makes a marriage work is sustained by God when an effort is made to commit to keeping love alive and growing deeper. That takes having the love of God in us, and it takes prayer. Because on those days when you don’t
feel
love—and even the greatest loving couples have times when they don’t
feel
love—you still have to
show
love. True love is not what you
feel
every moment of every day anyway; it’s what you commit to, and what you seek God for more of than you have on your own. God’s love is great and unconditional and unfailing. God’s love keeps a marriage together when our own love fails.

We who know the Lord have the distinct advantage of being able to love our spouse at all times—even when we don’t feel like it—because we are born of the God of love and His Holy Spirit of love resides within us. God’s unconditional and unfailing love can override our feeble and fickle love—the love we can fall in and out of if something doesn’t go the way we want. The love of God is fresh in you every day when you walk with Him. He can stir love
in
you that you didn’t know you were capable of having. And His love
in
you will manifest
through
you at times when your human love loses strength.

My Prayer to God