Day 317: Weekly Prayer: Your Relationships

I read and prayed through the chapter on relationships in Omartian’s The Power of a Praying Husband. Mostly, she discussed how important it is for you to have good relationships.

She talked about how important it is to have friends who are mature and a good influence on you. You’re very blessed to have many good, godly women in your life, from your mom to our homegroup leader to your friends.

Omartian emphasized the importance of forgiving others, but I couldn’t think of a single relationship in your life in which it seems that one party is harboring unforgiveness. Still, I prayed that God would root out that unforgiveness if it’s there.

She emphasized the importance of having a good relationship with your family and mine. I praised God to think of how gracious and accepting and supportive of us both families have been. The only regret we have is that we don’t get to see either family enough.

Basically, you’ve been so blessed in this area. Keep fostering great relationships!

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Day 304: Weekly Prayer: Your (Wonderful) Moods

I read and prayed through the chapter on the moods of women in Omartian’s The Power of a Praying Husband. How convicting and eye-opening it was!

Often, I don’t take seriously or get frustrated by your changes of mood. Instead, I should be patient with you and marvel at how wonderfully complex you are.

Omartian gave me some good advice for what to do when you get into such a state. She says to (1) pray, (2) ask you what’s going on (but even that needs to be worded carefully), (3) listen carefully, and (4) say one of the following:

a. I love you;

b. You are the greatest woman in the world to me;

c. You’re beautiful when you’re moody;

d. Tell me what’s on your mind, and I promise not to get mad;

e. How have I let you down;

f. Have you been getting enough sleep?

g. What would make you happy right now?

h. I don’t have all the answers, but God does;

i. Do you want to pray about this together?

I actually think I’ll stick with (a), (b), (d), (e), (g), and (i) and repetitions thereof. (c) and (f) seem especially dangerous.

PS: I’ve been dreading even writing this blog post because I’m afraid of offending you or some other woman. I even dreaded writing this post script. So I kept things brief to minimize my chances of saying something wrong.

Day 298: Weekly Prayer

This time around, I couldn’t use The Power of a Praying Husband for my weekly prayer because I lost it. So, I “resorted” to using the Bible as my guide. I turned to Romans 12:9-21, which says that

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

What a wonderful but impossible standard for living! I prayed that your life would accord with this standard through the power of God’s Spirit.

Day 293: Weekly Prayer

For act 293, I prayed through the fourth chapter of The Power of a Praying Husband, which was about praying for one’s wife’s role as a mother.

This is a challenging stage in your life as a mother. I’m gone all day at least five days a week for work and we have three children under 6. That means you’re at home alone all day (nearly) every day with three very young children who (in spite of their virtues) are often whining, scratching, biting, screaming, fighting, running, and tripping. They’re frequently hurting themselves and others, needing food, drink, snuggles, sleep, comfort, and kisses. Basically, they’re dependent on you for almost everything.

Given this, nearly every day when I come home, you’re at your wit’s end and the children are going crazy. So, typically, I keep them company, usually by taking them outside and letting them get some energy out.

I prayed, for my 15 minutes, that you would have the strength and energy you need to care for our children, to meet their needs while I’m at work. I also prayed that God would give you patience and wisdom as you seek to raise them well.

Day 284: Weekly Prayer

I read and prayed through chapter 3 of The Power of a Praying Husband for act 284, which was about praying for one’s wife’s emotional well-being and for understanding when it comes to her emotions.

Although you seem emotionally healthy, I have to say that many times I really don’t know how to respond when you react emotionally to things. I think I’ve tended to downplay those responses, as if you were overreacting or something. But Omartian gave me some good advice regarding how to prepare for those situations:

The best way to approach the matter of your wife’s emotions is to ask God to give you insight into what your wife is feeling and show you how to pray accordingly.

Amen to that.

 

Day 277: Weekly Prayer

I read and prayed through the second chapter of The Power of a Praying Husband, which was about praying for your wife’s walk with God. I prayed that God would strengthen your faith and that you’d make time for reading the Bible and praying. I prayed that you’d be a good example to your family and friends of God’s love and faithfulness.

Day 270: Weekly Prayer

For Sunday’s act of love (6/24), I read through the first chapter of The Power of a Praying Husband. The focus was on becoming the right kind of husband, one who is (among other things) of one mind with his wife, compassionate, loving, tenderhearted, and courteous.

The first is not something a husband has complete control over. Like the tango, being of one mind takes two. However, I can do my part to help us become of one mind: I can pray for that end, that there would be no division or quarrels in our marriage, but that we would continue to share the same purpose of devoting our lives to glorifying God and making him known.

The latter four struck me hard because I need a lot of work in each of those areas. As an example, here are a couple of questions she asked:

Do you ever talk to your wife in a way that would be considered rude if you were speaking to a friend or business associate? Are you kind to everyone all day at work, but then you take out your frustration, exhaustion, and anger on your wife when you get home?

I answered yes to each of them. Although my behavior toward you isn’t characterized by rudeness and I don’t often take out my frustration etc. on you when I get home from work, I still recognize these tendencies in me. May the God of all peace make me a peacemaker rather than a divider in our marriage.

I pray that there would be peace in our marriage and unity, and that we’d be of the same mind and judgment. May I be tenderhearted toward you and   compassionate, loving, and courteous. May I live with you in an understanding way. Praise God that we worship the same God and desire to live under his authority.

Day 264: Continuing My Education

For this act of love, I read the foreword and introduction to Stormie Omartian’s The Power of a Praying Husband since I’ll be using this book as a source for my prayers for our marriage.

Day 263: Weekly Prayer

On Sunday, I again prayed for our marriage and again struggled to come up with content for my prayer. Some readers suggested that I should work through Stormie Omartian’s The Power of a Praying Husband. I’m going to do that. I didn’t use it for this prayer session because the book was suggested to me after the session was already over.