Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Today decides the next year

My husband has a herniated disk in his back, and possibly tears in the muscle/joint near his hip. For the past few weeks he's gotten different tests done, xrays, and MRIs. Today we get the results.
Here's what's already happened so far....
Our PCS to Korea has been canceled.
He's on a non-PCS list for one year.
He non-deployable.
Each test has caused him more pain.
No medication has worked thus far to take the pain away.

Today we find out....
What's actually wrong.
Does he need surgery?
We get new meds for him.
When surgery and/or further tests will take place.

PRAY!
thanks :)

I love my husband.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Two weeks!

I know... I haven't posted in so very long, and there's still have of the prayer book to be posted. BUT I must share with you that PRAYER WORKS!!! My husband called me and apologized for sending me and our children away...he professed his love for me...vowed he would do everything in his power to be a better husband and father. Only God was involved! It was not my words nor my actions that caused my husband's change of heart. I am so blessed and excited and have such a renewing of faith, it is amazing!
I am not going to continue posting the TPOPW prayers, but know that I did continue them and have since finished the book.
I have a renewed faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ!

I will be moving back to my husband in (if everything goes according to plan) two weeks! Thank you Jesus!

Pray for your husband! It can mean all the difference in the world!
I love my husband!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Prayer 12 & 13

I'm combining these into one post. Yes, I did the 12th prayer yesterday, but I just didn't get on here to post it. :)

HIS PROTECTION

Lord, I pray that You would protect my husband from any accident, diseases, dangers, or evil influences. Keep him safe, especially in cars and planes. Hide him from violence and the plans of evil people. Wherever he walks, secure his steps. Keep him on Your path so his feet don't slip (psalm 17:5). If his foot does slip, hold him by Your mercy (psalm 94:18). Give him the wisdom and discretion that will help him walk safely and not fall into danger (prov 3:21-23). Make him to dwell in the shadow of Your wings (psalm 18:2-3). Be his rock, salvation, and defense, so that he will not be moved or shaken (psalm 62:6). I pray that even though bad things may be happening all around him, they will not come near him (psalm 91:7). Save him from any plans of the enemy that seek to destroy his life (psalm 103:4). Preserve his going out and his coming in from this time forward and even forevermore (psalm 121:8).

HIS TRIALS

Lord, You alone know the depth of the burden my husband carries. I may understand the specifics, but You have measured the weight of it on his shoulders. I've not come to minimize what You are doing in his life, for I know You work great things in the midst of trials. Nor am I trying to protect him from what he must face. I only want to support him so that he will get through this battle a winner.
God, You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (psalm 46:1). You have invited us to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (hebrews 4:16). I come before Your throne and ask for grace for my husband. Strengthen his heart for this battle and give him patience to wait in You (psalm 17:1-4). Build him up so that no matter what happens he will be able to stand up strong through it. Help him to always be rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer (romans 12:12). Give him endurance to run the race and not give up, for You have said that "a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again" (prov 24:16). Help him to remember that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:for the Lord upholds him with His hand (psalm 37:23-24)
I pray that he will look to You to be his refuge until these calamities have passed by (psalm 57:1). May he learn to wait on You because those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). I pray that he shall find his strength in You and as he cries out to You, You will hear him and save him out of all his troubles (psalm 34:6).

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AMEN!! LET IT BE DONE!!!


I LOVE MY HUSBAND!

prayer is working

My husband and i talked for the first time last night!! I mean a real conversation, like a "how are you doing?" conversation. We've a long way to go, but talking is definitely a GREAT first step!
I love my husband!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Prayer 11

HIS HEALTH

Lord, I pray your healing touch on my husband. Make every part of his body function the way You designed it to. Wherever there is anything out of balance, set it in perfect working order. Heal him of any disease, illness, injury, infirmity, or weakness. Strengthen his body to successfully endure his workload, and when he sleeps, may he wake up completely rested, rejuvenated and refreshed. Give him a strong heart that doesn't fail. I dont want him to have heart failure at any time.
I pray that he will have the desire to take care of his body, to eat the kind of food that brings health, to get regular exercise, and avoid anything that would be harmful to him. Help him to understand that his body is Your temple and he should care for it as such. (1 cor 3:16) I pray that he will present it as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You. (romans 12:1)
When he is ill, I pray that You will sustain him and heal him. Fill him with your joy to give him strength. God, I specifically pray for his area of weight, help him to get it down so that his PT evals at work are no longer an issue. Give him faith to say, Oh Lord my God, I cried out to You and You healed me. (Psalm 30:2) Thank You, Lord, that you are my Healer. I pray that my husband live a long and healthy life and when death does come, may it be accompanied by peace and not unbearable suffering and agony. Thank You, Lord, that You will be there to welcome him into Your presence and not a moment before Your appointed hour.

________

All of this is something I have prayed regularly.
I love my husband!

Friday, June 11, 2010

praying with a friend

I gave an old friend the same book that I am going through, because she's in a similar situation as I. And now we will go through this together, as prayer partners. I love her to death! And wherever two or more are gathered, prayer's more powerful!
I love my husband!

Prayer 10

HIS CHOICES

Lord, fill my husband with the fear of the Lord and give him wisdom for every decision he makes. May he reverence You and Your ways and seek to know Your truth. Give him discernment to make decisions base don Your revelation. Help him to make godly choices and keep him from doing anything foolish. Take foolishness out of his heart and enable him to quickly recognize error and avoid it. Open his eyes to clearly see the consequences of any anticipated behavior.
I pray that he will listen to godly counselors and not be a man who is unteachable. Give him strength to reject the counsel of the ungodly and hear Your counsel above all others. I declare that although there are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel will stand (Psalm 19:21). Instruct him even as he is sleeping (Psalm 16:7), and in the morning, I pray he will do what's right rather than following the leading of his own flesh. I know the wisdom of this world if foolishness with You, Lord (1 Cor 3:19). May he not buy into it, but keep his eyes on You and have ears to hear Your voice.

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All of these prayers are so good...and as i get further along in this book, I think each prayer is better than the last. This one is definitely the prayer i want to write out and post on my mirror to pray every morning as I wake up, and to pray as I lay my head down on the pillow. This prayer, affects all others. It affects the choices he makes, which are so important. I too, pray these things for myself!
God, give me and my husband wisdom. May we do the right and wise thing for our marriage, family, and children!
I love my husband!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Prayer 9

HIS PURPOSE

Lord, I pray that my husband will clearly hear the call You have on his life. Help him to realize who he is in Christ and give him certainty that he was created for a high purpose. May the eyes of his understanding be enlightened so that he will know what is the hope of Your calling (ephesians 1:18).
Lord, when You call us, You also enable us. Enable him to walk worthy of his calling and become the Man of God You made him to be. Continue to remind him of what You've called him to and don't let him get sidetracked with things that are unessential to your purpose. Strike down discouragement so that it will not defeat him. Give him patience to wait for Your perfect timing. I pray that the desires of his heart will not be in conflict with the desires of Yours. May he seek You for direction, and hear You speak to his soul.

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I love my husband! Please God, I am struggling in praying! I am struggling about whether or not prayer works... Please God, show me that I am not doing this for naught!
I love my husband!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

i miss him

Basically the title says it all.
I really, really miss my husband.
I miss his smile, not the one found in pictures...but his real, 'i love you' smile. I miss hugging him, lying next to him at night...I miss our conversations, no matter what they were about. I miss the talks about what's going on in sports. I miss him confiding in me about his work. I miss just being with my husband.
I feel like i took so much for granted. Even the things I thought I didn't like, I'm finding that I miss. I shouldn't have taken all of it for granted, I didn't realize that I did... :(
I love my husband! Dear God, hear my prayers! I love my husband!

God is working

In the mail today, I received a gift from one of my in-laws. The book, "The Power of a Praying Wife" and a the first sermon in a series on marriage. The book happens to be the exact one I am going through on here. And the marriage series she is also sending to my husband, so I pray that the power of God fills that cd and is so enticing that my husband has the desire to listen to it.
Also, I just found out that the man that my husband is wanting to have move in with him is a man of God. Thank you, Jesus! I pray that he is a powerful witness to my husband!
God is on the move even now!
I am praying and trusting in Him!
He is all-powerful God!

I love my husband!

Prayer 8

HIS FEARS

Lord, You've said in Your Word that there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 john 4:18) I pray You will perfect my husband in Your love so that tormenting fear finds no place in him. I know You have not given him a spirit of fear. You've given him power, love and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) I pray in the name of Jesus that fear will not rule over my husband. Instead, may Your Word penetrate every fiber of his being, convincing him that Your love for him is far greater than anything he faces and nothing can separate him from it.
I pray that he will acknowledge You as a Father whose love is unfailing, whose strength is without equal, and in whose presence there is nothing to fear. Deliver him this from fear that destroys and replace it with a godly fear. (jeremiah 32:40) Teach him Your way, O Lord. Help him to walk in Your truth. Unite his heart to fear Your name (psalm 86:11). May he have no fear of men, but rise up and boldly say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (hebrews 13:6) "How great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You" (psalm 31:19).
I say to my husband, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold Your God will come with a vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you." (isaiah 54:14) "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday." (psalm 91:5-6) May the Spirit of the Lord rest upon you, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2)
(pages 89-90 in TPOPW)

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I pray all of this in Jesus name!! May the Holy Spirit show my husband Jesus' love!! It is perfect! May my husband no longer see the negative "what if's" and instead pursue the positives that CAN BE! He deserves them! May he find You, Lord, as his Savior!
I love my husband!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Prayer 7

HIS MIND

Lord, I pray for Your protection on my husband's mind. Shield him from the lies of the enemy. Help him to clearly discern between Your voice and any other, and show him how to take every thought captive as You have instructed us to do. May he thirst for Your Word and hunger for Your truth so that he can recognize wrong thinking. Give him strength to resist lying thought. Remind him that he has the mind of Christ. Where the enemy's lies have already invaded his thoughts, I push them back by inviting the power of the Holy Spirit to cleanse his mind. Lord, You have given me authority over all the power of the enemy (luke 10:19). By that authority given to me in Jesus Christ, I command all lying spirits away from my husband's mind. I proclaim that God has given my husband a sound mind. He will not entertain confusion, but live in clarity. He will not be tormented with impure, evil, negative, or sinful thoughts, but be transformed by the renewing of his mind, that he may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (romans 12:2).
Enable him to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (ephesians 6:10) Help him to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let his requests be made known to You; and may Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard his heart and mind through Christ Jesus (philippians 4:6-7). And finally, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, having virtue, or anything praiseworthy, let him think on these things (philippians 4:8).
(page 84 in TPOPW)

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Again, this hits home. My husband's mind is filled with words like "hopeless, no good, failure, impossible, it's over, and why try" in regards to our family. I am praying that my husband will discern these lies and hear instead words like "hope, success, prosperity, possibility, and new beginning." These words are the words of God and the ones that I pray my husband hears.
I didn't realize that I could take on my husband's mind battles too...in PRAYER. That's what this is, I am fighting the Devil with my prayers to Jesus and anyone who joins in on these prayers is fighting side by side with me. My family deserves reconciliation. It is God's will that a husband and wife should love each other and be One with Him. My husband needs Jesus and to be the head of this family as Christ is head of the church.
We can make this happen! I love my husband!

Monday, June 7, 2010

wherever two or more are gathered

The more prayers, the greater the chance of a yes, right?! :) SO many people are praying!
May God hear our fervent prayers and may our payers be in line with God's will.
Your will be done, Jesus! I pray for my husband, anything he needs, led him not go without. Put people in place, Lord, to help him, guide him, grow him, into the man You would have him to be. I love you Jesus.
I love my husband!

Prayer 6

HIS TEMPTATIONS

Lord, I pray that you would strengthen my husband to resist any temptation that comes his way. Stamp it out of his mind before it ever reaches his heart or personal experience. Lead him not into temptation, but deliver him from evils such as adultery, pornography, drugs, alcohol, food addiction, gambling, and perversion. Remove temptation especially in the areas he is most susceptible. Make him strong where he is weak. Help him to rise above anything that erects itself as a stronghold in his life. May he say, I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. (psalm 101:3)
Lord, You've said that whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls (prov 25:28). I pray that my husband will not be broken down by the power of God. Establish a wall of protection around him. Fill him with Your Spirit and flush out all that is not of You. Help him to take charge over his own spirit and have self-control to resist anything and anyone who becomes a lure. May he abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. (romans 12:9) I pray that he will be repulsed by tempting situations. Give him courage to reject them. Teach him to walk in the Spirit so he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
(pages 77-78 in TPOPW)

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Please God, I pray this!! I love my husband!

divorce

My husband made it clear to me today that in one year he plans on filing for divorce.
I'm devastated.

I still very much love my husband!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

devotionals

I'm actually quite impressed with myself. I dont usually stick with devotionals, I'll get one but then put it down after a couple of days. I know 5 days doesn't seem like much, but I have lasted longer than any devotional I've tried, and I plan on finishing this one out. I want change in my marriage relationship, for the better! Me and especially my husband deserves it. God is opening my eyes to things I didn't realize in myself and in my relationship. Things i wish that I would have realized earlier, but the only thing I can do now is pray and do my best at working on myself.
I love my husband and I pray to God that reconciliation is still possible. With God, I know it's possible. I pray that my husband feels my prayers that, somehow even though we are across the country and soon to be across the world, he recognizes something's different within me. I love him and I'm growing close to Christ. I am confidant in the power of prayer. I love my husband!

Prayer 5

HIS AFFECTION

Lord, I pray for open physical affection between my husband and me. Enable each of us to lay aside self-consciousness or apathy and be effusive in our display of love. Help us to demonstrate how much we care for an value each other. Remind us throughout each day to affectionately touch on another in some way. Help us to not be cold, undemonstrative, uninterested, or remote. Enable us to be warm, tender, compassionate, loving, and adoring. Break through and hardheadedness on our part that refuses to change and grow. If one of us is less affectionate to the others' detriment, bring us into balance.
Where any lack of affection has planted a negative view of marriage in our children, or taught them an incorrect way of relating to a marriage partner, help us model the right way so that they can observe it. Show us how to openly confess our errors to them and demonstrate our commitment to live differently.
Change our habits of indifference or busy-ness. May we not take each other for granted that we don't make the effort to reach out and touch one another with affection. Help us not to weaken the marriage with neglect of this vital means of communication. I pray that we always greet one another with a kiss of love. (1 peter 5:14) I know that only the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can make changes that last. I trust You to transform us and make us the husband and wife You called us to be.
(page 72 from TPOPW)

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Wow, this prayer was huge for me. God really pointed out that I was the one who lacked in showing my affection. My husband is amazing at showing his affection for me. He would come behind my back and hold me. Basically he would hold me any time he could. He loved to be close and touching. I did...but then it kind of wore off. I dont know why...a part of me thinks it's the Mirena IUD that I have. But I just dont know.
My husband would ask for me to lay on him on the couch while we were watching TV or a movie, and I would deny him. I never should have, because I was showing him that I didn't want to be close to him...and that just wasn't the case. I never really realized it till now. I pray that, if I get another chance at being my husband wife in his home, I will show him the affection he deserves. He is a wonderful man deserving of the affection of his wife.
I love my husband!!

facebook

It is so difficult to know that the love of your life is online at this very moment, yet doesn't say a word to you, and has said he doesn't want to hear from you.
I'm trying this whole, no contact thing. We shall see...

It's all in God's hands now, truly. I love and adore my Jesus, my Rock, my Savior.

I love my husband!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

reverse psychology

It has been suggested to me to use reverse psychology on my husband. To act like I am getting along just fine without him.
My fear is that if I act that way, he will think I am just fine without him...and he, in turn, will be ok with getting along without me. Which is, of course, NOT what I want to happen.
I understand that for him to want me, he needs to miss me.
Ugh. I miss him...doesnt he miss me?
I'm lonely.
I also realize that I probably look obsessed, but it's because my other half (i believe when you marry and consummate that marriage, you become one) is separated from me.
And I love my husband very much!

Prayer 4

HIS SEXUALITY

Lord, bless my husband's sexuality and it an area of great fulfillment for him. Restore what needs to be restored, balance what needs to be balanced. Protect us from apathy, disappointment, criticism, busy-ness, unforgiveness, deadness, or disinterest. I pray that we make time for another, communicate our true feelings openly, and remain sensitive to what each other needs.
Keep us sexually pure in mind and body, and close the door to anything lustful or illicit that seeks to encroach upon us. Deliver us from the bondage of past mistakes. Remove from our midst the effects of any sexual experiences - in thought or deed - that happened outside of the relationship. Take away anyone or anything from our lives that would inspire temptation to infidelity. Help us to abstain from sexual immorality so that each of us will know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. (1 thess 4:3-5) I pray that we will desire each other and know one else. Show me to make myself attractive and desirable to him and be the partner he needs. I pray that neither of us will ever be tempted to think about seeking fulfillment elsewhere.
I realize that an important part of my ministry to my husband is sexual. Help me to never use it as a weapon or a means of manipulation by giving and withholding it for selfish reasons. I commit this area of our lives to You, Lord. May it be continually new and alive. Make it all that You created it to be.
(pages 65-66 of TPOPW)

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This is one area that my husband and I rarely floundered in. We both love sex. Now, more recently my sex drive has slowed down due to my own anger issues. We still enjoyed sex multiple times a week...but we were used to it daily. I loved my husbands touches and I loved being close to him. More and more though, I stopped being as open to those touches. Which was wrong of me. I want to apologize to my husband for that. He would invite me to lay on him on the couch and I'd refuse. How must that have made him feel? I should have willingly accepted the invitation. I love my husband!

Friday, June 4, 2010

struggling to understand

I'm hurting and struggling to understand why my husband is thinking that splitting our family is the best solution to our problems. My husband has faults, his self-admitted one being that he is selfish. But i dont understand how someone as good as he is and as well brought up as he was, is so selfish that he's not willing to take the steps necessary to keep the wonderful family he has together.
We have two beautiful children together.
I cannot begin to grasp what life he feels he is missing that he is willing to throw his wife and children to the wayside.
I understand that we argue alot. But it's workable, people have to learn to get along. I have shared the negatives that I need to work on in myself on here. He has things that he needs to work on. Isn't family worth that?

I dont want to be a single mom.

I dont want to lie in bed alone at night.

I want my husband to love me and cherish me.

He is a good man, he just has some growing up to do. So do I. But that doesn't mean that, because we have differences and aren't very good at working those differences out at the moment, we can't grow and learn and make a better family together.

What does this teach our children? What am I supposed to tell them when they are old enough to understand?

When my husband determines to be a wonderful husband, he IS wonderful and amazing and so kind and caring and loving and everything any woman would want in a man. He is very handsome.
When my husband determines to be a wonderful father, he IS wonderful and amazing and so much fun! Absolutely a perfect match for our children.

All I can do right now is pray. All I can do is give this to God. And that is so hard to do. We as humans have the need to say or do that 'one thing' that will make everything better. In this case, I need prayer. Dont get me wrong, I have things I need to work on in myself to make myself a better person, but in the case of marriage...prayer is it.
I pray that God will put people into my husband's life that will help him grow into the man God desires him to be.

I love my husband!

why i left home

I have been living in my parents' house for a week now and already I realize why I left in the first place. Everyone is quick to point out your faults and very slow to help. The only way to shut them up is to do the same. I'm realizing that I have learned this awful behavior...not the slow to help, but the quick to point out the faults of someone. Mainly in my husband.
Already I feel horrible here. Already I want to leave and go back home to my husband. I want to apologize and ask for forgiveness for my disrespectful behavior. I was not kind.
It's not that the faults we point out are incorrect, it's that they dont need to be pointed out at all. Unless you are truly trying to help the person. Instead, the way that one's faults are revealed are meant to debilitate and hurt and shut the person up. It is an awful thing that I pray, in Jesus name, I do not pass on to my children. Please God let me overcome this behavior in myself.
Why would any man put up with the constant pointing out of his faults? I should not be doing this, but instead be encouraging and supportive and kind. I love my husband!

Prayer 3

HIS FINANCES

Lord, I commit our finances to You. Be in charge of them and use them for Your purposes. May we both be good stewards of all that You give us, and walk in total agreements as to how it is to be dispersed. I pray that we will learn to live free of burdensome debt. Where we have not been wise, bring restoration and give us guidance. Show me how I can help increase our finances and not decrease them unwisely. Help us to remember that all we have belongs to You, and be grateful for it.
I pray that my husband will find it easy to give to You and to others as You have instructed in Your Word. Give him wisdom to handle money wisely. Help him make good decisions as to how he spends. Show him how to plan for the future. I pray that he will find the perfect balance between spending needlessly and being miserly. May he always be paid well for the work he does, and may his money not be stole, lost, devoured, destroyed, or wasted. Multiply it so that what he makes will go a long way. I pray that he will not be anxious about finances, but will seek Your kingdom first, knowing that as he does, we will have all we need. (luke 12:31)
(pages 57-58 in TPOPW)

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This is definitely huge! Money is tight in my family right now. We spend too much and not moderately. We want to enjoy ourselves...too much. And most importantly, we do not tithe and need to. I am working on a degree at the moment and entering a program that will give me a fantastic job in a year and a half that will help ease the financial burden on my husband. I want to put my finances in the hands of God! they are his anyway, and He's alot better with money than I am!
I love my husband!

my parents' arguments

Yesterday I learned things about myself I didn't really know. My parents said that every time they fought i would scream and cry profusely. Also, my mom, in fights with my dad, would just up and leave for hours on end and I remember always wondering if this was the time that she wasn't coming back home. I almost always thought that the fighting was my fault cuz often their fights were about us kids (or so i thought because our names were brought up).
So I've learned: first, that fighting has negatively affected me since I was little...and let me tell you, my parents fought ALOT. Every day, about seemingly everything. All this from a child's mindset mind you. I cannot possibly truly know the extent of my parents' arguments. And second, that leaving in the middle of an argument has frightened me because I was afraid my mother wasn't coming back. One of the things, in arguments with my husband, I do is...in any way possible, I try to not let my husband leave during an argument. I am very afraid that that time he will not come back. I know and recognize that it is healthy and beneficial to step away from an argument before it gets worse. And thankfully I have a husband who not only recognizes it, but acts upon it. I have harmed our relationship by forcing him to stay and causing our fights to go from bad to worse. I need God's help in correcting this behavior of mine that will not take a time-out in fights. It is absolutely necessary.
Please dear Jesus, help me! I love my husband and i see now where I went wrong in our own arguments. I am in turn causing pain in my own childrens' lives. Help me learn how to argue appropriately with my husband. Help my husband be patient with me and teach me how to argue with him. We will definitely have disagreement, but I desire for those to be productive and make us a better, closer couple.
I love my husband!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

my epiphany

In my first prayer, I asked God to show me my own faults and help me to correct them. Today he showed me a big one.
Anger.
When I get angry, I am very angry, and I dont know how to deal with my anger. Please dear Lord, help me control myself and my irrational thinking when i get angry. Especially towards my husband. He deserves so much better than an angry bitter wife.
I love my husband!

Prayer 2

Now, to catch up!

HIS WORK

Lord, I pray that You would bless the work of my husband's hands. May his labor bring not only favor, success, and prosperity, but great fulfillment as well. If the work he is doing is not in line with Your perfect will for his life, reveal it to him. Show him what he should do differently and guide him down the right path. Give him strength, faith, and a vision for the future so that he can rise above any propensity for laziness. May he never run from work out of fear, selfishness, or a desire to avoid responsibility. On the other hand, help him see that he doesn't have to work himself to death for man's approval, or grasp for gain beyond what is a gift from You. Give him the ability to enjoy his success without striving for more. Help him to excel, but free him from the pressure to do so.
I pray that You will be the Lord over his work, and may he bring You into every aspect of it. Give him enough confidence in the gifts You've placed in him to be able to seek, find, and do good work. Open up doors of opportunity for him that no man can close. Develop his skills so that they grow more valuable with each passing year. Show me what i can do to encourage him.
I pray that his work will be established, secure, successful, satisfying, and financially rewarding. May he not be lagging in diligence, but fervent in spirit,serving the Lord (rom 12:11). Let him be like a tree planted by the stream of Your living water, which brings forth fruit in due season. May he never wither under pressure, but grow strong and prosper (psalm 1:3).
(page 53 in TPOPW)

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I recognize that a man's work is what makes a man a man. And i only want to set my husband up for success through prayer. I want to encourage him and support him in his job. I love my husband!

Prayer 1

I started This book yesterday, so I'm catching up :)

HIS WIFE

Lord, help me to be a good wife. I fully realize that I dont have what it takes to be one without Your help. Take my selfishness, impatience, and irritability and turn them into kindness, long-suffering, and the willingness to bear all things. Take my old emotional habits, mindsets, automatic reactions, rude assumptions, and self-protective stance, and make me patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. Take the hardness of my heart and break down the walls with Your battering ram of revelation. Give me a new heart and work in me Your love, peace, and joy (Gal 5:22,23). I am not able to rise above who I am at this moment. Only You can transform me.
Show me where there is sin in my heart, especially with regards to my husband. I confess the times I've been unloving, critical, angry, resentful, disrespectful, or unforgiving toward him. Help me to put aside any hurt, anger, or disappointment i feel and forgive him the way You do- totally and completely, no looking back. Make me a tool of reconciliation, peace, and healing in this marriage. Enable us to communicate well and rescue us from this threshold of separation where the realities of divorce begin.
Make me my husband's helpmate, companion, champion, friend, and support. Help me to create a peaceful, restful, safe place for him to come home to. Teach me how to take care of myself and stay attractive to him. Grow me into a creative and confidant woman who is rich in mind, soul, and spirit. Make me the woman he can be proud to say is his wife.
I lay all my expectations at Your cross. I release my husband from the burden of fulfilling me in areas where I should be looking to You. Help me to accept him the way he is and not try to change him. I realize that in some ways he may never change, but at the same time I release him to change in ways I never thought he could. I leave any changing that needs to be done in Your hands, fully accepting that neither of us is perfect and never will be. Only You, Lord, are perfect and I look to You to perfect us.
Teach me how to pray for my husband and make my prayers a true language of love. Where love has died, create a new love between us. Show me what unconditional love really is and how to communicate it in a way he can clearly perceive. Bring unity between us so that we can be in agreement about everything (Amos 3:3). May the God of patience and comfort grant us to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus (rom 15:5). Make us a team, not pursuing separate, competitive, or independent lives, but working together, overlooking each other's faults and weaknesses for the greater good of our marriage. Help us to pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another (rom 14:19). May we be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement (1 Cor 1:10)
I pray that our commitment to You and to one another will grow stronger and more passionate every day. Enable him to be the head of the home and You made him to be, and show me how to support and respect him as he rises to that place of leadership. Help me to understand his dreams and see things from his perspective. Reveal to me what he wants and needs and show me potentials problems before they arise. Breathe Your life into this marriage.
Make me a new person, Lord. Give me a fresh perspective, a positive outlook, and a renewed relationship with the man You've given me. Help me to see him with new eyes, new appreciation, new love, new compassion, and new acceptance. Give my husband a new wife, and let it be me.
(pages 44-46 in TPOPW)

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In this chapter, it really opened my eyes to many things. In order to pray for my husband, i have to wash myself clean with God's grace and see the faults that are within myself. You know, the whole take the plank out of your own eye before taking the speck out of someone else's. HUGE! This prayer is dead-on and so yesterday i prayed this with a fervor! And typing it again today only reminded me of the emotional/spiritual side of things that were making my marriage fail, that were on my shoulders as the spiritual leader of my home. (my husband is not a man of faith, but i pray for that too!) I should have been praying for our marriage long ago! I love my husband!

Praying for my Husband

My husband and I are separated as of 5 days ago. I love him with all my heart and would do just about anything to bring us closer together in our marriage. Our marriage has been on the downslide, however. We argue incessantly, making everything, even simple day to day tasks into arguments. It has proven exhausting and my husband has made it clear that he wants out. He doesn't want to be married anymore.
I believe that one should exhaust every source before making the decision to divorce, especially when neither of the two persons is particularly abusive or adulterous. We were going to go to marriage counseling, but our last fight was the final straw for my husband and he sent me and my children packing to my parents house. Now, dont get me wrong, a fight is a two-way street, I did multiple wrongs to get myself into this situation, it is just just simply, we fight, so my husband said it's over...

I was told by a good friend that "A man will let his relationship suffer to keep his sense of self, whereas a woman will lose her identity to try to fix a relationship." Where he had heard this quote, I do not recall, but in the case of my marriage, this is definitely true. And seeing as I can do nothing to change my husband and his faults, I must focus on myself and mine (which i should have been doing from the moment i was married). The biggest more important thing that I took away from my own self, was my faith. Now, I still believe what I believed, but I stopped reading my Bible. I stopped praying. I stopped going to church. My faith was my identity, and I gave it away, only to have my marriage near ruins.
Prayer is huge! And I have determined that I will set aside time every day to pray for my husband, myself, and my children. In doing this, I give everything to God, it's all in His court now. To help me know how to pray for my husband, I've enlisted in the help of a book... "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian. I started it yesterday and already it is a very convicting book. I want to put the prayers up here on this blog each day as a testament to my prayers for my husband. I love him! And I want the absolute best for our marriage.