Praying For Your Husband

This. world. is. crazy. And it’s busy. I believe one of Satan’s greatest tactics is our busy schedules - especially as Christians. Think about it. If your schedule is packed full of all of the worlds demands, when do you have time to think about Kingdom things? Get up. Get ready. Get kids ready. Get kids out the door. Get to work. Get home. Go to ball practice (dance class, Jiu Jitsu, book club, chess club, whatever the case may be). Do homework. Eat supper. Get in bed. Start cycle all over again. What time did you take for the Saviour of the World in all that? If you are focused on the schedule, Satan does not have to worry about you being a threat. He knows you’re too busy. He doesn’t even have to worry about you going to church on Sunday mornings. He doesn’t care, because he knows on Monday the crazy starts over and we’re all just too busy for the Kingdom. 

The Hill

Ouch. I know. It hurts. But God calls us to speak the truth in love. Many years ago, I prayed and asked God to break my heart for what breaks His. I remember praying this specific prayer many times during this particular season of life. And I can undoubtedly tell you He answered that prayer for me in the form of marriage. 

Marriage is a hill I will die on because it is something that God cares about deeply. The entire book of the Bible is a love story to his bride, the church. All of this craziness ends with a beautiful wedding feast where we are united with our Lord and I am so excited! I am excited to see my Saviour face to face at my appointed time. And I am excited to represent Christ and the church in my marriage here on this earth. I believe that our marriages are Kingdom work. 

In all of that crazy busy schedule aforementioned, where does our marriage fit in? Seeing our spouses off to work in the mornings and lying next to them to sleep at night cannot be the extent of our marriages. While busy schedules are not inherently bad, intentionality is required in order to thrive in a Godly marriage. Even if you do not consider yourself slave to a busy schedule, life gets in the way and complacency sets in without intentionality. 

Maybe you were in a season of intentionality and everything was going great, but now you’ve slipped back into a rut, a cycle, a day-to-day routine. How can you see your husband as Christ sees him? How can you change your marriage to a force to be reckoned with? What can you do to be a power couple in the ministry of the Kingdom? 

Well… not much. But, God. He can do anything. 

The Basics

Let’s get back to some foundational Christian ideas. When in doubt, read God’s Word.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 

Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter six to put on the whole armor of God including: “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit” (6:18). 

And, of course we have, “Do all things without murmurings and disputing: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.” Philippians 2:14-16

Plus, a foundation for every marriage: “Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” Ephesians 5:33

(Love the Bible? Check out “A Proverbs Prayer for Your Husband” and “Praying for Your Husband” both are FULL of scripture.)

The Change

Gratitude, prayer, humility, respect. These are the pillars that will change your marriage. You can tell me all day long about how your husband doesn’t deserve respect or how you can’t show gratitude when he isn’t leading as he should, etc. etc. At the end of the day, you are going to answer to God for your actions, choices, and behaviors. 

There is a scene in the movie “War Room” where Priscilla Shirer’s character (Elizabeth) is giving Miss Clara a ‘what-for’ list of all the things her husband does/doesn’t do. She thinks Miss Clara is going to read it and see what kind of man her husband is. But she doesn’t read it. Instead she asks the question, “In light of all of this, does God still love [your husband]?” Then she asks her, “Do you?” Elizabeth affirms her love, but also her frustration. That’s when she tells Elizabeth it sounds like her husband needs some grace. She scoffs, “I don’t think he deserves grace.” Miss Clara threw the Bible at her again (metaphorically speaking, of course): “Do you deserve grace?” She ends her speech with, “It’s time for you to fight.” And she wasn’t suggesting she fight her husband. (If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it!) 

(Are you ready to fight for your marriage? Click Here!)

It doesn’t matter if you think your marriage is on the brink of disaster or if you think your marriage is doing great, these things matter. These foundations must be set and they must be maintained. It doesn’t matter if you could fill a notebook with the things you think your husband is doing wrong, find something he does that is good. Acknowledge it. Acknowledge it to yourself. Thank God for that thing and for your husband. Then. Tell him. Be humble. Tell your husband you are grateful. That you respect him because of xyz. 

Once you see one thing, you’ll see another. Acknowledge it. Tell him. Thank God for it and him. The more you see and acknowledge, the stronger your man becomes and the stronger your marriage becomes. 

The Prayer

Your marriage has the potential to do great things for the Kingdom. Time and again in the Old Testament we see kings that did not consult with God before they went to battle. And every. single. time. They lost. Whether or not you have acknowledged it or not, we are in a battle for our marriages. 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

You and your husband were meant to stand together in this battle: side by side, not toe to toe. This battle is not with your husband. It is with the enemy. This world, this enemy is doing all he can to put you at odds with your husband (or at the very least make you so complacent that you just don’t care to notice). You chose to marry him, to become his helper (Genesis 2:18). Your words and actions toward your husband carry more weight than anyone else’s in his life. Do not take that lightly. See that you reverence your husband.

God has placed this burden for marriages on my heart and through that I have created a prayer book for us to pray over our husbands. If you truly wish to change the course of your marriage and strengthen your relationship with the Father in the process, this affordable ebook is the perfect place to start. There are eighteen different topics of discussion and each one comes with it’s own prayer card. These prayers are more than, “Please be with my husband today. Help him be a better Christian.” These prayers are humble pleas through scripture and use the living, breathing Word of God to draw us closer to our Savoiur, and our husbands. 

(Check out my blog post: Respecting Your Husband)

Side note: If you have teenage or young adult daughters, I also created a similar ebook for them! It walks them through praying for their future husbands, which sets them up to enter into marriage with a Godly vantage point and aligns their heart with the Father’s. Check it out! Don’t have daughters? Share the link with someone who does!