(Source: Spotify)

31 Days of Praying for Your Husband

“She does him good …” (Proverbs 31:12a) 

Bless your husband by praying for him! The Apostle Paul instructed all Christians to pray for one another (Ephesians 6:18). This includes wives’ responsibility and privilege to pray for their husbands. Earnest prayer for your husband is good for him, for you and the spiritual health of your home (Proverbs 31:11-12).

Satan desires to destroy your husband, especially his character and his leadership in your relationship. Trust God through prayer as you daily surrender your husband and marriage to the Lord’s wise, loving care.

Day 1 Pray that your husband will grow spiritually and consider his accountability before the Lord. Pray that he will guard his heart by developing spiritual disciplines—Bible reading and study, prayer, meditation, scripture memorization, etc. (2 Peter 3:18; Prov. 4:23)

Day 2 Pray that your husband’s relationship with God and His Word will bear fruit in his life. Pray that he will be a man of wisdom and understanding, fearing the Lord. (Prov. 3:7, 9:10; Ps. 112:1)

Day 3 Pray that your husband will be humble and quick to agree with God about his sin. Pray that his heart will be tender toward the voice of the Lord. (Ps. 51:2-4; Micah 6:8)

Day 4Pray that your husband will grow in leadership skills in your relationship—protecting and providing for you. Pray that he will lead you wisely and love you sacrificially, so that God will be glorified in your marriage. (Eph. 5:25-29; Col. 3:19)

Day 5Pray that your husband will be faithful to his wedding vows. Pray that he will have a desire to cultivate your relationship as a sign of his loyalty and commitment to you, and as a picture of Christ’s love for the Church. (Prov. 20:6; Gen. 2:24)

Day 6 Pray that your husband will love righteousness and hate wickedness, especially the evils of the culture. Pray that he will recognize and avoid wickedness in his own life, and if necessary, take a clear, strong stand against evil. (Prov. 27:12; John 17:15; 1 Cor. 10:12-13)

Day 7Pray that your husband will safeguard his heart against inappropriate relationships with the opposite sex. Pray that his heart will be pure and undivided in his commitment to you. (Prov. 6:23-24, 26; Rom. 13:14)

Day 8Pray that your husband will work hard to provide for your family, to the best of his ability. Pray that the character qualities necessary for a successful career and ministry will be a growing part of his character—persistence, decisiveness, strength, an analytical mind, organizational skills, positive relationships with people, determination, etc. (Rom. 12:11; 1 Cor. 15:58)

Day 9Pray that your husband handle finances wisely, will have discernment concerning budgeting and investments, and will be a good steward of his money in regard to giving to the Lord’s work. Pray that money will not become a source of discord in your family. (Prov. 23:4-5; Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:5)

Day 10Pray that your husband will cultivate strong integrity, and not compromise his convictions. Pray that his testimony will be genuine, that he will be honest in his business dealings, and will never do anything that he needs to hide from others. (Prov. 20:7; 1 Tim. 1:5, 3:7; Eph. 6:10-12)

Day 11Pray that your husband will have a humble, teachable spirit and a servant’s heart before the Lord. Pray that he will listen to God and desire to do His will. (Prov. 15:33; Eph. 6:6)

Day 12Pray that your husband will yield his sexual drive to the Lord and practice self control. Pray that your sexual intimacy together will be fresh, positive, and a reflection of selfless love. (Prov. 5:15, 18; 1 Cor. 7:3; Song of Solomon 7:10)

Day 13Pray that your husband use practical skills to build your family and make wise decisions for your welfare. Pray that he will serve unselfishly. (Gal. 5:13; Phil. 2:3-4)

Day 14Pray that your husband will speak words that build you and your family, and reflect a heart of love. Pray that he will not use filthy language. (Prov. 18:21; Eph. 4:29)

Day 15Pray that your husband will choose his friends wisely. Pray that God will bring him men who will encourage his accountability before God, and will not lead him into sin. (Prov. 13:20; Prov. 27:17)

Day 16Pray that your husband will choose healthy, God-honoring activities. Pray that he will not live in bondage to any questionable habits or hobbies, but that he will experience freedom in holiness as he yields to the Spirit’s control. (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:31; 2 Tim. 2:4)

Day 17Pray that your husband will enjoy his manliness as he patterns his life after Christ and strong men in the faith. Pray for his physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual strength. (Eph. 3:16; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Cor. 10:11)

Day 18 Pray that your husband will have an eternal perspective—living in light of eternity. Pray that he will reject materialism and temporal values and put God first in his life. (Matt. 6:33; Deut. 6:5; Eph. 5:16; Ps. 90:12)

Day 19Pray that your husband will be patient and a man of peace. Pray that he will not give in to anger, but will allow the Holy Spirit to control his responses. (Rom. 14:19; Ps. 34:14)

Day 20Pray that your husband will yield his mind and thoughts to the Lord. Pray that he will not entertain immoral or impure thoughts, and that he will resist the temptation to indulge in pornography. (Prov. 27:12; 2 Cor. 10:5)

Day 21Pray that your husband will learn how to relax in the Lord and, in his greatest times of stress, find joy and peace in his relationship with God. Pray that he will submit his schedule to the Lord. (Neh. 8:10; Prov. 17:22; Ps. 16:11)

Day 22Pray that your husband will practice forgiveness in your relationship and with others. Pray that he will recognize any roots of bitterness, and yield any resentment and unforgiving attitudes to the Lord. (Eph. 4:32; Heb. 12:15)

Day 23Pray that your husband will be a good father—disciplining his children wisely and loving them unconditionally. If he is not a father, pray that he will find a young man to mentor in the things of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:1-2)

Day 24Pray that your husband will have a balanced life—that he will balance work and play. Pray that he will fear God, but also gain favor with people he knows at work and church. (Luke 2:52; Prov. 13:15)

Day 25Pray that your husband will be courageous in his stand against evil and injustice, and that he will stand for the truth. Pray that he will protect you and your family from Satan’s attacks. (Ps. 31:24; Eph. 6:13; Ps. 27:14)

Day 26 Pray that your husband will discover and live his God-given purpose. Pray that he will offer all his dreams to the Lord, and pursue only those goals that will bring God glory and count for eternity. (Jer. 29:11; 1 Cor. 10:31)

Day 27Pray that your husband will understand the importance of taking care of his body—the temple of the Holy Spirit—for the glory of God. Pray that he will practice self-control by making wise food choices, and get sufficient exercise to stay healthy. (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 6:19-20, 9:27)

Day 28Pray that your husband will be a man of prayer. Pray that he will seek and pursue God in purposeful quiet times. (1 Thess. 5:17; Luke 22:46; James 5:16)

Day 29Pray that your husband will surrender his time and talents to the Lord. Pray that his spiritual gifts will be manifest in his career, at church, and in your home. (Eph. 5:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:4, 7)

Day 30Pray that your husband will serve God and others with pure motives. Pray that he will obey the Lord from his heart, and glorify Him in everything. (1 Cor. 10:13; John 7:17-18; Col. 3:23-24)

Day 31Pray that your husband will recognize the lies of the Enemy in his life. Pray that his attitudes and actions will be guided by the truth as he brings his thoughts into captivity to the Word of God. (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 10:4-5)

Article from Revive Our Hearts 

Tonight we shared our First Date Night from our Book of Dates.  (I gave John a scrapbook of ‘A Year of Memories’ - Memories to come that is, all pre-planned and pre-pd)  It was Spa Night at ‘Cheryl’s Spa’.  We had a great night.  Started out with a candlelit dinner of Steak Diane, Roasted Potato Stacks and a nice green salad.  Then we went into my office where I treated my husband to a nice, long massage.  He doesn’t get them nearly enough and he was due some spoiling.  Afterwards, we retreated back into the living room for some dessert, Banana Cream Pie (from scratch of course) and some coffee.  We tried the new Starbucks ‘Blonde’ blend.  I loved it!!!  It was the perfect cup of coffee.  We enjoyed each others company and watched a new episode of White Collar.  (Love that show) John snuck in a card and a Hersheys Dark Chocolate Bar up on my mantle….  he’s so sweet!

I’m one lucky woman….   Thank you God for meeting my needs, for sending me John to care for me on this journey of life and love.  

Thanks Shelby for keeping Paige for us tonight so that we could have this time alone.  We so appreciate it!!!  :)

Thanks honey for a Wonderful evening….. I love you!

T

This morning I heard that we, collectively, spend 700 BILLION minutes a MONTH on facebook…how many minutes do we spend with God? I know that I have it backwards and will be working on correcting this.

Consider what your very own Marriage Purpose Statement might look like. Think about your man, your marriage and your goals as a wife. Then prayerfully put pen to paper.

A Marriage Purpose Statement is your conscious creation of who you want to become. It outlines your goals as a wife — the things you can do to become the wife you want to be. Like a rudder on a ship, it steers your marriage boat, so that you know where you are heading. Your personal Marriage Purpose Statement can be a letter you write to yourself, a prayer, a poem, a verse or a passage of Scripture. It can be anything that declares your goals for your marriage. It is a statement about what is really important to you as a wife.

I asked the women in my pilot Bible studies to visualize their own funerals. Once they had identified what they wanted their husbands to say about them, I had them articulate the kind of wife they wanted to become by writing a Marriage Purpose Statement.

Jossie, a young mom with four little ones, used her husband’s name, Aaron, as the basis for her Marriage Purpose Statement. She said that she uses her husband’s name a lot and that having his name in her statement would help her think about it often. She wrote:

I will be …

A ttentive to Aaron, to our friendship, romance and partnership in parenting, and to the state of our marriage.

I will …

A dmire and appreciate who he is, all he contributes, and the ways he is growing and being challenged in life.

I will take …

R esponsibility for my attitudes and approach to life in submission to the Lord and in partnership with Aaron.

I will remain …

O pen to growing, learning and investing as the Holy Spirit leads me.

I will draw …

N ear to God and Aaron as we navigate each day and every season.

Another woman in my Bible studies, Alice, wrote her Marriage Purpose Statement as a prayer based on Philippians 4:8-9. She wrote:

Lord, I want to fix my eyes on everything about Gary that is true and honorable and right because Gary is an honorable man. I want to think and act in ways that are admirable, pure and lovely and make a peaceful home for him. I want to be a woman who is excellent and worthy of praise because he deserves no less. I want to put these things into practice — wrapped up with love and infused with a generous supply of humor, adventure and fun. I want to keep learning and working and trying to be God’s best so that God’s peace will be a hedge of protection around our home, our lives and our hearts.

Before you craft your own Marriage Purpose Statement, you might find it helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What would I like my husband to say about me after many years of marriage?
  
  
• What character qualities would I like him to see in me?
  
  
• How would I want him to describe our relationship?
  
  
• What kind of love do I want him to receive from me?

As you think deeply about these questions, write down your thoughts and feelings. This exercise will reveal to you what your deepest values are and who you want to become as a wife. To live your life with the end in view is to align your daily and secret choices with this picture.

Now it’s time to write your Marriage Purpose Statement. Find a quiet place (this will be the hardest step). Get out the notes you took when you reflected on the questions above. These notes describe who you hope to become. It’s time to turn them into goals.

Your personal Marriage Purpose Statement can be a:

• Resolution or declaration
• Prayer
• Scripture
• Poem or song
• Letter you write to yourself
• Acrostic
• List or paragraph

Your Marriage Purpose Statement doesn’t have to sound beautiful or be perfect in any way. This is a personal commitment between you and God, something for you to keep in the forefront of your mind, to pray about often, to use as a thermometer when you are taking your “wife temperature.”

Now that you have reflected on what is really important to you and written down who you want to become, you are on your way to being a wife not by default but by design.

holycrickey:

i’m about to get hippie on you all. plugin air fresheners (and tons of other stuff) have something called  VOC in them. VOC stands for “volatile organic compounds” and they are highly toxic. they are chemicals with a low boiling point.

VOC cause all sorts of problems in your body: infertility (some of you may like that!), headaches, nervous system disorders, memory loss and cancer for both your pet and you…. lots of things. 

i was bummed when i learned about this and unplugged mine. being a packrat i couldn’t bring myself to toss it out and thought, maybe i’ll just plug it in for the holidays and poison my loved ones only a few times a year.

then i had a bright idea:
replace the bad stuff with good stuff: essential oils, which are awesome for you and, sometimes a lot cheaper than the liquid cancer bath and body works sells. 

here’s how you do it.

Read More

Treat your ears right. Listen to this track.

The 4 Minute Marriage Habit:

How to Fall in Love Again in Four Minutes A Day

It only takes four minutes a day to move into a deeper heart place. Four minutes a day to connect, deepen the communion. Live koinonia.

Who doesn’t want a deeper relationship?

1. Four Focuses

Four times a day focus on the love you vowed. When I leave the marriage bed, leave the front door, when  I return to front door, return to marriage bed. These are the four critical archways of time in our day. Touch or whisper a sweet nothing when passing through these gate points, and we walk into hours of closeness. It’s the focus that makes old love fresh love.

2. Four Embraces

Four times a day, embrace. Embrace fully and hold each other’s eyes. That’s all. Repeat four times daily. The one flesh breathes best when the skin pores are close; connected.

3. Four Affirmations

Four times during the day, thank him.

For working faithfully, for hanging up his towel, for putting gas in the van, for making this heart skip a wild beat. Look for the ways to thank him and watch how he moves closer.

(from aholyexperience.com - Thanks Ann Voskamp for sharing)

“ The woman who sets her heart upon God and plants herself firmly on God’s Word will always be fruitful. Her happiness will not be seasonal; she won’t just be up when everything is going right and down when everything is going wrong. She has another source of joy, another source of power that lies deep and undisturbed beneath the environment and away from volatile circumstances. ”

(from little things about God)

I love her so much. She has been such a wonderful daughter and I couldn’t imagine life without her. I love you so much Shelby Lee.