The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional (48 page)

L
ORD
, I want to be like the “virtuous wife” described in Your Word (Proverbs 31:10-31). Help me to be trustworthy so that there is “no lack of gain” for my husband and me. Teach me to be wise with money and to work diligently to help provide for our family. Help me to give to those in need, and to prepare for the future so that we won’t ever need to fear it.

I pray I will be an asset to my husband and will contribute to his good reputation. Enable me to develop marketable skills I can use to help bring in finances. Help me to be kind with the words I speak to him and to others so that I am always a blessing to them. I especially pray that because I reverence You, Lord, my husband will see Your beauty in me. Bless all the work I do, and may the fruit of my hands inspire the respect and admiration of my husband.

I ask You to be in charge of my life, for I know I cannot do everything right without Your miraculous enablement. Every day I pray You will help me do something good for my husband, something good for my home, something good for my children, something good for others, and something good for myself. Help me to do good and not evil all the days of my life.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

92

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a
harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue
of the wise uses knowledge rightly,
but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

P
ROVERBS
15:1-2

H
OW MUCH DAMAGE
has been done to others by the words certain people have spoken to them? How much hurt has been inflicted on
you
by the thoughtless, careless, or inconsiderate words of another person? How many times have ill-chosen words you or your husband said to each other stirred up hurt or discontent in your marriage? If he would have given you “a soft answer” instead of “a harsh word”—or if you would have said accepting words instead of rejecting words to him—how much better would your relationship be?

Ask God to help you be wise and not foolish with your words at all times, but especially with what you say to your husband. And if it is you who is the frequent recipient of hurtful words from your husband, pray that he will not foolishly tear down his marriage with speech that destroys. Pray that God will give him a softened heart, out of which pours words that build up and not tear down.

Ask God to help you make your first reaction to any harsh words your husband says not be more harsh words, but rather the soft answer that turns away wrath. This can only come from a heart softened by the Holy Spirit, which happens by spending time in God’s presence and letting Him soak you through and through with His love. Pray your husband’s heart will be tenderized in that same manner, and he will learn to choose his words well.

My Prayer to God

L
ORD
, I pray You would fill my husband afresh with Your Holy Spirit today, so that the words coming out of his mouth will be kind and well-chosen. I know we both have the capacity to say words to each other that are harsh, insensitive, or hurtful. Whatever is in us that causes us to carelessly say something that foolishly tears down the foundation of our marriage instead of building it up, burn it out of our hearts by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Take away our selfishness, pettiness, unkindness, or carelessness, and fill us full of Your love, peace, and joy so that these are what overflow in our words.

Give my husband and me kind, compassionate, and thoughtful words that speak life, hope, and positive anticipation of the future. Help us not to think only of protecting ourselves, but rather to consider each other first. When we need to apologize to each other for words already spoken, free us to do that. Where my husband should speak positive words to replace any negative words he has spoken to me, that are still resounding in my mind, enable him to do that. But even if he doesn’t, I pray You will erase every hurtful word still hanging in the air so that my memory is of good and not evil. Teach him to speak gentle words to me. Help me to always have a soft answer that “turns away wrath” for him.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

93

When the whirlwind passes by,
the wicked is no more, but the righteous
has an everlasting foundation.

P
ROVERBS
10:25

W
HEN WE WALK
with the Lord, living His way, depending on Him, praying to Him, and worshipping only Him, we are able to stand firm and not fall, no matter what is happening in our lives. Paul instructs us to be watchful and “stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). He said to stand in what we know is true of God (Hebrews 2:1), and to “stand fast” in all we have been taught (2 Thessalonians 2:15). He warned us to stand knowing we could fall if we are not careful (1 Corinthians 10:12). He also said to “stand fast” in the freedom we have in Christ and not become “entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

Standing strong is something you
decide
to do. It wouldn’t have been mentioned so many times in His Word if it wasn’t necessary to address this stance in our lives. The success of your life and your marriage depend on both of you being able to stand strong in what is right—and in what you know of the Lord. Ask God to help you do your part by being watchful, by standing fast in faith, by reading His Word, by asking Him to lead you, and by standing strong in obedience to His ways. The Bible says, “The righteous will come through trouble” (Proverbs 12:13). Pray that God will enable you both to live righteous lives.

Ask God to help you stand for what is right and against evil. Ask Him to help you stand unified, and when you have decisions to make, to stand in the counsel of God (Isaiah 46:10). Most of all, ask God to enable you to stand strong in every situation.

My Prayer to God