Wives, have you ever thought about the role God has placed our husbands in? He has set our men up as leaders in our homes. He has given them the role of being our protectors and providers. He has asked them to set the standard of love in our homes. Regardless of how your family functions and delegates household tasks, God has given great responsibility to husbands and fathers. As wives, there are many ways that we can support our husbands in those great responsibilities. I love to talk with other wives about how they carry out their role as a helpmate. Many of those ways are the roll-up-your-sleeves kind of support. We can provide a peaceful haven for him to come home to. Cook his favorite foods. Give him time to unwind at the end of the day. Meet his needs for love in a way that he receives it best. Oh, my heart flip flops when I think of the many ways we can help and encourage our men to be the best leaders in the home possible! However, I know I often turn to the physical things I can do and often neglect the spiritual ways I can support him. God has impressed upon me lately that I need to be a prayer warrior on behalf of my husband. As I’ve been more intentional about my prayer support, God has impressed upon my heart three ways to cover my husband in prayer: Before, Beside, and Behind.
Before. We can cover our husbands in prayer before they face battles, asking God to go ahead of them. I clearly remember a season that I failed to go before my husband in prayer. As a self-employed contractor, my husband naturally experiences slower times of the year. Last year, however, his slow season was coupled with a foot surgery. We knew we were looking at my part-time church staff salary to be our only income for about 6 weeks. I remember thinking in advance, and often worrying about, how hard that season would be for my husband. He’s not a guy who likes to sit still, nor does he take lightly his role to provide for his family. I often found myself worrying what that winter would be like. I looked for ways to encourage, but I missed the opportunity to battle in prayer. I saw the challenging season on the horizon and turned to worry rather than prayer. I missed the opportunity to go to battle before the challenging season even arrived. As a wife, you know what battles loom for your husband. Maybe there is a portion of his day that is always the most difficult. Maybe there’s a day of the week that he struggles with. Maybe it’s a big meeting, a difficult relationship, or an upcoming event. Whatever is looming on the horizon, let it be an opportunity to go to battle on your husband’s behalf before the battle even begins.
Beside. By beside, I mean right beside. Pray beside your husband – out loud. It’s easy to tell my husband, “I’ll pray for you.” It’s entirely another thing to grab his hands and pray with him right then. There is so much power in praying out loud together. I don’t know if anything has strengthened our marriage like prayer has. While you’re at it, invite the kids to join in as well. It shows them your commitment to the journey as well as teaches them to trust in the Lord when difficult situations arise. My husband does a better job with this than I do. When he knows I’m facing something difficult, he’ll gather the kids around me and they will pray for me. I never walk away from those times of prayer without feeling strengthened, not to mention loved, appreciated, and supported. Praying beside my husband is a growing edge for me, but the more I seize those moments, the easier and more natural it becomes. Look for ways this week to pray beside your husband.
Behind. The last vantage point of praying for my husband is praying behind, or bringing closure to a season, situation, or event in prayer. Often praying behind my husband means giving God thanks for the ways He has been at work. It’s thanking God for answered prayer. It’s a praise offering to God for what He has done in a season, a situation, or the ongoing journey of my husband’s life. We can’t forget to acknowledge the great things God is doing in our husbands and celebrate those things. Occasionally, though, praying behind means surrendering a dream, a request, a situation that didn’t turn out as we had hoped. In these times, praying behind means that I need to surrender to His will. It may be asking God to show us what He wants us to learn. It might mean recommitting to trust Him even when we don’t understand all that He’s allowing. Regardless of what you’re facing, praying behind our husbands is acknowledging God’s sovereignty and giving Him full surrender of our lives.
Before, Beside, and Behind. How will you cover your husband in prayer this week?
Jamie Wyse is a Contact Mom for Christian Family Heritage and lives in Ohio.
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