Thursday, January 26, 2012

Husband Prayers: Day 20


Day 20: Praying for His Attitude

Lord, you care about every aspect of my husband, even his attitude, which is a reflection of his heart.  You say, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matt 5:8)  And “out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45b)  You aren’t looking for a superficial attitude change, but a heart change that comes from faith in you.   

Teach my husband to be content in all circumstances (Phil 4:11) and to be filled with your love, which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  (I Cor 13:7)  Help him not to be worried or anxious about anything in his life.  Instead, cause him to bring it to You in prayer, thanking You for Your faithfulness.   

Then, Lord, fill him with Your peace that is beyond comprehension, that guards his heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  (Phil 4:6-7).  Even today, may he enter your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise, giving you thanks and praising your name!

 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
       but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22

All the days  of the afflicted are bad, but one with a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
 Proverbs 15:15
Praise the LORD.  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 106:1

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Luke 6:45

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Husband Prayers: Day 19


Day 19: Praying for His Past

Lord, there are times when I wish we had a rewind/erase button for our lives.  But what has been done cannot be undone.  There are things in my husband’s past that he regrets and wishes he could change.  There are things that happened to him that left scars that affect who he is today.  There are habits he has formed that are difficult to break. 

Lord, you provide so much hope!  You say that when we are in You, we are new creations - the old has gone, and the new has come!  You’ve created all things new!  (2 Cor 5:17)  Release him from any bondage and that comes from his old way of life and renew his mind with Your Spirit.  I pray my husband would be a new man who walks in true righteousness and holiness.  (Eph 4:22-24)  Help my husband forget all the things that are behind him, and instead, reach out for the things ahead of him.  Specifically, give him a focus of his future goal, things yet to come, rather than the past.  Help him fix his mind on You, Jesus, and Your return. (Phil 3:13-14)


Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Phil 3:13-14

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Husband Prayers: Day 18


Not all of us have children, but we can pray for the fathers we know, our own father, or even the father we want our husband to be!


Day 18: Praying for His Fatherhood

Dear Lord, I pray for my husband as a father.  Help him to grow close to you, his Heavenly Father, so that you are his example of how a father should be.  May the fruits of Your Spirit be evident in his life, especially by his children: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control. 

Give him wisdom in disciplining our children correctly.  I pray that he doesn’t avoid discipline when it’s needed, but instead is diligent in disciplining.  Please keep him from the other extreme, constantly provoking his children to anger.  Please guide him in raising them up in the discipline and instruction of you. 

Help him balance his life between work and family time, not going to either extreme.  Show me where I can help in both areas, not demanding or nagging, but by prayerfully coming to you in prayer. 

If there is division or anger between the kids and him, please bring healing.  Give my husband a humble heart to admit when he has been wrong and a strong Spirit to stand firm with what he knows is right.  I specifically pray for this situation _________.

Thank you, again, for being our perfect example of a father.  You are merciful, loving, just, true… show us the way to follow in your steps.


Eph 6:4  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Proverbs 3:12  For the Lord disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 23:24  The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.

2 Cor 8:18  “and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Husband Prayers: Day 30


Day 30: Praying for His Future

Dear Lord, when my husband looks ahead and considers his future, may he see it through Your eternal eyes.  By Your great mercy, You gave him new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.  It is reserved in Heaven for him, who by God’s power is protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  I pray that this brings him great joy, although he may have to suffer for a short time in various trials.  These trials show the proven character of his faith, which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away – and will bring him praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 

He has not seen You, but he loves you.  He doesn’t see You now, but he believes in you, and so I ask that he would rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy and attain the goal of his faith – the salvation of his soul. 

So I pray that my husband would get his mind ready for action by being sober, and set his hope completely on the grace that will be brought to him when Jesus Christ is revealed.  I pray that he is like an obedient child, not complying with the evil urges that he used to follow in his ignorance, but, like You, the Holy One who called him, instead he would become holy himself in all of his conduct, just as You are Holy.  I pray that he remembers to address You as Father, the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, and then live out the time of his temporary residence here in reverence. 

He was ransomed by the precious blood of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was evident in these last times for our sake.  Through Christ we now trust in You, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory.  May his hope and faith be in You!

I pray that he purifies his soul by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love.  I ask that he’d love others earnestly from a pure heart.  Remind him that he has been born anew, not from perishable, but from imperishable seed, through Your living and enduring word.  Everything else will fade away, but Your Word will endure forever.  Thank you! (I Peter 1)


But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
I Cor 2:9

For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you,’  says the Lord.
Jer 29:11-13

For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God  to fill  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully  giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share  in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Col 1:9-14

Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.
I Cor 9:24-27

Husband Prayers: Day 29


Day 29: Praying for His Faith

Lord, you have said in your Word that all things are possible for the one who believes.  My husband believes – but please help his unbelief!  (Mark 9:23-24)  I pray that my husband has faith in You and your promises so that he can please You.  In order to approach you, I pray that he believes that You exist and that You reward those who seek You.  (Hebrews 11:6)  Faith comes by hearing Your Word, so I ask that my husband’s life be saturated by Your Word (Rom 10:17).

He has been crucified with Christ, so it is no longer he who lives, but Christ lives in him.  The life which he now lives in the flesh, he lives by faith in Your Son, who loved him and gave Himself for him.  (Gal 2:20).  Jesus was given over because of our sins and was raised for the sake of our justification.  Therefore, having been justified by faith, I pray that he would have peace with You through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 4:25-5:1).


Matthew 17:14-20
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him.” Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you?  Bring him here to me.”

Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.”

Hebrews 11:6
Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Husband Prayers: Day 28


Day 28: Praying for His Self Image

Lord, I pray for my husband’s self image - not in the way the world sees it, but from Your eyes.  David was a man after your heart, and he pleased You.  I pray that my husband would have that same heart and find favor in your eyes.  Without faith, it is impossible to please You.  I pray that his faith is strengthened, that he believes that You are the King of Kings, and that You reward those who diligently seek You.  (Heb 11:6)  God, wake up his heart so that he does indeed diligently seek You. 

God, You desire integrity in the inner man, and You want him to possess wisdom.  Sprinkle him with water that he will be pure, and wash him so he will be whiter than snow.  Grant him the ultimate joy of being forgiven.  May the bones You might have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from his sins, and wipe away all his guilt.  Create for him a pure heart, O God.  Renew a resolute spirit within him.  Do not reject him, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from him.  Let him again experience the joy of your deliverance.  Sustain him by giving him the desire to obey.  Then he will teach rebels your merciful ways, and sinners will turn to You.  (Ps 51:6-13)


Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Romans 15:1-2

May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.
Psalm 25:21

I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
Acts 24:16

Husband Prayers: Day 27


Day 27: Praying for His Obedience

Dear Lord, our actions matter to you.  You say that if a person is walking in disobedience, his prayers will be an abomination (Prov 28:9).  I have to stop and ask for forgiveness for the wrong I’ve done in my own life.  (Take a moment and confess your own sins before God.  If you need to make something right, do it now!)

You’ve told us extremely clearly that not everyone who merely says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does Your will (Matt 7:21).  You also say that You want obedience before our sacrifice.  (I Sam 15:22)  Please change his heart in any area that needs it so he walks in obedience to You.  I pray that he does not harbor any sin in his heart, but instead confesses it to You.  (Ps 66:18-19)  Make him understand your ways, O Lord!  Teach him Your paths.  Guide him into Your truth and teach Him, for You are the God who will deliver him, and I pray that he relies on You all day long. (Ps 25:4-5)

Remind him to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready for every good work.  Please remind him not to slander others, but be peaceable, gentle, showing courtesy to all people.  (Titus 3:1-2)  I pray that he would walk worthy of the calling he has received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with others in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  (Eph 4:1-3)

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.”
Titus 3:1-2

“If I had harbored sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
However, God heard;
he listened to my prayer.”
Ps 66:18-19

“Make me understand your ways, O Lord!
Teach me your paths!
Guide me into your truth and teach me.
For you are the God who delivers me;
on you I rely all day long.”
Ps 25:4-5

“I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Eph 4:1-3

“Then Samuel said, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams.”
I Sam 15:22

“The one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.”
Prov 28:9