Before we got married, I had two challenges to pray for Josh & I’s marriage and for him as a husband. I can honestly say that over the course of 1 month of praying I saw so much of the Lord’s hand in our lives that it forever changed the way I think about prayer.
The first challenge came at the request of the hostess for my bridal prayer shower. It was my first prayer shower and I loved that it was such a unique idea for a shower, but I could have never imagined how impactful it would be to our future. Before the shower, the hostess asked me to send in a list of 31 prayers for Josh and I’s marriage. Looking back, her request was an amazing blessing and made me really consider 2 things :
What do I really want for our marriage?
Have I been taking these things to the Lord in prayer?
Josh and I talked about the major areas of our future that we wanted to cover in prayer and listed a few specifics under each one. At the shower, there was a calendar that they had written all the requests out on for the month before the wedding. Each guest signed up for a day or 2 to prayer for us for a specific request on a specific day! I cannot tell you how it felt to know that so many of these women who had prayed for me & guided me as I had grown up (physically or spiritually) would be lifting us up to the Lord in prayer for the whole month leading up to the wedding!
This emphasis on prayer and preparation for our marriage was a wonderful reminder during a time, when so many other tedious things start taking over! It can be so easy to skip prayer, even for some of the most important things like the coming together of 2 lives, when things get crazy. I am so guilty of this. Even as I started writing this post I realized how much I have been neglecting praying for our marriage and each other. My goal is for us to take 1 item each day and say a prayer together before bed. They are short enough for a quick prayer, but can also be the jumping off point for a longer prayer session. Use my list (there is a free printable in the freebies library!) to use as you pray or to give you some ideas for your own list!
Our Relationship :
• That we would embrace our roles as Servant Leader & Strong Helper.
• That we would always pursue each other hearts.
• That we would communicate regularly, listen well.
• That we would adjust well to living together. And be respectful of each other’s ways.
• That we would love and serve the other person according to their needs.
• For our romantic life that we would view it in the way God designed it, that we would connect regularly and serve one another through it.
Our Future Children :
• That we would be able to have children when we are ready.
• For easy and healthy pregnancies
• That our children would be healthy – sleep & eat well, no sickness, healthy relationships
• For our children’s future spouses.
• That our children would have hearts for the Lord from a young age.
• For strength, grace, energy, and patience for us, so we can parent well.
• That we would rely fully on the Lord to bring them up well.
Our Spiritual Life :
• That we would pursue the Lord daily, through prayer and time in the word.
• For us to be satisfied by the Lord first so that we won’t depend on the other for things that only the Lord can provide.
• That we would draw all of our strength and ability to love each other well from the One who loves us best.
Our Finances :
• That we would be good stewards (not wasteful) of the resources we are blessed with.
• That we would be able to compromise and communicate and figure out how to do finances together.
• That God would bless us financially and we would let that flow through us to bless others.
• That we would set goals together and go after them as a team.
Our Health :
• That we would set healthy habits.
• That we would encourage each other physically.
• That we would be free from injuries, diseases, cancers, etc.
Our Callings :
• That we would pursue the calling the Lord has for each one of us individually.
• That we would pursue the calling the Lord has for us as a couple.
• That we would be active and effective in our daily lives.
• That we wouldn’t be lazy or give up on the things the Lord has for us.
Our Decisions & Discernment :
• That we would seek the Lords advice for decisions, that the Lord would speak to us, and we would have ears to hear.
• That we would be obedient to those leadings.
• That we would make decisions, based on eternity and not just life on earth.
• That we would set and pursue goals that glorify the Lord.
• That we would be able to discern evil or things that might harm us.
The second challenge I received came in the form of the book The Power of the Praying Wifeby Stormie Omartian. The author pin points 31 different areas of your husbands life for you to pray for. Some of them were obvious things to me, but there were others that I had never really considered praying for! For each section she includes commentary about her life, verses that apply, and a prayer for you to pray.
As I committed to praying for Josh daily for month, the changes I began to see were amazing. I saw both how my prayers were effecting him and how they were effecting my heart.
The power of a praying wife is not a means of gaining control over your husband. It’s laying down all claim to power in and of yourself, and relying on God’s power to transform you, your husband, your circumstances, and your marriage.
God rocked my world with this truth during my month of prayer. There was an issue that Josh and I were in disagreement about. We talked about it often, but neither one of us would budge. At some point, I decided I needed to stop trying to convince Josh that my way was the right way, and started praying that God would change one of our hearts, so that we could agree. It was probably only a few days later when he came to me and told me about his heart change and he agreed that we should do what I had suggested from the beginning. I was amazed. This was not something I ever truly thought he would decide on his own.
This experience forever etched into my mind what Stormie tells us in her book “Shut up and pray.” I had never considered that my arguments and all my speeches to convince him to change his mind, could actually be getting in the way of his ability to hear from God. But don’t think that this praying thing is magic formula to get your way. I think the key to this is to be humble enough to pray that if your own heart needs to be changed or if there is any error in your argument that it would be your heart that is changed.
Having seen the power that these 2 challenges showed me, I want to propose the same challenge to you! Spend some time praying regularly for your marriage and for your spouse! I love there there are 31 prayers for each, so you can switch it up each month, just to keep things spicy :) For instance, one month you could use the prayers for marriage to pray together and the next use the prayers for your spouse to pray individually for each other (she has a book for husbands praying for wives as well!). Or you could pray for your husband alone in the morning and you can pray together for your marriage at night!
Prayers for your Husband printable is in the Freebies library too!
For my single gals, do not wait until you are with someone to start praying these prayers! The time that you invest prayering for your future marriage will not be wasted. You may have heard me share before that I used the “my loves” section in my Val Marie Paper prayer journal for my future husband! It has been so fun to go back and read through tons of these with Josh and to hear what was going on in his life during those months!
Great post;) I am a fan of the Power of a Praying Wife series—-Stormie has lots of books with that title (including one for husbands to pray for wives! I gave that to my husband!)! I have read that book over and over and over, highlighting and adding special prayers and scriptures each time. I love it x10000000000!
I do have one question: how can I get that free printable that you mention? I go to the “freebies” page and it asks for a password. I am not sure what it is?! :)
THANK YOU for sharing! May God bless your marriage- and may you see changes in your marriage (and in YOU) as you pray for your husband/marriage <3
I got the one for my husband too!!!
Sign up for the newsletter in the top bar of the website (the top 3 lines on mobile!) and you will be sent the password through an email!
Hope you love using them :) I searched high and low for a printable with Stormie’s prayers, so when I designed one for me I wanted to share cause I figured other people might be doing the same !
Thanks for your response! I didn’t see it until now. I actually have signed up for your newsletter (but I don’t get it… it’s weird). And when I try to put my name in again, it says there are too many subscribe attempts with this email. EH! Oh well.
THANKS for sharing and for trying to help :) I hope you are enjoying married life and that prayer book- it’s the best <3
The Freebies Library needs a password.. help a sista out — I would LOVE a prayer for marriage guide!!
Lol! Sign up for the password in the top bar!!!
Great post;) I am a fan of the Power of a Praying Wife series—-Stormie has lots of books with that title (including one for husbands to pray for wives! I gave that to my husband!)! I have read that book over and over and over, highlighting and adding special prayers and scriptures each time. I love it x10000000000!
I do have one question: how can I get that free printable that you mention? I go to the “freebies” page and it asks for a password. I am not sure what it is?! :)
THANK YOU for sharing! May God bless your marriage- and may you see changes in your marriage (and in YOU) as you pray for your husband/marriage <3
I got the one for my husband too!!!
Sign up for the newsletter in the top bar of the website (the top 3 lines on mobile!) and you will be sent the password through an email!
Hope you love using them :) I searched high and low for a printable with Stormie’s prayers, so when I designed one for me I wanted to share cause I figured other people might be doing the same !
Hey Natalie;)
Thanks for your response! I didn’t see it until now. I actually have signed up for your newsletter (but I don’t get it… it’s weird). And when I try to put my name in again, it says there are too many subscribe attempts with this email. EH! Oh well.
THANKS for sharing and for trying to help :) I hope you are enjoying married life and that prayer book- it’s the best <3