Currently, I’m reading Stormie Omartin’s book, entitled “The Power of a Praying Husband”.
The book emphasizes the top three areas husbands need to pray for their wives are in the areas of:
- Spiritual life
- Emotions
- Motherhood
In this article, I’m going to focus on praying for your wife’s emotions. The old saying goes “A happy wife, a happy life”. Many men have echoed this saying and acted accordingly, by doing things to make their wife happy by: buying things, avoiding difficult conversations, letting wife have way, etc. A common reaction many husbands have to their wife’s emotions are either avoiding her expressing emotions or becoming defensive.
I believe Omartin’s suggestion; which is to pray for God’s wisdom in knowing what your wife is feeling and discernment on how the husband ought to pray/act in alignment with God’s desired wholeness for her. A husband’s greatest spiritual weapon is prayer for his wife. Ironically, one of the most common reasons a husband may want to pull away from his wife is the reality of not taking the time to know what is going on with her and then knowing how to pray for her.
Unfortunately, many ascribe to idea that it is easier to avoid until emotions have settled than to come alongside her and seek to “make her holy” (Ephesians 5:25-27) in dealing with emotions. The author alludes to this by noting how a husband “is providing a spiritual covering and a shelter for her; to allow the healing process to happen.” (p. 57).
In addition to praying for wisdom some things you can pray specifically for your wife are (p.59):
- She will have emotional stability.
- She will have a clear mind.
- She will not believe lies about herself.
- She will feel secure in your love.
- She will live in the joy of the Lord.
- She will live in peace.
(Omartin, Stormie. (2001). The Power of a Praying Husband. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers.)
