Praying For Peace (and Love, And Patience…)

I love my wife.

Really, I do. We’ve been married for almost 12 years now (come Memorial Day), and I can honestly say that it has been a wonderful, wild ride.

Kim has, by all accounts, vastly exceeded every expectation I ever had for a wife. She is patient, intelligent, compassionate, and incredibly fun. More fun than I could have ever imagined a Christian woman could be. And sexy? Please, she’s got the body of a comic book heroine and the passion of a minx. Rowr.

As a student and lover of language, I understand how profoundly powerful words can be. You can literally build someone up or rip them apart by what you say to them. People might scoff or stick their thumbs up their noses at this notion, but it is absolutely true: our words have the power to harm and the power to heal.

Knowing this, I make it a point to tell Kim constantly (and honestly) the truths I see in her. She is beautiful, in so many ways, but for the sake of time and bandwidth, I won’t try to count them here.

I recently realized, however, that for all my praise and encouragement and spontaneous flower showers, I have neglected one of the most important responsibilities as a husband. I need to PRAY for my wife.

As strong and confident and together as Kim is, she is still susceptible to the doubts, fears and insecurities every woman faces. She can be the most confident, Christian woman out there and STILL be besieged by the inner struggles that come with being human.

So I’ve decided it’s time I did my part. As her husband I consider it my responsibility and privilege to cover my wife daily with my prayers. Prayers for her emotional stability, self-confidence, courage and consistency in her spiritual growth. (And peace… you can never have too much peace in your life…) I know that I can’t meet all of her needs in life. (Sad but true.) But I have the ability to present her to the One who can.

That’s taken a while to sink in. The fact that as much as I love Kim and want to help her in life, God loves her so much more. Plus, He’s able to meet EVERY need she has. He created her, he knows her better than I ever will, and there are areas of her life that are custom carved that only He can fill. The sooner I was able to grasp this concept, the sooner the weight lifted off my shoulders and, thankfully, the sooner I was able to fall to my knees and start the prayer process.

I love my wife. I really, really do.

As I’ve recommitted myself to praying for Kim, I remembered a book I picked up a few years ago. “The Power of A Praying Husband,” by Stormie Omartain. She details in clear, concise chapters exactly how a husband can go about praying for his wife. The chapters are short (i.e. “easy to read”) and to-the-point, so even those suffering from ADD will be able to glean a few nuggets of wisdom out of this. (Or is it ADHD? I get so easily confused and distrac…… wow, look at that bright light…. pretty…..)

So husbands, if you’re reading this and you find yourself in the same boat of not praying for your lady – bail out now. It’s never too late. And ladies, if you have a sneaky suspicion that your man doesn’t fill his daily Cup O’ Prayer with a dash of his Sweet Spouse… well…. ah…. send him this link so you can guilt him into it….

Nah, just kidding. That’d only make things worse (plus, I’d probably get a healthy share of hate mail…) Why not turn the tables and pray for HIM, instead? And if you pray for him to begin praying for you.. Well…, it’ll just be one never-ending, recycling prayerfest, now, won’t it? Boy howdy.

Lastly, for those of you who get your jollies by being “challenged” in life… ahem… “I hereby challenge you to start praying for your wife on a daily basis.”

There. Go to it. Let’s change the world, one wife at a time…

Kevin