Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Privilege of Prayer

With Valentine's Day approaching, there are hearts everywhere.  The stores have been decorated since just after Christmas and I'm now decorating at the preschool.  This has me thinking a lot about love, and of course thinking about what to do for Hubby for Valentine's Day.  It has also reminded me of things I have done for him on Valentine's Day in the past.

When Hubby and I were dating, a friend suggested that I read the book "The Power of a Praying Wife," by Stormie Omartian.  She said that although we weren't married, it would be a great thing to read through this book and pray for him in these specific ways.  So I bought the book and began to look through it.  If you aren't familiar with the book, it has 30 chapters, each with a different prayer focus.  Conveniently, most months have at or around 30 days in them.  It just so happened that I got the book about a month before Valentine's and decided that as I prayed for him, I would keep a journal of those prayers.  For Valentine's Day I gave him the journal with all of the prayers in it.  It was a wonderful surprise for him as he realized that my prayers weren't a general "please be with him" every day, but that I had been praying for specific things for him in all areas of his life.  It changed our relationship in a very good way because it opened up conversation about how we could pray for each other, but also we started praying together more.  We were long distance dating, living 4 hours away from each other at the time and it brought us closer together. 
A week after we were married, my mother-in-law gave me another copy of this book.  She didn't know I already had one, nor did she know of the impact this book had had on our relationship.  It was such a sweet gesture and I still use the book she gave me.  We've been married almost 9 years now and I have prayed through this book many times.  I still pull it out and go through it and it's always fresh because life circumstances change and you never know how God will work through it. 

So here I begin again with the Power of a Praying Wife.  It is such a privilege to come before the throne of God and ask these things for my Hubby, who works so hard to provide for our family and is the head of our household.  Won't you join me in praying for your Hubby too?

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