How a Husband Can Pray for Her Emotions

Posted on Mar 09, 2022 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living
Posted by : Stormie Omartian

he SAYS…

by Jack Hayford

Pastor Jack is the founding pastor of The Church On The Way and chancellor of The King’s University in Los Angeles, California. He and his wife, Anna, have been married for 60 years, and they have four married children, eleven grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. I’ve been asked how I, as a praying husband, have prayed for my dear wife, Anna, and upon reflection, I realize something of a peculiarity. It’s that the starting place for my most significant times of prayer for her has been to pray for myself:

* …to pray that I might perceive her task as she sees it, to appropriately stand with her as support—someone who understands the emotions she is feeling and the nature of the challenge as she senses it from her viewpoint

*…to pray that I may be patient and gracious, “feeling with her,” the same way Jesus is “touched with the feeling” of my weakness (Hebrews 4:15). More and more throughout the years of our marriage, the Holy Spirit has helped me to recognize that to love my wife as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25) is to gain a Christlike sensitivity to how she feels. So as I have prayed for her day in and day out for the more than six decades of our marriage, I have found that my greatest effectiveness is in learning to let the Spirit of God sensitize my heart Anna’s present moment—her tasks, her weariness, her joys, her trials, her uncertainties, or her needs her prayer for me!

Prayer Power

Lord, I am so grateful that You have made (wife’s name) to be a woman of deep thoughts and feelings. I know that You have intended this for good, but I also know that the enemy of her soul will try to use it for evil. Help me to discern when he is doing that and enable me to pray accordingly. Thank You that You have given (wife’s name) a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Protect her from the author of lies and help her to cast down “every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Give her discernment about what she receives into her mind. I pray she will quickly identify lies about herself, her life, or her future. Help her to recognize when there is a battle going on in her mind and to be aware of the enemy’s tactics. Remind her to stick to Your battle plan and rely

on the sword of the Spirit, which is Your Word (Ephesians 6:17). May she turn to You rather than give place to negative, upsetting, evil, or disturbing thoughts. Keep me aware of when my wife is struggling so I can talk openly with her about what is on her mind and in her heart. Enable us to communicate clearly so that we don’t allow the enemy to enter in with confusion or misinterpretation. Help me not to react inappropriately or withdraw from my wife emotionally when I don’t understand her. Give me patience and sensitivity, and may prayer be my

first reaction to her emotions and not a last resort. Although I’m aware that I cannot meet my wife’s every emotional need, I know that You can. I am not trying to absolve myself from meeting any of her needs, but I know that some of them are intended to be met only by You. I pray that when certain negative emotions threaten her happiness, you will be the first one she runs to, because only You can deliver her from them. Help her to hide herself in “the secret place of Your presence” (Psalm 31:20). Lord, I pray that You would restore her soul (Psalm

23:3), heal her broken heartedness, and bind up her wounds (Psalm 147:3). Make her to be secure in Your love and mine. Take away all fear, doubt, and discouragement, and give her clarity, joy, and peace.

In Jesus’ name I pray.