Praying for our husbands: Romance Edition

This week in our Bible Study we talked about the good stuff. How our husbands need us in the area of intimacy. This is one of the subjects that rarely gets talked about or just pushed under the rug, but has great significant impacts on our marriages. In our group, we were able to discuss how important it is and what the bible says about it. One of the verses that stood out to us was 1 Corinthians 7:4,5.

⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

We learn that our bodies are our husbands and theirs, ours. We both literally possess the authority over each other’s bodies. Are we enjoying each other, are we completely satisfied with each other? God wants us to enjoy our spouse and not deny each other the gift of togetherness in romance. Wives let’s be encouraged to prepare our minds for the special bond of intimacy with our husbands, regularly. Let’s take extra care in our appearance and prepare our bodies for the oneness of intimacy and the blessing that God has graced us with in marriage. 

Devotional: Power of a Praying Wife (Finances)

This week for our study,The Power of a Praying Wife , we talked about His Finances. The study is broken up into various subjects our husbands need prayer for. This week our discussion was extremely deep and encouraging. One of the main subjects of praying for our husband's finances was for God to help strengthen them in their responsibility to provide for the family. Our husbands have a huge responsibility to work and take care of the family, this could become stressful for them. Our prayer for our husbands could be that God will give them purpose while they work and take care of our needs. We read the scripture in Luke 13 where Jesus tells us that God knows our needs, the birds of the air don't worry for food and the lilies of the field don't worry for clothing and God takes care of them. We are worth much more to the Lord! It's amazing when you think about it, everyone around the world has the same basic needs, clothing, food, shelter, these are things that God knows we need, we have to trust that He will provide. The problem arises when we actually convince ourselves the levels of how much is an actual "need." Do we need the large house and expensive cars and clothing or do we convince ourselves to give less so we can have these things? Something to think about.

In the topic of finances, we also spoke of giving to the poor. This was an eye opener for me, a lot of times we have more than we need, if we are eating and sleeping, and have some clothes on our backs, we're more than taken care of. There was a story in Luke 12 where someone asked Jesus to tell his brother to share the inheritance with him, and Jesus said life is not about possessions. He told a parable of a man that had crops that were abundant, so much so that he had no where to store them. He built bigger store rooms so that he would have more than enough, and years later could eat, drink, and be merry. And God called him a fool and said this day your soul is required of you. He spent his whole life storing up everything so that he could use them later, and when the "later" came, he couldn't enjoy it because of death.

This really struck home for me. In our American society it is SO easy to get caught up on preparing for the future and storing, and storing until we never have enough to give. We were convicted about this. Jesus gave to thousands and didn't even have anywhere to lay his head (Matthew 8:20).

1 

Blessed is the one who considers the poor![a]
    In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.

The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.

-Psalm 41:1-3 

This verse speaks of taking care of the poor, giving, and being promised that God would take care of us in our days of trouble. Do we trust God to take care of us, or do we always find ways to not give? Or find reasons why the poor don't "deserve" to be given to. We must TRUST God. My prayer is that we will become better givers, trust God, and know that our life is not tied up in what we have, because it is fading. But also that we can encourage our husbands to not trust in finances, they physically work, but God is the one that blesses us. I am so thankful for my husband's sacrifice and hope that I can be there to support him, encourage him, and be encouraged to serve God in our finances. Be encouraged!

-Nicole


(Affiliate included)

Power of a Praying Wife: God is our Hope (Nicole)

Our second week with the girls went great, we studied the first chapter of the book, and answered a couple study questions. One of the things we're realizing is that in the pursuit of becoming a better prayer warrior for our husbands, God works on our hearts personally!

Praying for your husband isn't just a matter of praying for his faults and hoping he gets better it's about confessing your own sins, and praying specifically for his needs. We must see our husbands as beloved sons of God! In the same way, we as mothers pray for our children hoping that God protects them and keeps them, we must see our husbands as God sees them!

One of the benefits of praying is the peace that comes from God. I receive a peace with God in relation to a situation I may experience, or attitude I may feel. I'm learning to rest on my hope in God even when I feel hopeless. The truth of the matter is there are moments in marriage that don't go perfect or a feeling that may go awry. But to be able to pray to God for my situation, my husband, my family is a needed thing and one I'm learning to enjoy. Looking forward to next week's topic! Stay tuned!

Proverbs 31

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

10 An excellent wife who can find?

    She is far more precious than jewels.

11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,

    and he will have no lack of gain.

12 She does him good, and not harm,

    all the days of her life.

13 She seeks wool and flax,

    and works with willing hands.

14 She is like the ships of the merchant;

    she brings her food from afar.

15 She rises while it is yet night

    and provides food for her household

    and portions for her maidens.

16 She considers a field and buys it;

    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

17 She dresses herself with strength

    and makes her arms strong.

18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

    Her lamp does not go out at night.

19 She puts her hands to the distaff,

    and her hands hold the spindle.

20 She opens her hand to the poor

    and reaches out her hands to the needy.

21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,

    for all her household are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes bed coverings for herself;

    her clothing is fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is known in the gates

    when he sits among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them;

    she delivers sashes to the merchant.

25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,

    and she laughs at the time to come.

26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,

    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

27 She looks well to the ways of her household

    and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;

    her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women have done excellently,

    but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

    and let her works praise her in the gates.

New Bible study! (The Power of a Praying Wife)

Me, Alouse, and a couple of our girlfriends have started a study by Stormie Omartian called The Power of a Praying Wife . I'm so excited about it! Praying is one of those things for me that is a little challenge. I know that prayer changes things, but sometimes I just need a reminder as to how to pray, or even why we pray. So far we've read the introduction to the book, and boy did we have a discussion! One of the things that stuck out to me was being intentional about praying for our husbands needs. Many times we live life, and we see our husbands, and they see us, and we just assume everything is okay. But our husbands need our prayers! They have a lot of responsibility, and we are helping them in a big way by praying for what they need to the God who is actually able to change things. The one thing I am good at is pointing out the things that I see are "wrong" with my husband, and many times, saying these things are discouraging. Prayer is communication. Communication with the Most High, who knows exactly how we feel, what we need, and how to comfort us in every moment. With that, I'm excited to get into the meat of it, Chapter 1 starts next week, Mondays are our days to discuss, so look out for the updates!

(Affiliate link included)

Feel free to join us in this study!

To Live is Christ

One of the things that both Alouse and I are making a practice of, is reading God's word together before we get started with our daily activities. For the next few weeks we're focusing on reading the book of Philippians. This week, our reading of Philippians 1:19-30 stuck out in a big way. Paul was writing to the Christians of Philippi encouraging them to stay faithful in Christ, even in the face of danger, to trust the Lord. He also spoke of his work in Christ, even in prison not being in vain, but to the glory of God whether he was freed or not. Paul was so confident in his relationship with Jesus that he desired to be with Jesus, so in dying he knew that being with Jesus would be his gain. He did however see the purpose of being freed, it being more for their hope and benefit as he encourages them in their faith. His encouragement to them was to live a life worthy of God, and to remember to walk this faith together as Christians. The verse that specifically spoke to us was Philippians 1:28-29,

" And not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ that you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake"

This at first was a little confusing as to what he was actually referring to, but after meditating on this verse and speaking through it, we realized that there's nothing to fear, even with all that's going on in this world today, God is our hope.

We should not fear man, the struggles of this life, or what tomorrow will bring, even death itself, because living a life without God is no life at all. We were pondering this and really encouraged because you think of instances where people die for the sake of Christ, and through that you know God was glorified, but then you ask yourself, what if it was me?

So in the face of persecution, if a person were to ask you to deny Christ to live, would you? Would I? And we came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it because even if you were to deny him, you would risk losing your life and having denied Christ thus risking losing everything. Or living, but to be a servant to someone that doesn't care about you, love you, or would make your life miserable. Would I prefer serving a ruthless master or serve the true and living God.

The reality is we're all serving a master, its the matter of WHO that master is. We choose to fear God and God alone. Sharing with Paul the attitude that

"To live is Christ and to die is gain. Phillippians 1:21"

We encourage you today, to stay faithful in Christ and always remember no matter what tomorrow will bring, we, as Christians, are all servants of Christ, and that our salvation is secure in Him.

Praise be to God for his loving kindness, steadfast love, grace, mercy, and our risen Savior!
-Amen