Did you hear about my issue? That secret struggle I had for so long when it came respecting my husband. I confessed it all in my P31 devotion today. As I shared, I haven’t always been so good at following and trusting my man”s lead. BUT God has done an amazing work in me – and in my marriage – over the past 18 years.
I know marriage can be hard, and trusting someone to lead when there are things you struggle with together is really, really hard. But I also know God uses us in powerful ways to love our men like He does – unconditionally.
One of the best ways we can love our husbands is to pray for them. Praying for JJ has shown me all that he carried on his shoulders – at work, at home, at church, with our kids, etc. It’s also really helped me follow his lead. It assures me that he’s covered spiritually when I invite God to do His thing in JJ’s life.
Of course, it’s up to our husbands to respond to God’s work in their hearts but our part is not based on our husband’s response to God. It’s based on our surrendering and seeking God’s heart for our husbands – and trusting God to lead from there.
JJ has also told me that prayer is the best gift I can give him. Years ago I heard a concept about praying for our husbands – from head to toe. So, today I wanted to share some verses and prayers that fit with that concept:
Head
“Father, I ask that You would continually renew my husband’s mind, resulting in a transformed life. Help him bring every thought into captivity to Christ to make it obedient to You. Give him a greater understanding of Your Word. Help him to think on things that are pure and right and worthy of praise.” (Psalm 119:15, Rom 12:2, 2 Cor.10:5)
Eyes
“Lord, keep opening my husband’s eyes to deep spiritual truths. Help him to see things as You see them. Please guard his eyes from looking at worthless things. ” (Psalm 119:18, Psalm 119:37)
Ears
“Father, let my husband hear Your voice clearly. Help him to recognize your voice with certainty. Protect him from listening to anyone who is not seeking and walking with You. Help him not to be affected negatively by what others say and to discern between good and evil. Give him the ability to determine what is of You and what is not.” (Is 30:21, 1 Kings 3:9, 1 John 4:1)
Mouth
“Help my husband to speak the truth in love. Help him to be quick to listen and slow to speak. Give him the couraage to lovingly confront when necessary. Let the words he speaks be Yours, not his own. Help him speak words that bring grace and truth to the hearers. I also pray that you will help him to grow in his ability and desire to communicate with you and others.” (Psalm 19:14, 119:13, 41:3; Eph 4:15, 4:29; James 1:19)
Heart
“Give my husband a heart that seeks passionately after You. Teach him to guard his heart with diligence. Help him deal with anything in his heart that is not pleasing to You. Create in him a pure heart. Enable him to lead our family with integrity.” (Psalm 78:72, 119:10-11; Prov 4:23; 1 3:13)
Hands
“Lord, I pray that everything my husband does would be done with his whole heart, serving You rather than man. I pray that You will also help him to increase his skills and his abilities. Bless everything he puts his hands to.” (Psalm 24:3-4, Col 3:23)
Feet
I pray my husband would love Your Words and walk in Your ways. I pray He would be to walk in a manner that is worthy of You, bearing fruit in every good work. Jesus show him how to creatively share your truth with our kids as he does life with them each day. Father, when he walks through the valley of the shadow of doubt and difficulties, I pray he would fear no evil because He knows that you are with him. (Deut 6:7, 8:6, Col 1:10, Psalm 23:4)
I have seen prayer transform my marriage and my life. Whatever steps of faith God is calling you to take personally or with your husband, I want you to know that I am praying for you and your marriage today. We have an enemy set on destroying marriages and one of his tools is to pit husbands and wives against each other. I have experienced his efforts firsthand. What our husbands need most is our respect; what our marriages need most is prayer.
Let’s look for ways to build our husbands up – by giving them encouraging words and the gift of prayer – covering them from head to toe!
If you’d like a copy of my FREE Praying For Your Husband download to print with these prayers on it – click “Share Your Thoughts” and let me know. We’ll be happy to email it to you – although your email will not show in your comment. This will be sent out next week after the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!
It is amazing how God sends us what we need just when we need it most! I have only been married for a short time and have been struggling with submitting to my husband’s leadership and was given the nudge to pray for my husband more over the past couple of days. I truly want to be his cheerleader and I want to be able to encourage him and impart good things into his life. Thank you for the prayer tips as I truly want him to be the man of God and leader that I know is his destiny. I also pray for a change in my attitude to be more submissive and give up the control over my own life that I enjoyed for many years.
And I forgot to mention, I would love the download:-) Thanks!
Thank you so much for the timely devotion this morning. I have been remarried for 6 months now and I am sad to say all I think about is how I wished I wasn’t married. So on top of that I feel guilty for feeling this way! I sure would appreciate prayer and others comments on being newly married and why it seems so hard and not much fun. I am going to start praying these scriptures daily because I know God can transform me and my heart. Thanks!
Thank you so-o-o much for sharing these prayers with us, I too have witnessed the transforming power of praying over my husband, head to toe. He appreciated the covering of prayer as it drew me and him closer to God. I had lost my prayer page that I use to use, now I can begin again. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Renee, thank you for these words and scriptures today. I have been married for 26 years. Over the past 18 months, we have struggled in our marriage. My husband has asked me for open marriage, we have been in marriage counseling and now he is deciding if he wants to stay or go. I have been in limbo for the past 6 months as we have been in counseling. It has been so difficult to express respect for him as my husband when the selfish behavior continues. I pray for him to become a man after God’s own heart and for him to realize that the void in his life is not found in others, hobbies, fun, things but in God. Please pray for us.
What about what a wife needs from her husband? What if you are in a marriage where your husband constantly belittles you and never lifts you up or encourages you? One where you are suppressed and never allowed to improve yourself. What if your husband is narcissistic and honestly says he is number one. I have lived with this for 24 years. I’ve loved him and encourage him etc but never anything in return. I am exhausted emotionally and physically. I’ve endured physical and mental abuse. I can’t take any more.
DLWG, Im so sorry for all that you are going through and have been through. I wish I could hold your hands and pray truth over your heart straight from God’s Word – you are LOVED!! You are valuable, you are precious and honored in God’s sight. He doesn’t want you to stay in an abusive situation. If you have endured physical and mental abuse, then there is so much more going on than what I shared in my devotion or blog post.
Have you sought wise counsel from a Christian professional? I strongly encourage you to do that. I am here and know many women who would love to pray for you, but what you really need is someone in your area to give you guidance and walk beside you in this. Would you like to talk to someone?
Thank you for your honesty. I have been married for almost 36 years and have endured much verbal abuse as teasing and being belittled in front of family and friends. I am in counseling now and it is helping me. Also, I am involved in a twelve-step program that helps me to work things through. I am getting stronger with God’s help. My husband quit going to church because I caught him watching inappropriate programs on TV. I pray that someday he would come back to church.
I would like a copy of your prayers that I could start praying for my husband again. I have before, but I’ve just kinda given up doing that. He does need prayers and so do I.
Thank you for this post … I needed this reminder.
Thank you that was just what I needed this morning. Please please pray for me and my husband I do try to speak words of praise but I also have word of condemnation from time to time when I talk to him from across the living room I sometimes get the rolling of the eyes and the huffs of exasperation which are very hurtful . We have been married for 23 soon to be 24 years and I just want to be his cheerleader and safe haven he always wants to come home to but in turn I don’t want to feel like I am on the back burner in his life or a thorn in side.
Renee, this has been a blessing to me since I have been searching for ways and ideas on how to respect my husband. This is not an easy task. But your words of encouragement definitely helped. Thank you for all you do. YOu are a blessing to others. Keep up the good work. Marci
God knows I needed this!thanks!KEEP WRITING WHAT GOD LEADS I KNOW YOUR HELPING!
I loved your devo today! I love to pray scriptures over my husband too. I have alomost beeen married a year and I know how important it is to pray for my marriage daily and ask God to bring us closer together so the devil will not have a foothold. I was wondering if you had a prayer you pray over your marriage like the one you pray over your husband? If you do will you please send it to me?
Thanks for being such a blessing!
Kristy Oliver
[email protected]
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G The devotion about respecting our husbands came at exactly the right time in my life – go figure! Thank you, Renee, for helping God get through to my stubborn heart. Thank you, thank you, thank you….
Martha
I was very blessed by this post! I shared it with all my Christian friends!! God can do amazing things through prayer!! Thank you!!! Allyson
Renee, your devotion was straight to me from God. I've been trying to pray my marriage through some difficult times and it just keeps going down hill. Please pray for me as I try to let my husband lead – but also pray that he will step it up and lead our family as a Godly man…something he has not been doing for some time now, if ever.
Thank you, Renee, for the reminder of how important prayer is in a marriage–and how crucial it is that we pray for our husbands. It's not easy to make decisions that affect the well being of other people and carrying the responsibility of looking after a family.
We mothers know that responsibility but often forget that our husbands feel that responsibility too in other ways.
thank you so much for your beautiful prayers. I asked God to show me what is wrong with my marriage. God is so good! He has brought several issues to the surface. One being my own behavior. I need to be a prayerful wife, agreeing with God and praying for my husband.
Your words are perfect! Praise God for the timing of your message, and for your generous sharing spirit.
Blessings to you as you go forth on your journey of adopting lil' Aster!
prayers,
a sister in Christ
Wow… It was great to get this devotional this week. I am at odds with it because of my situation at home. I actually wrote to look at "my husband as the head of our house hold as I look to God as the head of the church" This has been a really hard promise to keep with all that we have experienced in the past five years. Believe it or not… but he actually made a copy of my vows and place it on my side of the bed to remind me what i had promised and what I am trully lacking of doing. I trlly feel convicted by this devotional… for I know how much truth it trully has. Please keep me in your prayers that I will do what is right instead of doing what my flesh wants me to do.
Renee, I'm passing along the "One Lovely Blog Award" to you for your incredibly inspiring blog! your words have ministered to me many, many times.
To accept the award, post it on your blog, along with the name of the person who has granted the award, and the blog link. Then, pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.
Hopefully this will introduce people to some fabulous blogs that are out there!
🙂 Michelle
Hi Renee!
I just read your devo this morning. I wish I could say that it totally didn't apply to me. 🙂
I, too, have been married for nearly 16 years. And we have been through a lot. I've swung from one end to the other on the pendulum of "pray, encourage, support, submit–criticize, withdraw, take over, disrespect"
In your devo, I saw that I'm on the wrong end of the spectrum right now. I hate to even admit or write that, but it's true.
So there it is in writing, on the internet for all to see. I suppose it's time for me to do something about it, eh?
Love you and your ministry. Blessings to you today, friend.
Sandy
Thank you very much Ms. Renee for the wonderful and encouraging message. Really touch my heart. It will help me to love my husband more as per God's will. I will apply ur suggestions in my practical life. Please pray for me to be successful in that so that I can live a victorious life and serve Lord as a family. Let my children see our life a living model for them. Thank you so much. MAY GOD HELP AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE A POWERFUL WARRIOR FOR GOD'S MINISTRY SO THAT MANY CAN ENCOURAGE BY YOU.
Renee,
I have never before realized that it's not my problem whether my husband is obedient to God, I am only responsible for my own surrender to my husband. Wow, thanks for pointing that out! It's hard enough to surrender, let alone try to control my husband's response to God! This could change our marriage!
Renee, Thank you for this wonderful devotion. I have only been married for 8 years and continue to daily struggle with letting my husband lead. This devotion helped me realize that I need to really step back, look at how I am treating my hubby and start honoring God's word on how I SHOULD be treating him! Thank you again (and I am sure my husband would thank you too!)
Paula 🙂
Thank you for this devotional. It hit home and I would love to receive scriptures to pray over my husband.
God bless.
Hi Renee, I just have to thank you for your article and the prayers – it has come at a challenging time in my marriage!! I thank God for directing me to your blog site and "speaking" to me through your blog. May God continue to bless you as you bless others!! Justine
Thank you! I identify with the anonymous comment about how family doesn't understand my submissiveness to my husband. We had a rocky marriage for several years, but now have really found each other. We will celebrate 19 years in July. Thank you Lord!
Hey Renee
Thanks for your inspiring message.Indeed its an answer to my prayer for my 3 years old marriage.I have been blessed by your testimony and may God bless you for your ministry which am sure will touch so many women out there struggling in their marriages.
I am was also touched by your adoption outreach ministry in Africa where I am originally from.I intend to start blogging too so as to share my testimony and encourage other women as my personal calling in ministry while God transforms my marriage too coz I believe if God did it for you He can do it for me too.I would love to meet you.God bless you.
Thanks for your devo on husbands. It was very timely and the Lord used it to answer a question I asked HIM. I felt the Lord leading me to "be quiet" with my husband & I didnt understand. He used your devo and blog to answer. Thanks a bunch.
Blessings in Christ–
Shonda
Renee,
I'm so greatful for your heart to follow the Lord in your prayer ministry for him. My husband is trying to become a professional pga tour golfer and my ministry currently is to pray, work to provide for our family and to constantly uplift him and point him to the Lord's victory as he competes.
I'm the strong personality, typically a natural born leader, so this has been hard for me, but is what God called us to.
I'm so glad to know you're all out there doing the same; uplifting your husbands in prayer!
Ouch! What good reminders, Renee. Thanks for being so transparent and sharing your heart. I really struggle with this issue and this was just the punch in the arm I needed. ~ Bethany L.
All I can say is..Thank you!
Loved it Renee. Everytime I read something from you, I feel like I'm looking in the mirror…I can so relate!
Thanks!!
Alyce
Thank you for your precious gentle reminder Renee!
God Bless You!
i always wanted my husband to take the lead, honestly i did, but i contradicted myself many times in the way i criticized him and his choices… through {much} prayer, God did show me that I needed to give him love and respect even when i didn't agree with his decisions…after 6 years, we finally began to get it right. Things were going very well as we headed toward our tenth anniversary, but his life here ended before we got to that milestone – i had planned a special day, and I am sure he had, too. now I don't wait for special occasions any more, some days my daughter and i just have a special dinner or i take her out to a movie just because. your devo was right on the mark today, perhaps, i will be more prepared to submit willingly if i remarry in the future. Thank you!
Hello Renee,
I really appreciate your devotional. I've been married for two years and within that time we've moved here from the Caribbean for ministry reasons. The transition has been tough.
I'm just getting the hang of this praying for your husband thing! What an experience! I've been praying for patience to wait on God too 🙂 MEGA B
Renee, thank you for a great devotion! Your devo hits directly to one of the things that I am very passionate about. Just this month on my own "Opening the Door" blog we have been praying for our marriages and different issues that they face. My husband is not a Christian and so sometimes it can be hard to follow his lead when I don't really agree. I keep trusting God in His perfect timing and seek Him to be the wife I need to be while I wait.
God Bless,
Brandee
Thank you for such a wonderful devotional today. I need to be reminded of that daily. Like others, I have not been submissive or respectful to my husband. We are now separated and in "limbo" with him not knowing what to do. I think he wants to run, but he still has some feelings for me. I pray I get the opportunity to show him daily the respect he needs from me and the opportunity to continue to be his wife. I pray he can forgive me and fall in love with me again.
We are one month away from our 25th wedding anniversary. We married very young and I didn't know the "meaning" of the vows or what it meant to be submissive to him. God has shown me and continues to show me daily. I trust in the Lord, my marriage can be reconciled.
Renee, thank you again for your encouragement today.
JC
I have been praying all week for an answer to my husband and I's problems. This blog is the exact answer I needed. God knows what he's doing, thank you both! Laurie
Boy did I need to read this today (and a long time ago)! I used to be a little submissive and then I had a baby. After that, my hormones and attitude changed. I became more defensive and well quite b****y towards my husband. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and those bible verses. I hope to put into practice what you preach.
I share some of those same hangups about submission.
We'll be celebrating our thirty-first anniversary in August, and you would think that by now the submitting thing should go smoothly at our house.
Not so.
I don't know why I balk sometimes about being under my husband's authority; but I do.
He deserves better.
I've learned so much about God's love from the way that my husband loves our children and me.
He really is the man of my dreams.
Thanks for sharing some practical ways to pray for our husbands.
Renee –
Thank you so much for the reminder! And for writing this for other women who are struggling to allow their husbands to take the role that the Lord meant for them! You and Melanie are blessings!
Blessings to you and yours!!!!
Thank you for the reminders I need to keep praying for my husband head to toe!!!
Thank you so much for your word this morning I ask that you please keep me in your prayers as I learn to be submissive to my husband. Just to give you a little history. Me and my husband were married almost 16 years ago. We divorced he was doing the worldly thing and we coming back together each time a child came a long now 14, 8, and 3. However last year God blessed us to put our family back together for good and my husband is a God fearing God loving man. Our biggest struggles come from me. He spoils me rotten and he loves me dearly but I guess I have that fear of how my father did my mom so I am resistant in a lot of areas. I guess I just won’t let him be the man in our marriage that God has called him to be. It all seems to be getting worse and worse and each time God helps him to get passed it and he forgives me and says it never happens. But I’m like Lord I’m so jacked up and I do this man this way and yet he loves me anyways. And this last episode (just 3 days ago) I thought was going to be the end of my marriage. But God put it in his heart and he forgave me. So please keep me in your prayers.
Robin [email protected]
Wow,
I am continually amazed at how the Lord confirms to me that He IS listening & feeds me with what I need RIGHT when I need it!
Thank you for today's devotional. Please pray for my marriage. I am desperately trying to be quiet & still & wait on Him to transform our marriage into what He wants it to be.
Blessings to you!
Meea
Renee, your devotion this morning was very apt. How often I forget that the one thing a man needs is respect from his wife. And thanks for sharing ways we can pray for our husbands. 🙂
Renee
Thank you so much for today's devo. It was so appropriate for me for today. It's so cool how God knows just what we need to hear at just the right time. THANK YOU !!
Wow, I haven't read a P31 devotion for awhile. :(. God really had one for me today. Thank you for listening to Him and sharing with us!
So very true. I didn't think my marriage was going to last after the first 7 years, I also went to God and asked Him to change my husband and instead, He taught me to be the helpmate He intended for me to be. I am now in a happy and blessed marriage of 31 years.
People in our families do not understand my submissiveness; they see it as a weakness, but they can not deny the peace and strength they see and the man of God my husband has become.
Continue sharing. God's ways are not man's ways — Thank God, His ways are so much better.
(blush) should have proof read that last comment before pushing publish. : )
Hi Renee,
Today is my 10th wedding anniversary and I woke up think about how much I love my husband. This blog post was perfect timing. : )
He has too work an odd shift and isn't able to make it to church any more. I worry about his spiritual health and have been praying for him. Thank you so much for this fresh way to pray for him. I love it and am grateful!
Praying for you, too!
Becky
Thank you for sharing this with us today!
Hey, Renee! The devo was wonderful this morning! Thank you so much for sharing! Praying for our hubbies from head to toe is a great idea! HOpe y'all are enjoying yourselves this week. Stay cool!
Hugs,
Susan
Renee- LOVED your Proverbs 31 devo this am! You wouldn't believe I did the very same thing in my wedding vows!!! My husband and I are in marriage counseling right now learning the very same thing you wrote! Praise God for redundancy and confirmation!~Michelle
Thank you so very much Renee for sharing this prayer with us today. I would really appreciate the download you offer. I am a pastors wife and would also love to share this with the women in our congregation. Am loving ‘A Confident Heart’ thank you so much.
Love Pearl
After 25 years of marriage and watching my three children turn into teens and head to college, I’m in that stage of reviewing and analyzing my marriage. thanks for the reminder that my vows were before God and if I continue to be faithful to His commandments, He promises to supply all my needs. Praying for my husband and giving him the respect God has commanded is a challenge but the promise and protection that comes along is powerful!
Would love to have praying for your husband
When I married my husband I was already pregnant and so I didn’t have a job. He had a really good job though so I was able to stay home and take care of our son when it was born. When we had our second child we moved to a bigger house, but then strange things started to happen. Things would fly off the walls and doors would slam at night. Our oldest son talked about seeing figures and hearing voices. We consulted a medium and they said the house was haunted. After living there about a year more with only minor occurrences we moved out. That was when the bad luck started to happen. Everything started to fail, with my husband’s job, our money and our luck in general. I went back to the same medium and they told me that a spirit had followed me and placed a curse upon me for disturbing it and not being respectful in the previous house. He tried to remove it but was unable. The misfortune kept going on and getting more severe as I tried to search out someone to break the curse. But when I found Dr.Azonto spell he finally did it. Things started turning around almost immediately after he cast the spell and have been great from there! This was really a miracle for us, thank you . [email protected] spell from the bottom of my heart!
Posted by. miss Sandra
Thank you so very much Renee for sharing this prayer with us today. I would really appreciate the download you offer.
Lots of Love
Renee
I would really appreciate the offer! Thanks!
I would like the download offer! Thank you!
I would like the download offer
I would like the download offer! Thank-You!!
I would like a copy of the praying for my husband download . It really speaks volumes and is so true . Thanks for sharing .
Thank you. Your prayers were beautiful and God sent. Please send me a copy. Also, please pray for my entire family as my husband and I have not be allowed to see or have our granddaughters for visits for 6 months for no good reason but because the Mom says so. I trust and have faith that God will return them to us – their safe haven. Our hearts are broken but our faith has not wavered as God’s will always prevails and He is a God of truth and righteousness . Thank you. Lori
Is it too late to receive a copy of the free download? I REALLY enjoyed this devotion on P31 last week. I am a newlywed! and as I continue to see God for direction on how to be the wife He needs and desires me to be… I always enjoy receiving words of wisdom from women who are journeying through marriage and still learning and growing each day. Thank you!
A friend has sent this message to me at a time of real need for such inspiration. If it is not too late, I would love a printable version of “Praying for my husband”. Thank you so much for your message!
I would love to have the download offer…
Thank You!
I would love a printable version of “Praying for my husband”
Thank you!
Thank you for the prayer! Please send me the download! My husband is seeking a divorce and I’m in constant prayer that his heart will be reopened to me!