The Power of a Praying Wife
by Stormie Omartian
Overview
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Today's challenges and pressures can make a fulfilling marriage seem like an impossible dream. Yet God delights in doing the impossible if only we would ask!
My thoughts
After the too-busy pace of the holiday season, it is so nice to be able to get back into the pattern of reading again! I chose this book to read next as part of my personal growth during the season of Lent. Several years ago I read The Power of a Praying Parent with vague interest -- in my eyes it didn't hold up to the hype it had received at church but it was helpful enough that I bought a second book in the "Power of Praying..." series, so I guess that says something for it! I'm not all that big into self-help books but there are plenty of good ideas you can take from this one.
If you're buying/reading this book with the plan to change everything horrible about your husband, forget it. That's not what the book is about! The first thing the author does is to get you to look at yourself. If you're not prepared to do that, IMHO don't even bother with the rest of the book!
It's funny because as you're reading about relationships and thinking about how it relates to your own, every so often you hit that zinger that nails you perfectly! Here you are thinking the book is about helping your mate when suddenly you're looking in the mirror at yourself! It's been ouchy for me on more than one occasion! If you can stay with the book, if you can be honest with yourself and do a bit of soul searching, I think you'll find plenty of ideas to take from this book and apply to your marriage, as well as your family and career.
Favorite Passage
This passage is from the first part of the book, before you actually get to the specific prayers for your husband. I like this part because it puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the wife, not the husband. You have to get yourself right with God before you move forward.
Have you ever been so mad at your husband that the last thing you wanted to do was pray for him? So have I. It's hard to pray for someone when you're angry or he's hurt you. But that's exactly what God wants us to do. If He asks us to pray for our enemies, how much more should we be praying for the person with whom we have become one and are supposed to love? But how do we get past the unforgiveness and critical attitude?
The first thing to do is be completely honest with God. In order to break down the walls in our hearts and smash the barriers that stop communication, we have to be totally up front with the Lord about our feelings. We don't have to "pretty it up" for Him. He already knows the truth. He just wants to see if we're willing to admit it and confess it as disobedience to His ways. If so, He then has a heart with which He can work.
If you're angry at your husband, tell God. Don't let it become a cancer that grows with each passing day. Don't say, "I'm going to live my life and let him live his." There's a price to pay when we act entirely independently of one another. "Neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:11).
