Recently I have been reminded of how powerful (and how important) prayer is for marriage and family. As a result, it has been my prayer since then for God to put my husband and children more on my heart, and that He would lead me in how He desires me to pray for them.
I believe intercessory prayer -- Merriam-Webster defines it as "prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another" -- has the potential to serve several purposes. Or, to say it a different way, there are several potential fruits of praying for others:
1. Prayer draws us deeper to the heart of God.
2. Prayer draws us deeper in love and unity towards the one for whom we're praying. I read a quote once (which I hope to find again, as I think of it often) which said the more we pray for someone, the greater we grow in love for them. I believe also, especially in marriage, God works through prayer to align our hearts in oneness with the one for whom we pray.
3. Prayer can be a tool God uses to work through us to effect change.
As I wrote at the beginning of this post, when I am in a season of rekindling my prayer life, I begin by asking God to put that on my heart -- for him to put specific people on my heart, and that He would guide me in how to pray for them through the day. It's as simple as that. He is faithful to do that very thing. I am convinced He loves to draw us closer to Himself and to others through prayer!
A couple of things that have been helpful to me, which I sometimes use:
- If there is a passage of Scripture sticking out to you regarding a loved one, write it out on a card or some such thing and keep it in a place you will see it often. When you do, pray that Scripture for that person. I have not read it, but often hear The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian highly recommended; one of the resources I've heard of connected to the book are Scripture cards for praying for your husband.
- Years ago I bought a little book by W. Terry Whalin called Prayers for My Husband. I kept it in a drawer by my bedside and would sometimes use it to help me pray for my future husband, if God had it in mind for me to marry (this is a wonderful resource for such a thing!). Now I use it for the husband I know. :) As the back cover says, it is a collection of ideas for using to carve out time specifically for praying for your husband. Each little page has a different topic, with a sample prayer and a verse. There are many topics, but here are a few:
- His Choices
- His Fatherhood
- His Fears
- His Finances
- His Friends
- His Future
- His Integrity
- His Purpose
- His Wisdom
- His Work
It appears to be out of print now (how unfortunate!), but you can find it online, such as here and here. It is part of a Pocket Prayer Companion series, which I think I'll have to check out!
I would love to hear other ways you keep in prayer for your loved ones!
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O Melissa I am so glad that you have been posting. When I came to your blog there was a treasure trove to choose from. Intercessary prayer has been on my heart, in particular for my little family, but I've been asking the Lord to put others on my heart and lead in how to pray for them. At the same time that I want his leading, I have found routine to be helpful in prayer. For instance, I recently stopped listening to my mp3 player while washing dishes and have found it a great time to pray for other moms, who could well be doing daily tasks along side me.
As you said, I have also found prayer to be not only an expression on my love but to in fact increase it. For instance, on the extremely rare occasion that I'm also being grippey towards my husband :-) prayer for him seems the only thing that can quiet me.
Of course prayer is also a primary expression of love for someone and I believe it actually deapens a reletionship even if they never know you've been praying for them. So, if I miss someone's phonecall or I call them and they don't answer I take a moment to pray for them asking that God will meet their needs that I can't at that moment and that he will care for all that's on their heart.
You are such a gift, Melissa. I've got to run Kai to the doctor, I think he has ring worm and I've been ignoring it because I thought it was his eczema. I hope we can talk soon, Gena
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