Pointing Arrows to Heaven (A Prayer Life)

Ok Doctor Phil is hosting a show about really bad Valentine gifts women have received in the past.  I am coming in on the tail end of it.  Kevin is watching it while working.  I have to laugh because I could of won the prize for the worst Valentine's gift.  I asked him if he remembered and he said yes and correctly told me what it was.  I guess I made it very clear that he screwed up then.  Anyways, tomorrow I will reveal my Valentine fiasco.  

Today, I am writing a LONG and necessary blog for some of you on the best gift you can give your husband.  It is a continuation of a former blog entitled "Power him up!", dated 1/7/09.  I would encourage you to read the ending of the blog where I give excerpts from a book entitled "Power of a Praying Wife".  Ladies, this book is changing my life and my husbands.  I have recently finished it.  It is a book you could read very quickly but Satan won't let you.  You will be distracted and interferred with when you read it.  I am going to do an outline of a chapter in the book below for you in hopes that you will use it to formulate prayers for your husband.  Ladies, the best gift you can give your husband is the advantage of prayer.  

First, let's remember why and what we fell in love with our husbands for.  Let's not look at our present circumstances and/or disappointments.  Some of us our still in our honeymoons or never left the honeymoon stage.  Bravo!  Still let's remember what it was.  Close your eyes.  Hear the laughter.  See the expressions.  Feel the hand in yours, and the soft lips.  Listen to the voice...the conversation.  It was there.  I know it.  I feel it.  Okay now wake up and face reality.  Still wonderful? Lucky You.  Lucky me.  Need some revival.  Well, help is on the way.  But first a glimpse of my start with Kevin.

Kevin was my boss and he asked me for a date.  I was not attracted at first...just intimidated.  I went and did my best to impress him as a 20 year old sophisticated college student.  I bought special wine flutes, cheese and crackers and got all dressed up for his visit to my apartment.  Funny thing is I didn't drink wine, or enjoy cheese and crackers at the time.  I was a Bacardi and coke girl at that time.  I wore jeans and crop tops, not dresses and high hells..oops high heels!  So Kevin comes with his wine, boring movies, and simple casual self.  I was overwhelmed with his gentleness, listening skills, and sweet honesty.  He was suddenly very interesting.  It was a great date, sitting talking, drinking wine, and periodically watching the movie.  Overall the first date was a success.  Until, he was leaving.  He said I looked great.  I told him I made it a special point to buy new stuff, including shoes.  He then proudly says and you only spent $19.99 on them.  I was mortified.  The price tag was on the bottom.  He was holding my feet.  I should of known then he was proud of the price because "he was tight!"  I had gotten the shoes on sale (it was 1984).  It was the beginning of a wonderful...interesting life.

Back to the Power of Prayer...the most beneficial gift you can give to your husband.  Now I must say it is not what he wants for Valentines Day.  According to the Dr. Phil survey this morning, the majority of the men (approx. 86%) wanted "intimacy" for a Valentine's Day gift, whereas, only 6% of the women wanted "intimacy" for their Valentine's Day gift.  Hmmm!  Check out who's smiling on church Sunday.  Lol!  I don't expect you, my girlfriends, to tell your husbands, I am giving you prayer for Valentine's Day.  I do think it's a great secret way of playing cupid of the heart.

The Power of A Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian
(A brief outline/excerpts - Chapter 1)

Pg: 23
Look to God as the source of all you want to see happen in your marriage, and don't worry about how it will happen.  It's your responsibility to pray.  It's God's job to answer.  Leave it in His hands.

Pg. 25-47  His Wife
     The hard part about being a praying wife ...is maintaining a pure heart.  
     Sometimes wives sabotage thier own prayers because they don't pray them from a right heart.
     ...it's impossible to truly give yourself in prayer without first examining your own heart.
     ...God's favorite three word-prayer: "Change me, Lord".
     ...every time my husband and I came to an impasse, God..."The point is not who needs to change.  The point is who is willing to change.
     Something amazing happens to our hearts when we pray for another person. The hardness melts. We become able to get beyond hurts, and forgive. We even end up loving the person we are praying for.  It miraculous!
     Prayer brings unity even if you aren't together.
     Where either of us needs to ask forgiveness of the other, help us to do so.
     Where there is behavior that needs to change in either of us, I pray You would enable that change to happen.
     Give me a renewed sense of love for him and words to heal this situation.
     If there is anything I really want him to do, I've learned to pray about it unitl have God's peace in my heart before I ask.
     Queen Esther in the Bible prayed, fasted, and south God's timing before she approached her husband, the king, about a very important matter.   ...she prayed first and then ministered to him in love.
     I've known people who use the excuse of "just being honest" to devastate others with their words.  The Bible says, " A fool vents al his feelings, but a wise man holds them back" (Proverbs 29:11).
     Our goal must not be to get our husbands to do what we want, but rather to release them to God so He can get them to do what He wants.
     Pray for the right words and for his heart to be totally receptive.
     "They without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives" (1 Peter 3:1,2).
     You can say, "I'm not going to pretend, but I'm going to speak of things that are not part ofmy husband's life as though they were a part of it."
     I asked God to help me maintain a house that my husband is pleased to come home to and bring his friends.
     Part of making a house a home is allowing your husband to be the head so you can be the heart.
     Invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and your home.
     ...you can't require one person to meet all of your needs.  ...take your needs to God in prayer and look to Him for the answers.
     ...ask God to make the necessary changes.     
     Accept your husband the way he is and pray for him to grow.
     ...when change happes it will be because God has worked it in him and it will be lasting.
     Loss of respect seems to precede loss of love and is more hurtful to a man than we realize.
     ...she mustn't humiliate her husband no matter how much she thinks he deserves it.  The price is too high.
     ...I have shown a lack of respect fo him.  I confess my disrespectful attitude and words as a sin against You.
     Give me Your heart for him, Lord, and help me to see him the way You see him."


Ladies, Stormie ends this chapter with an all inclusive prayer of the previous chapter.  It is beautiful.  Find the book.  Read it.  Practice it.  She gives scriptures throughout the chapters following her statements.  I have learned so much.  There are 29 more areas of prayer to address.  

I hope this blog will get you started on a wonderful pathway to your husbands successful life in Christ.  You will reap the benefits.  Prayer is truly the ultimate love language.  Fall in love all over with your man....fall in love all over again with the Power of Prayer!