Pray for Him

I belong to a new Facebook group of Christian moms who work outside of the home.  It was started by a great mom, Liz, who has a great blog.  I was excited when she started it and am loving seeing the women on it post about things that I can totally relate to, learn from and maybe even offer suggestions about.  Well, this week, I found myself offering advice that I was once so grateful to have. 

One of the women was talking about some struggles with her marriage.  I know you are shocked that marriage is hard or that couples would struggle, but it can happen. (That was sarcasm by the way!) As I read her post, I remember having a similar feeling and how I felt when I learned about Saint Monica and read the book, The Power of a Praying Wife.

To back up a little, I am a Catholic who has had the opportunity to learn about Saints.  My memory of learning about Saint Monica has been buried with the thousand other things I can’t remember, but her story has stuck with me.  She was married off by her parents to a pagan man and bore a pagan son. She prayed and prayed for them and they both eventually accepted God.  Her story is awfully wonderful. I encourage you to Google her.  What has stuck with me the most is how powerful her prayers were.

Many years ago, I also read the book, The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.   I remember it seeming so enlightening.  It did not encourage my prayers to always be about my marriage or about my relationship. The book encouraged me to just fervently and selflessly pray for my husband and his journey.

So as I responded to the aforementioned post, here was my advice…

This is my husband. Tonight, I will pray for him.

 I know it will not help overnight, and that you will still have daily struggles, but even when you are mad, especially when you are mad, pray for your husband. Pray that he find that the love of God.  Pray that he can create a real relationship with God that with help guide him. Pray that he receives the necessary graces to understand what God wants from him as a Christian husband. Sometimes pray quietly, but sometime pray in front of him. Let him see that you love him enough to pray for him. You may be surprised.  And if it helps, while you pray for him, I will pray for you!