Praying for Your Husband, An Example

Thabiti Anyabwile, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, recently shared an example of how his wife prays for him. (See her prayer below.) Several things made an impression upon me as I read through her words to him. First, I noticed how her thoughts were centered upon being a force for good in her husband's life. (Prov.31:10-12)  She wasn't dwelling upon his shortcomings, nor upon how he had failed to meet her needs, nor upon how he happened to measure up to other husbands, both real and imaginary. She set her mind upon praying for God's good in his life.

Then I noticed that her prayer was informed by biblical truth. She didn't pray vague generalities. She didn't pray for her will in his life, but for God's will in his life. She took the time needed to study out a topic in God's Word, then formed her prayers around the truths she had learned. (Ps.19:7-8)

Finally, I was struck by the fact that she took the time to write her prayer out. In written form he can now refer back to it as an encouragement in his future sermon preps. Her dialogue with him is biblical, filled with meaty truths for him to consider. Though his own biblical knowledge is prodigious, I imagine, she didn't assume that even he was able to apply everything he knows to the immediate situation at hand. She didn't write out a list of "don't"s, but a list of "do's". She didn't write out a major thesis, but a few short paragraphs. And she ultimately drew his attention to the larger eternal view of what God is doing through him.

What an excellent example of how we should pray for our husbands ... and one another! This is how we love in a manner that glorifies God! (1Pet.4:11)
___________________________________________________________________________________

I’m praying for your sermon preparation and hope you have a fruitful time in the Word and prayer.

I was just looking for a verse to encourage you as you prepare to preach, and found it interesting to look at how “preach” is used in the old and new testaments. In the OT, most often preaching is against a city or rebellion of some sort. In the NT, preaching is often mentioned in the context of preaching the good news, preaching throughout the whole world, preaching to the poor, preaching the kingdom of God, preaching repentance, preaching the gospel, preaching in particular places, preaching Christ (and His unsearchable riches), and preaching to particular people.

So…I pray that you would preach in all these ways, against sin and rebellion toward God, and that you would preach the unsearchable riches of Christ in the gospel, which is good news for all who believe in Him, and which has power to save all those throughout the whole world who repent of their sin and trust in Him. I pray that you would do this boldly and fearlessly, as you should and as the Spirit enables.

Loving you!

[Pastor Anyabwile's blog may be found here.]