40 Prayers for my Husband: His Wife

June.

Our anniversary month!

This year (2014) we will be married 7 whole years. We've decided that seems like a long time, yet somehow it was only yesterday we said our "I do's", or should I say, "Ja's"?*smile*

Here is us on our wedding day. So young.....so different.....so long ago....

Lots of changes have occurred in these 7 years. Here are big highlights of each year:

1. We got married. That's kind of a big deal. It was 3 weeks after my husband's father passed. Our oldest child was 6 months old, so we were thrown into marriage, parenting and a long season of grieving, all at the same time. Yikes!
2. We had child #2. Another daughter!
3. We left the Amish culture......wow. That was a thing. A really big thing.
4. We moved into our third home. This time to new community, new church and new job.
5. We moved out of state (from KS to IA) on faith and a prayer. Where we knew no one. New beginnings. New roots. LOTS of lonely. God was very present.
6. We had child #3. A long awaited son! We moved for the fifth time.
7. We started a new business. Again, in faith. God has blessed us richly through that obedience.

Year 8.....BRING IT!!! God is good!

Here is us today. Still young.....still different! *wink*....so very blessed....

In honor of our anniversary month, I will be posting daily prayers for my husband/our marriage for 40 days.

Prayer #1. His Wife, because praying for myself to be transformed needs to happen before I can effectively pray for him.

Father God, thank You for how far You have brought us. You have proven to be faithful. You have proven to be present. You have proven to be good. Oh, so good. My heart overflows with praise and thanksgiving for You.
Reflecting on these past years, I am convicted that I haven't always been the wife You designed me to be or the wife my husband needs. I confess the times I have been disrespectful in words, attitudes and deeds. I see them as You do: sin. Remove any bitterness, selfishness and impatience from my heart. In its place plant ready forgiveness, patience and the willingness to bear all things.
Make me kind, Lord. Make me gentle. Make me good. Keep the words of  my mouth and the meditation of my heart pleasing to You,(Ps.19:14) for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.(Luke 6:45) Transform my heart into a gentle, grace extending one.
Make me faithful, Father. Not only in body, but also in word and deed. Make me the kind of wife my husband knows will not do or say anything to degrade or devalue him, no matter how I may feel. Renew my mind so that I can judge my words and actions based on Your truth and not just on my feelings. Let my husband know that I will bring him good and not evil all the days of my life. (Pr. 31:11)
I know my first and foremost ministry is to my husband. Remind me of this often throughout the day, seeking ways to bless my husband with my body, words and actions.
Transform me, Lord. Remind me to not expect my husband to fill me in ways only You can. Help me lay all expectations at Your feet. Help me accept him the way he is and not try to change him into what I want him to be. At the same time, I release him to You to mold and shape and grow into the man You created him to be: a man so much greater than I could ever hope to make him. 
Father, daily work in me to become the wife of my husbands dreams. One he can love easily, trust fully, laugh with, cry with and grow old with. Give him a new wife, and let it be me. Oh, Lord, let it be me. Totally transformed, fitting perfectly into the plan You have for his life and our marriage. Amen.

Sharing with.... A Proverbs 31 Wife. Soul Survivor, The Beauty in His Grip, Moms the Word, What Joy is Mine, The Modest Mom, Salt & Light, Chronicles of Grace, The Wellspring, She Lives Free, Women of Worship, Unite, Cornerstone Confession, Teaching What is Good, The Time-Warp Wife, Juana Mikels, Simply, Beth, Serving Joyfully, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Thoughtful Thursdays, Missional Women