June 12- June 18; Chapters 26, 27; His Deliverance, His Obedience

Hey girls,
Hope you're all praying this week, even with the kiddos out of school and "messing up" your schedules! :) We in my house are PRAYING like CRAZY to get closed on the new house Friday so we can GET MOVED! And looks like we only have another 2 weeks to the study! Let's finish strong, shall we? :)
here's your food for thought:

His Deliverance
-Read Psalm 50:15 in your Bible. What do you have to do to see God's deliverance happen in your life? Do you believe that Jesus is your Deliverer? Does your husband?

-Read Psalm 91:14 in your Bible. Often by simply setting our sights on the Lord, having a heart for Him, and living His way, deliverance will happen. How could you pray this Scripture over your husband, trusting that deliverance will happen for him?

His Obedience
-Read Matthew 7:24-27 in your Bible. In light of this Scripture, how important is it to you and your family that your husband obeys God?

-Read Proverbs 28:9 in your Bible. What happens when we don't walk in obedience? Does your husband experience frustration over unanswered prayer?

-Read Proverbs 29:18. When we don't have a revelation, we get careless. Bad things happen to people because they have no revelation and as a result throw caution to the wind. When we have revelation, we see the wisdom of walking in a manner totally dependent upon God and of living God's way every moment. Write a prayer asking God to give your husband that kind of revelation and a desire to obey Him.

Have a great week in the Lord! Love ya, girls!

June 5 - June11; Chapters 24, 25; His Talk & His Repentance

Hey girls, here' s your food for thought!

His Talk
-Read Psalm 34:12-13. In light of this Scripture, what is a good reason to pray for your husband to be a man who speaks truth?

-Read Proverbs 15:23. What can we derive from the words we speak? Does your husband need more of that in his life? Do you?

-According to Proverbs 13:3, what is the ultimate consequence of watching what you say? How could you pray this scripture over your husband and yourself?

His Repentance
-According to Stormie on pg 174, what are the three steps to changing our behavior?
First there is ______________, which is __________.
Second there is _____________, which is __________.
Third there is _____________, which is __________.
What does true repentance mean?

-What does Romans 2:4 say leads us to true repentance?

-Read I John 3:21,22. How will admitting your sins ultimately affect you or your husband?

Have a great week, especially those here at Wedgwood, be sure and take a minute to relax if you're working Kid Power Camp this week! :)

May 29-June4; Chapters 22, 23; His Emotions & His Walk

Hello ladies, so sorry for the delay on posting....pretty much no excuse, just didn't realize I was letting it get to WEDNESDAY! I'm convinced time goes faster the warmer it gets outside. :)

Here are your discussion questions, hopefully they are not quite as much of a personal nature so we can discuss a bit more. :)

-His Emotions
Read Proverbs 22:24,25 in your Bible. What happens when we are frequently around someone with a constant negative emotion? (in this example, it's anger...)

On page 159, what should be controlling your husband rather than his emotions?

According to Proverbs 21:14, what is the best gift a wife can give her husband in secret? (also p.159)

-His Walk
Read Psalm 84:11 in your Bible. What are the rewards for those who walk in righteousness before God?

Read Romans 8:5-9 in your Bible. How can we live according to the Spirit? What happens when we live in the flesh? How can you be sure that you are not walking in the flesh?

have a great week!

May 22-28; Chapters 20 & 21; His Attitude, His Marriage

This week there was a paragraph that spoke to me in the Attitude chapter. For some reason not necessarily having much to do with the kiddos or husband, I've just had a little bit of a down attitude about things, allowing little problems take more of a place in my heart than they should. I think, hey, everybody with two small children, a husband that works nights & overtime, who is trying to buy a house is stressed has a right to snip a bit, right?
Apparently, WRONG! :)

On page 150, Stormie says "The Bible says we have a choice as to what we will allow into our heart (Ps 101:4)...We choose to receive the love of the Lord. We permit an attitude of thankfulness to rise in us."

-Do you react to negativity in your husband? How so? Do you immediately go to the Lord in prayer about it? How can you respond more positively?

Then, in the chapter about praying for His Marriage, I can identify. Not being the sports-watching type, (I enjoy playing them, not watching them unless it's with friends and a chocolate fountain!) I also prayed God would send me someone who wasn't WAY more into sports tv than I was. Well, God had a sense of humor, and instead gave me a "gamer." :) We have also come to the same conclusion that it is in our marriage's best interest to agree, he tries not to go overboard on how late he stays up playing, and I don't have to even PRETEND to care about it. :) The situation works, most of the time. ;)
I do like the verse she included, though, don't take your marriage for granted, no matter how great it is. "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (I Cor.10:12)

-Read I Cor. 7:10,11 in your Bible. Have you or your husband ever viewed divorce as an option which you would consider? (the joke in our house from our premarital counseling days: Divorce will NEVER be an option. Murder, perhaps. But never divorce! :) Write a prayer breaking the power of those thoughts of divorce and turn them over to God.

Love you, girls, have a great week!

May 15- May 21; Chapters 18-19; His Fatherhood, His Past

Hey girls, here is your food for thought for this week:

-What is the way for a man to become a good father? What is the best way to have a father's heart? (pg139)

-Does your husband have a good relationship with each of his children? Do you feel like he has bonded with his children? What are ways (other than prayer, obviously) you can encourage this to happen?

-Read Phil.3:13-14 in your Bible. Do you feel your husband is able to reach forward to all God has for him? How do you think your prayers might help him to do that?

-Read Isaiah 43:18-19 & underline it. What are we to do about the past? What does God promise if you do that? Do you believe this for your husband? For yourself?

have a great week ladies, keep reading and praying! :)

May 8- May 14; Chapter 16, 17; His Priorities, His Relationships

Hello Ladies,

I'll admit, the first chapter this week, His Priorities is a subject I have often had to revisit throughout the years that we've been married, probably mostly due to the fact that he is a night owl and I am not, he has often worked evenings and while I do not, etc. So it's always been a little bit of tug of war for keeping what is important in balance with "allowing" or encouraging him to take the time he needs for rest and friendships. So yes, the prayer at the end of this chapter will definitely be ringing in my ears this week!

here's your food for thought

-Read Matthew 4:10 in your Bible & underline it. What should be the top priority in your husband's life? In your life?
-Can you think of ways you could set aside time for you and your husband to be alone, doing something HE would enjoy? Do share with us! :)

-Read II Corinthians 6:14. Does your husband have any close friends or business relationships with people who are not believers? I want to encourage you to pray for their salvation.
-How is YOUR friendship with your husband? I know some of us married our best friend, and others are in a more "opposites attract" marriage. Do you think your friendship could be improved or deepened? How would you pray to that end?

May1-May7; Chapters 14,15; His Integrity, His Reputation

hey girls, hope you're all doing well, and praying your hubbies are being prayed for regularly! :)

here's your food for thought:

-On page 118 Stormie quotes Prov. 20:7, she points out that this week, in praying for our husbands to have integrity, it's sort of a "two for one special" in that it is something that is passed on to our children as well. That makes me want to be sure I continue to pray for his integrity so much more, and that he passes that on to his sons, that they may be men of integrity, honesty, dependability, etc! Also remember our prayers for their integrity help shield them from the negatives that can cause them to doubt themselves.

-I also hadn't thought about praying for my husband's reputation as having a part in my own, such as in the Proverbs 31 woman: her husband is "known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land"... thoughts?

here are your discussion questions for yourselves and with your partners:

Read John 16:13. In light of this Scripture, how can you pray for moral and ethical guidance for your husband?

Read Prov.22:1. Why do you think God puts such a high value on having a good reputation? Aren't we not supposed to care what others think of us?? :)

What are 3 ways reputations can be ruined? (p.121)

Have a great week ladies!

April 24-April 30; chapters 12,13; His Protection, His Trials

First of all, I'm so sorry last week had to be emailed out, I was NEVER able to get the post to publish, and have 3 drafts of the same post to prove it!! Hope this week is more successful.

-What is a time in you and your husband's life when God answered your prayers of protection over him? (and I'm not just looking for God saved his life by prevention...Ro.8:28...)

-Psalm 91:1,2 and 91:11,12 are good prayers to insert your husband's name praying over him.

-What does Romans 8:18 mean in your life?

-How often do you need to pray when you are in the heat of a battle or a trial? (Ps.55:16,17)

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend, have a great week!

April 10-16; Chapters 8,9; His Fears, His Purpose

Good grief, is all I got to say! Sorry I'm late again....the boys took turns being needy and taking naps on opposite schedules the last few days, and I ended up with headaches at night! Here's this week's food for thought: -I LOVED the paragraph on pg 89, so I'll copy it here for you. :) Hey, copy it and email it to your hubby as an encouragement while you're praying it. :) When you have the fear of the Lord, God promises to deliver you from your enemies (II Kgs 17:39), protect you from evil (Prv.16:6), keep His eye on you (Ps. 33:18), show you His mercy (Lk 1:50), give you riches and honor (Prv.22:4), supply everything you need (Ps.34:9), reveal all you need to know (Ps.25:14), bless your children and grandchildren (Ps103:17), give you confidence (Prv14:26), a satisfying life (Prv.19:23), longevity (Prv.10:27), and the desires of your heart (Ps. 145:19). What more could you ask? -Read I John 4:18. What casts out fear? Who is the only one in the universe who has perfect love? Whose love should you pray will penetrate your husband's life? -On the Purpose chapter, I really like that she goes into the wife's role in her husband's purpose. As a teenager, unfortunately, I saw more than one youth minister or pastor lose his ministry because of his wife. In all the cases, she left him; a few of them cited simply that they weren't called to be a youth minister's wife. Well, if may stand on the soap box a second, "Sorry?! you should've discussed that with your poor fiance attending college youth ministry classes..." Ok. :) Stormie says "...it will fit in with whatever your husband's calling is, it willnot be in conflict with it" whether it be a partner in the ministry or be supportive, in prayer and more responsibility with the kiddos. I also like the part where she says if your husband seeks out God's will, it may or may not mean him leaving his job; more often it does not, and they simply have much more meaning and God-given purpose behind their extra curricular activities (i.e. VBS, etc). -Have you sought God about His call on your life? If so what is it? If it seems it is in conflict with His call on your husband's life, ask God to clarify that to you. It may have to do with timing. Ask God to reveal to you how He will work out the timing of what He would have both of you do together. love ya girls, enjoy the week! :)

Week Four: April 3-9; His Temptations; His Mind

Hey girls, Hope you have a great week praying for you hubbies this week! :) Here's your food for thought for chapters 6 & 7: -Read Luke 22:40 in your Bible. What does Jesus specifically direct us to do here? Do you know what areas of your husband's life are subject to temptation? (at least in my case, I don't think we've just sat down and talked about this question specifically in quite a while...maybe this is a good week to do that. :) -Read James 1:12. If you sense there is a person in your husband's life becoming a temptation, pray this individual be taken out of your husband's life. *On a personal note, this doesn't necessarily mean another woman kind of temptation. In a past relationship I discovered that his friendships can also be just as or more detrimental to him staying in the perfect will of God... What does verses 13-15 say our own desires produce and the ultimate result of that? -Do you believe that God really has given you all the authority over the enemy on behalf of your husband? How would you address the enemy regarding the lies he speaks to your husband's mind? What are the two most powerful weapons against the attack of lies upon his mind? (p.82) -Read Hebrews 4:12. In light of this verse, how could speaking the Word of God over your husband in prayer help to reveal wrong thinking? -Just an idea/challenge: as I was praying the prayers at the end of the "mind" chapter, I thought (no...the Lord led me, as I don't have a habit of doing this!) maybe this is a good time for him to KNOW he's having this prayer prayed over him. So I sent him that Bible verse to him in a text that he will receive at work today since he was on his way in when I sent it. Sometime this week find a way to send your husband a "prayer blessing" in a way he doesn't expect it and see how it affects his day... :)

Week Three: March 27-April 3; His Sexuality; His Affection

Hey girls, First, it definitely wasn't planned to have these two chapters in the same week, but am glad it fell that way. As far as the contents of these two chapters, my hubby and I in our short 7 yrs of marriage have come close to most of the possible scenarios...so after having had lots of very good Godly counsel in these areas and Bible study, these chapters were great reminders for me! Especially since I'm coming out of a period of a few months with me either pregnant, post c-section recovery, huge hormone swings, a month long illness, needless to say it's been very very difficult lately to put my "comfort" aside and not get into the habit of thinking "um...I don't feel like it yet" or "I just spent all day keeping your offspring ALIVE, are you kidding?" :) The paragraph where she suggested not only focusing on the positive aspects of our husbands and our marriage, but simply taking a few minutes to pamper and beautify myself (aka, get all the spit up off me!) just does wonders for my attitude. here's some food for thought from our study guide: -list the top ten priorities in your life. These are the things that occupy your time, attention, energy; kids, work, friends, church activities, etc. In all of this, where does your relationship with your husband fall? (ouch) What does this list reveal to you about your priorities? -if your husband IS at the top of your list under God (where he should be) is the sexual aspect of that relationship a priority or an afterthought? If it hasn't been, what are the reasons for that? (i.e illness, marital strife, financial worry, lack of interest, busy-ness, worry, exhaustion...the possibilities are endless) Pray asking God to help you make any changes necessary in order to make your sexual relationship with your husband the priority it should be. -if you have children, do you feel you and your husband have modeled for them a marriage that is filled with an abundance or lack of affection? How do you think it will affect them in their own marriages? Have you or your husband taken one another for granted in any way that has eroded your tendency to be affectionate toward one another? Has one of you assumed incorrectly that the other one doesn't need affection?

Week Two: March 20-26, his work; his finances

Hey girls, happy First Day of Spring! :) almost let's me want to let my boys go out and play in the dirt. :)

So I was going to split up the reading again like last week, but apparently here on in, the chapters are really pretty short. SO, I'm making the executive decision to go ahead and combine chapters 2 & 3 for this week. It comes out to about one page front & back each day with two days off. :)

Here are some food for thought questions. Also, feel free to play on last week's post as well, or any week for that matter, but especially since there was a lot of stuff on chapter 1! :) A lot to think & pray about concerning us as wives. Imagine that. :)

-Read Ecclesiastes 3:13 in your Bible. We often think to ask our husbands, How was your day today? Did you do anything interesting? Was the presentation successful, etc....but how often do we think about his being fulfilled through it? Does he enjoy what he is doing or is it just a means to an end, a job? God made our men with a built in need to take pride in their work, to live up to their fullest potential and use their talents and gifts. I want to challenge you to pray specifically that your husband feel fulfilled in his job. Even if his current job really is just a means to an end (as my husband admits his current employment really is...), pray God makes them feel fulfilled and shows them how they are or can use their talents.


-Read Matthew 6:21 in your Bible. Is your husband's focus on finances or on serving the Lord? If you don't know, ask God to show you & write down what He reveals.
In the study guide questions she asks if there is anything we can do to help relieve the financial burden on our husbands. Well, I struggle with this, as much as I have discovered I just really hate sales or the financial side of businesses, I have quite an affinity for crafting and making things. I get all wrapped up in the latest craft I've heard of or concocted, and my husband, being the supportive man that he is, allows me to run with it whenever I do.
Well, my challenge in this, mostly to myself, but I know several of you are also crafty women! :) is rather than try to swoop in and save the day with a new business (for those of you who do work either full time or part time, many kudos to you as you go the way the Lord has led you!) pray that God will give you and your husband wisdom in your finances as well as self control in spending habits and live within your means...remember God and the Holy Spirit have the power to change the way we live!

enjoy your week, I'm praying for you all!

Week 1- March 13-19

Here's a suggested break down of the reading for the week...in 6 days, take a day off. :)

-Intro: The Power

-His Wife: The Three Word Prayer & Who, Me? ... Change?

-" " : The Ultimate Love Language & I Don't Even Like Him--How Can I pray for him?

-" " : Shut Up & Pray & Believer or Not

-" " : Creating a Home & Letting Go of Expectations

-" " :With all Due Respect & Prayer, Power Tools

Here are some things to think about when you're reading/have read.

**First of all, while I'd love for all of us to be honest and open, by no means do we expect you to express things about you and your marriage that would make you or your husband uncomfortable. Hopefully you are close enough to your partner in the study to talk it out with them if need be. :)

<> Read Luke 10:19. You don't have authority over your husband, but whom DO you have authority over? Is there an area in your/our marriages that the enemy has gained or is trying to gain a stronghold?

<>Read Joel 2:25. What things deplete life out of marriage? What does God promise to do when things have been eaten away from our lives? Do you have a shareable story where something has eated away at a part of your married life and God has restored it?

<>On page 27 Stormie refers to our husbands treating us with unkindness, lack of respect, indifference, irresponsibility, etc, as SINNING against us. And also lists self-pity and lovelessness and revenge as sins just as bad as any others. I had not ever thought of these as actual SINS, just attitudes that aren't quite so "Christian-looking." Much less as something for which to ask & give forgiveness! How often have we sabotaged our own prayers by these things?

<>Psalm 62:5 says "for God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him." How many of the expectations we lay on our poor husbands should really be laid upon the Lord?

<>Read Ephesians 5:33 (hey, at least as a refresher :) Is there any area in which you've lost respect for your husband? I often don't even think of ommission as being sin as well as commission, but isn't it so easy to just leave the whole "I respect you" out of the equation? Sure, I appreciate you going to work and keeping the roof up, or I love you, thank you for my flowers, but how do we define RESPECT for them? Anybody have any real tangible ways to show respect for our husbands daily??

31 Days of Prayer Cards

Ok, so here is a tool that Kim Davis has found for us to use during our Praying Wife study. It's called 31 Days of Prayer, and these cards are meant to help us pray for our husbands daily. They don't match up with Stormie Omartian's book exactly, but the themes are quite similar. The idea is to start over after day 31. (Since our book study is 30 weeks...) Each has a prayer to pray over your husband that day along with Scripture to back it up. :) I think there are about 4 different background designs.

If you live in the Ft. Worth area, we can print a set for you and your study partner; if you are an "Always-a-Wedgie" :) and can't pick them up from us, then we can email you the jpg files of the cards. They are 4x6's and you can just have them printed as if they were photos at a store.

Just email Bekah Moore at bekahsue100@hotmail.com for either option. :)

A little delay in starting until March 13

Hey girls,
First of all, I am SO sorry for dropping off the map for a week! I thought I'd posted this note and turns out it had just gotten saved as a draft & not posted. Technology...bugh.

It has been decided that we will delay the real "kickoff" to our Blog style devotional until Sunday, March 13, mainly to allow more people to hear about this and get ready. We will be "pitching" it at the FACETS Women's conference at Wedgwood, and thought it might not be fair for those who just hear about it then to come into it 2-3 weeks behind. Plus that gives all of you plenty of time to get your book if you don't have it and your partner. :)

Also that gives us time to get your prayer cards ready, or if you're not living in Ft. Worth, then it gives us time to email them to you and YOU get your own ready! :) I'll post about the prayer cards in a minute, but they are super cute!

Looking forward to getting this started!!!

Week 1, Introduction

The verse displayed before the introduction is Proverbs 31:10-12:

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Tonight in church it was mentioned that (ok, I can't remember the exact wording) the husbands wouldn't be able to do anything without their wives. Well, honestly, as I sat there, after the last couple of months we've had (new baby, holidays, GI bug from you know where, etc.) I can think of a whole LOTTA things my husband could do without me! :) But my prayer as I read this book (and for all of us) is that God might see fit to mold me into what my husband needs me to be in order to follow His will for his life, as I learn how to pray for him.

Here we go, my first blog devotional study! :) Looking forward to hearing all your thoughts, comments, challenges, sleep deprived ramblings... :)

So, this next week, February 20-26, read the Forward of the Power of a Praying Wife, entitled "The Power" and get back on here to leave your feedback, questions, encouragement.....

-Bekah