There is a certain ache that sits within the heart of the Christian husband, and that is that he ought to pray more consistently over his wife.  We are saved to be saved, and part of living in holiness is going to the throne of grace on behalf of the bride of our youth. 

Now to be clear, the following texts are not necessarily about marriage in particular.  That is, if I were to preach an expository sermon on these texts they would not properly be preached if the sermon were primarily concerned with marriage.  With that said, I am writing within the realm of application of these texts.  Your wife is the closest neighbor that you are to love as yourself, and therefore, as husbands we are to be greatly concerned with the task of their flourishing.  

My practice has been to try to take one of these passages each day of the week and use it to give momentum to my prayer for my wife.  What a joy and weighty responsibility it is to pray on behalf of our wives!  In that spirit, let’s meditate on six different texts:

For Spiritual Protection – Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Husband, you live in a false and mythic world of dangerous darkness if you ignore the grave spiritual dangers that swirl around your wife daily.  Throughout your wife’s day she is met with a flood of temptations exposing her propensity toward sin—just as you are.  The simple truth is that Satan is not looking to play patty-cake, but so often we live as though there is no real danger.  The enemy desires to destroy your marriage by tempting your wife’s sin tendencies toward the flesh and the devil.  Her sin tendencies and patterns may be different from yours, but they are just as real and persuasive as the temptations you face.  

Go to your good Father and plead with him; intercede on your wife’s behalf that the Lord might protect her from falsehood.  1 John 5:18 says, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”  Pray with that confidence, husband.  Pray that the devil be thwarted in his desire to sift her.

For Spiritual Discernment – 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Pray that your wife would not see the world through clouded “natural” eyes but that she might see reality.  That is, pray that she sees herself, her children, her conversations, her relationships, her failures, and her sin through the lens of truth.  Ask the Lord to give her the truth that encompasses all the Father’s love, strength, and goodness toward her.  Pray that she would overcome the temptation to discern things with a worldly apparatus.  Pray that she would see with spiritual discernment.

For Spiritual Wisdom – Col 1:9-10, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Husbands, pray that the Lord fill your wife with “spiritual wisdom” to discern just how she should spend her time throughout her day.  Pray she would have wisdom in stewarding her conversations and money for the glory of God.  It is likely that she is fraught with questions concerning where she is to go and who she is to be.  Pray that the Lord would fill her with the knowledge of his will.

For Her Vision of Womanhood – Titus 2:5, “to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

Husband, it is a daily fight for your wife to both accept and revel in her womanhood.  The world and the enemy will seek to steal away the joy of your wife’s femininity.  She lives in a world that is constantly telling her she doesn’t measure up to other women and that she’s wasting her time serving her family, loving and submitting to her husband, and that she needs to downplay her femininity, or worse, trade it in for a tougher, more masculine version of herself.  Brothers, this is a lie.  This world is dark and harsh and it is in desperate need of true womanhood the way the Bible envisions it.  Pray that your wife would accept and revel in her unique calling to put on display the image of God.  Simply put, the world needs your wife’s femininity.

For Her View of Her Heavenly Father – Luke 11:11-13, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

It will be a great temptation for your wife to believe false things about her heavenly Father.  The Bible teaches, irrevocably, that God the Father is good to us—to the uttermost.  Regardless of how she feels at any particular moment, it is best for her to see the Father as good no matter what her perception is of her state.  Whether it be financial difficulty, a trying season with a child, struggles at work, familial difficulties, or even being on a different page with you, God is good.  

You want your wife to be able to see the Father’s unstoppable love toward her.  He loves her so much, and he not only wants good for her, he is moving heaven and earth to bring good to her doorstep.  Pray that she be able to see that.  She will live a more joyful and fulfilling life if she is able to think her way to the Father’s love.

For Her Joy – Psalms 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Lastly, brother, pray that your wife would be characterized by joy.  Pray that that would be the particular flavor people sense when around her.  We live in a joy-thieving world.  Often, before joy is allowed to grow to fruition, it will be swiped from her.  Fight in your prayers for her joy.  Pray that the world and the enemy fail in their pursuit of joy-thieving.  Plead with the Father that she be able to see joy in the midst of difficulty.