What Happens When a Husband Leads His Wife in Prayer

　　By Gina Smith

　　“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.” - Psalm 77:1

　　There’s something comforting that happens when my husband prays. Our prayers together often begin after the lights have gone out at the end of the day, right before we fall asleep. Brian begins by saying, “Father, Thank you.” “Father, we need you.” “Father, we are weary.” His tired voice speaks humble words of dependence on God that draw me in, and I silently join him as he talks to God. He prays for our grown children and their spouses, my aging parents, our church, and the many individuals that God has graciously placed in our lives.

　　“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.” Psalm 77:1

　　When my husband prays with me, I hear his humility, his love for others, and I hear him speak words of repentance. I hear the burdens that have been on his heart, sometimes for the first time, as he casts them onto the shoulders of our loving Savior. It causes me to love him even more, as he entrusts God with his grown children and as he asks God to help him be a godly husband. It helps me to trust him as I hear him asking God for the wisdom he needs to make the decisions he is facing, and it motivates me to continue fighting for our marriage as he asks God to help us live out the covenant we made before Him over 31 years ago.

　　“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10

　　Praying with my husband softens my heart and gives me compassion for him as I hear him talk to God about his battles, and it causes me to want to do what I can to lighten his load. His prayers change me as I enter into his trials and am reminded that God is our ever-present need in times of trouble. My heart fills with gratefulness as he takes the time to thank God for all He has done, and is doing, in our lives and in the lives of our children. And I am reminded of God’s faithfulness as Brian thanks Him for all the ways He has provided for us. My eyes are directed to God when my husband prays and my heart is encouraged.

　　“Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” 1 Chronicles 16:11

　　And when he says, “Amen.” We fall asleep knowing that it is God that sustains us while we sleep, and that He is the one that will open our eyes in the morning.

　　“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.” Psalm 3:5

　　When my husband prays with me, he is helping me choose to join him in prayer when I find myself in a place of discouragement, weariness, or when I don’t feel like praying at all. It is often the push I need to help me take that step, grab his hand, and join him in offering up my cares to God. And more often than not, my perspective is adjusted and I have been helped to see things the way God sees them.

　　“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16

　　Praying together can be a place of great vulnerability. It can knit your hearts together as you join each other in presenting your concerns to God, telling Him how much you need Him. It helps you to remember that you are not in this battle alone!

　　There are three of you!

　　“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

　　Gina Smithis a writer and author who has been married for 31 years to Brian, a college professor and athletic trainer.For the past 20+ years Gina and her husband have served on a Christian college campus as the on-campus parents, and her husband has been a professor and dean of students. They have lived on the campus where they raised both of their now married children. In her spare time, she loves to write, writes for several websites, and recently authored her first bookGrace Gifts: Practical Ways To Help Your Children Understand God's Grace.She also writes at her personal blog: ginalsmith.com.

　　Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/katleho SeisaRelated Resource: Engaging with God in a Technology-Saturated WorldMany of us feel hurried, and hurry is costing us more than we realize. The Unhurried Living Podcast with Alan and Gem Fadling provides resources and training to help Christian leaders learn to live and lead from fullness rather than on empty. After realizing the toll technology had taken on his connection with God, his community, and even himself, Carlos Whitaker took radical steps to disconnect in order to reconnect. He spent nearly two months living screen-free at a monastery, an Amish farm, and his own home, experiencing profound transformation along the way. If this episode helps you recenter your work and life on God, be sure to subscribe to Unhurried Living on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!