God Speaks to WomenSample

MINISTERING TO YOUR HUSBAND

When the joy and excitement of a wedding subsides, we must deal with the reality of the marriage. We hope for a healthy life-long partnership, friendship, and love affair. The fulfillment of that desire takes commitment, selflessness, and tenacity. As we reflect on our marriage we must ask ourselves if there are areas in which we need to extend more grace or forgiveness to our husband. Have we considered the change in needs and expectations that may affect our marriage as we both move through the seasons of life?

Pray for him. Effective ministry to our husbands begins with prayer. It is not uncommon for women to feel they are competing for their husband's affection with other women, jobs, sports, ministries, car fetishes, mother-in-laws, children, buddies, and the list goes on and on. We can reclaim our husbands and their affections. When we petition God to give us favor in the eyes of our husbands and intercede on their behalf and for our marriages, we have the power to cast down the works of the enemy (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

Forgive him. We must be intentional in forgiving our husbands. Nothing we do will successfully sustain our marriages if we do not practice forgiveness. A marriage built on the broken foundation of unforgiveness is not secure. We cannot speak of “forgiveness” without accepting its companion, which is “to forget.” We, as our Heavenly Father has done for us, must choose not to remember the sins of our husbands against us so that we may be delivered and our marriages healed.

Listen to him. Ministering to our husbands is not exclusive to their physical needs, but to their emotional needs as well. This is accomplished by listening and communication. Sometimes we may need to put aside something important to us to take the time to hear our husband's heart. To minister to our husbands' souls (intellect, will, and emotions), it is essential to know what sparks their interest and stimulates their minds. Many wives do not know their husbands’ hearts because they have not taken the time to listen to them.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, teach me how to effectually pray for my husband, to forgive him, and to listen and discern his heart so that I may minister to him in a way that will draw him closer to you and strengthen our marriage.