What does it look like to love your husband? Appreciate him, respect him, support him, etc… Yes to all these things. But, one of the most significant ways you can love him is to PRAY for him.
Here’s a list to get you started.
- Pray for his work, that God would “establish the work of his hands” for His own renown (Psalm 90:17), and give him favor with his superiors, as He did for Daniel (Daniel 1:9).
- If your husband has a job, thank God for this provision. Thank God for His careful craftsmanship of your husband that he contributes to his job and ministry, and ask him to infuse your husband with humility in all he does.
- Pray for his relationships with his family: that he’d thoughtfully, intentionally build relationships with them, and honor his father and mother (Exodus 20:12).
- Thank God for the solid mentors and friends in his life, who build him, care for him, give wisdom, and provide accountability.
- Pray for his friendships, that he would seek and meaningfully receive relationships with godly men who will surround him with true fellowship (1 John 1).
- Thank God for the way your husband provides for your family, and pray that God would continue to provide for all your needs according to His riches (Philippians 4:19)
- Pray for his management of finances: that he would have and utilize wisdom, discernment, generosity, and wise stewardship for the sake of your family and God’s kingdom.
- Thank God for the ways your husband leads and shepherds your family, as Jesus does (Psalm 23).
- Pray for your husband’s leadership of your family, and other areas where he’s leading members of God’s church, or others who need a shepherd. Ask God for His wisdom, strength, and joy in serving, overseeing, and sacrificing (Ephesians 5:25-28; 1 Peter 5:2-4).
- If your husband is a dad, praise God for the ways that he takes responsibility and care for them. Thank God for the strength, wisdom, capability, and leadership he shows in this area.
- Pray for his ability to “see” your children, discerning their strengths, weaknesses, desires, needs, gifts, and spirits. Pray for his wisdom to faithfully shepherd them as God does; his loving, diligent care for them; his patient, godly discipline of them; and his relentless pursuit of their hearts (Deuteronomy 6:4-8; Psalm 103:13, Ephesians 6:4).
- Thank God for the areas of intimacy you experience with your husband, and pray that God will unify the two of you even further, as He desires that you are one as the Trinity is one (John 17). Pray that both of you will have courage to stand against the threats and obstacles to your oneness.
- Pray for your husband’s protection: physically; emotionally; mentally; spiritually; for his sexual purity of thought, heart, body, and mind (1 Corinthians 6:18-20); and for the protection of your marriage.
- Thank God for your husband’s gifts and strengths, and ask God that those would be wholly His (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
- Pray for his specific areas of weakness, that God’s power might be made perfect there (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), and that your husband might be “more than a conqueror” in areas of repeated sin (Romans 8:37).
- Praise God for the gift of your husband, and for His good plan in joining the two of you together (Mark 10:7-9).
- Pray for his relationship with God, that He would sense God’s powerful presence and consistently experience thriving, intimate walk with Him. Pray that He would love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37-39).
- Pray for his prayer life: that he would keep in vibrant, faith-filled step with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25), believing God for His promises (Hebrews 11:1,6), having a heart full of gratitude, and wholeheartedly trusting God with every prayer and petition (Philippians 4:6-7).
- Thank God for his constant guidance and shepherding of your shepherd, and for his love and gentle care of your husband.
- Pray for his time management: that he would know and choose the good works God has prepared in advance for him to do (Ephesians 2:10); that he would make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16); that he would, full of faith, choose rest; that he would love well with his time and energy.
- Thank God for your marriage, and for this journey you’ve crafted together.
- Pray for his mind: that he would think on whatever is true, noble, right, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Pray that God would generously give him wisdom (James 1:5), and lead him into more knowledge of Himself (Philippians 1:9-11).
- Thank God for the things in your relationship that are going right, and the things your husband does well.
- Pray for his courage (Joshua 1:9): to reject passivity; to flee from temptation; to pursue relationships; to persevere in difficulty; to lead boldly, and with thoughtful attentiveness and a servant’s heart, rather than domination.
- Thank God for your husband’s life, and His immaculate plan for this man.
- Pray for your husband’s dedication to God’s Word: that he will feel compelled to meditate on it, memorize it, know God through it, apply it, and be changed from the heart by it.
- If your husband has salvation, praise God for this unspeakable gift of eternal life. If not, praise God that salvation belongs to Him, and that He has the power and knowledge to get ahold of your husband’s soul (Revelation 7:10). Ask God to profoundly mark each of your husband’s relationships with grace and the power of forgiveness.
- Pray for your husband’s soul-level satisfaction in God. God knows the “holes” in your husband’s heart that can only be filled by God and His love—the Living Water through which he’ll never thirst again (Jeremiah 2:13).
- Thank God for your husband’s love and care for you. [If you don’t feel this or believe this to be true in your marriage, thank God for His love that never fails, and who sees you.]*
- Pray for your husband’s areas of stress: that he would have godly wisdom, holy strength, unshakable faith, and pervasive peace.
- Pray for your husband’s wife: that you would be a strong, life-giving ally of holy beauty, wisdom, and devoted love.
*Note: Perhaps you’re in a marriage where you’ve experienced deep pain, rejection, and/or isolation from your husband, whether he is or is not a Christian. Maybe your spouse doesn’t seem to serve or appreciate you. May God give you indescribable courage, comfort, and help in that painful place of giving thanks in all circumstances, and hear your faith-filled prayers for him! Our God is the God who sees.
