Why is it so easy to pray for him?

In the past 9 months I re-read The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. This has revitalized my prayer life for Bryan.  I pray very specific prayers about all aspects of his life ranging from his past, his job, his faithfulness and more.  

I have found it so easy to pray for Bryan to be more ________ or less _______ or to show me more _______ but have neglected to pray about myself as his wife.  I began to wonder what Bryan would put in those blanks as he were praying for me? Convicting.  

Throughout The Power of a Praying Wife the author inserts prayers to pray about myself as his wife but for some reason those are easy to glance over! I can get so stuck on "fixing" Bryan, or anyone for that matter, through my prayers.  What a disservice to him and to Christ.  What if I'm not praying according to God's will for someone else's life? 

As I read chapter 2 of The Excellent Wife God really slapped me in the face, thank you very much Lord :).   On page 12 she talks about having the right attitude so that I can focus on what I am supposed to do instead of what my husband is supposed to be doing.  She goes on to say how easy it is to judge whether other people, especially our husbands, are doing what they are supposed to be doing. She challenges us to ask ourselves, "am I doing the good works that God intended for me?"

So as I sit here staring at a load of laundry that needs to be folded, that may or may not have been in this same spot yesterday afternoon, I am challenged to turn the focus on my own self before I so easily "pray" for others with the intention of molding them to what I desire for them to be.  I think this should be allowed to work in our children.  AMEN? :)

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

Am I Giving of Myself?

Hey Ladies, just getting this party started with our first post, recapping some of chapter one. I felt so encouraged after I left Julie's house that night, and how quickly I can move on with the busyness of life and forget about it all! Please tell me I'm not alone in this!

I felt stirred by the quote, "Her husband should be the primary benefactor of his wife's time and energy, not the recipient of what may be left over at the end of the day."

It is so incredibly easy to put our children above our husbands...and hello... putting ourselves above them as well! After a long and frustrating day with the kiddos, what kind of servant's heart or even loving heart am I showing to my husband? Am I putting an ample amount of time into my husband in order to make him feel loved, supported, and taken care of? Honestly, I can really stink at this! 

She references Genesis 2:18, which says: 

"'The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."'

I then looked up the word "helper" in the dictionary, or let's be honest, I totally Googled it. Here are some of the definitions that I felt pertained to marriage.

You guys! Anyone feeling a little convicted after reading those? This is the name that God gives us in Genesis, and these are our duties. Insert "husband" into the first definition: To give assistance to my husband, make it easier for my husband to do something. What am I doing to make life easier for my husband? Now insert "marriage" into the second definition: To contribute to the effectiveness or improvement of my marriage. What am I doing, day in and day out, to improve my marriage or make it flow more smoothly? 

I want to continue this conversation with some practical ways to start working towards being a better helper for your husband.  Please comment with any ideas you may have, and I'll gladly add them into my next post!