CHAPTER FOUR | HER MOTHERHOOD
In my survey of wives, women voted motherhood as one of their top three needs for prayer, just under prayer for their spirits and for their emotions.
Every mother struggles daily with finding the successful balance between being a good mother and being a good wife.
Your wife needs your prayers to help her find that balance. When she does, it will not only be better for her, but it will bless you and your children in countless ways.
God will work through your prayers to give her peace in the process. Your prayers for her as a mother can make the difference in whether her responsibilities become a daily grind of dirty work or a life-giving labor of love.
THE PAIN OF EMPTY ARMS
For women who very much want their own children and have been denied that experience, there is a pain so deep that only God can touch it and soothe it.
Healing for infertility was mentioned as one of the top needs for prayer for mothers in my survey of women.
I've known many people who have been childless, praying for years for a baby, and who then have seen God answer those prayers in one miraculous way or another.
This could not have happened without the long-term fervent prayers of husbands and wives seeking a miracle from God. Often the greatest miracles happen to those who are desperate for one.
THE WORKING MOM
Not being there to greet the children when they come home from school, not seeing them learn something new, not being able to take time off from work when a child is sick, missing special events, performances, games, or field trips, wondering if the person caring for the child is doing a good job while knowing that no one could better care for the child than herself—all these contribute to a mother's pain and guilt.
No matter how good or devoted a mother she is, or how great her parenting skills are, every woman wants prayer that she will be a better mom. Working moms are desperate for those prayers because they have to do more with less time.
DADS HAVE GUILT TOO
There is great pressure on men to be and do everything successfully, and there is a deep sense of failure when they don't feel they are living up to their own or others' expectations of them.
I want to encourage you as a father to know that your presence in the home is vitally important. It's more important than you probably realize. When you are at home, it gives your wife and children a sense of security, strength, and
love.
If you spend a few minutes of undivided attention a day with your children, looking each of them in the eye and talking to them about their lives in an encouraging way, it enables them to believe they are valuable. You have no idea how important your approval is to your family.
Praying for your children each day is a way you can be more involved in their lives daily while still providing for their needs in the manner you would like.
It's also good to pray for your children together with your wife. "If two of you agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19). If one can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30), then praying for your children with your wife is powerful.
It will give your wife the greatest peace, confidence, and joy to know you are praying.
No matter how much you are paid in a lifetime for the work you do, the time you spend praying for your wife and children is worth far more.
Whenever you pray for them, you are investing in your future together and storing up treasures in heaven.
Please pray for your wife that:
1. She will be guided by God in raising her children.
2. She will have patience with each child.
3. She will have wisdom when disciplining her children.
4. She will teach her children well about the Lord.
5. She will know how to pray for each child.
6. Her children will be obedient and respectful to her.
7. Her children will rise up and call her blessed.
POWER TOOLS
Proverbs 31:28
Psalm 127:3
Isaiah 65:23
Lamentations 2:19
1 Samuel 1:27
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