The Power of a Praying Wife

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The Power of Prayer as a Wife and Parent - reviews by Philippa C

I have been reading two quite inspiring books, written by Stormie Omartian, which are both straightforward and practical -

'The power of a praying wife', and
'The power of a praying parent'.

As she says of parenting,
"It's the best of jobs, the most difficult of jobs, it can bring you the greatest joy and cause the greatest pain. There is nothing as fulfilling and exhilarating; nothing so depleting and exhausting... just when we think we've got the parenting terrain all figured out, we suddenly find ourselves in new territory again as each new age and stage presents another set of challenges".

The focus of her message is that our children's lives don't ever need to be left to chance and that, whilst being a perfect parent doesn't matter, being a praying one does - whether your child is three or thirty-three. A lot of what she says makes tremendous sense, and she gives testimony to the changes in many lives that have come about through consistent prayer.
As regards praying for your spouse, she makes it very clear that the power of a praying wife is not about gaining control over your husband - so don't get your hopes up! She stresses the need to lay down all claim to power in, and of, yourself - rather, to rely on God's power to transform you, your husband, your circumstances and your marriage however new or long-standing. We are called, as wives, to use this power as a gentle tool of restoration, inviting God's power into our husband's life for his great blessing, which is ultimately ours too.

Each book works through thirty key-areas of life. For our husbands this includes his role as decision-maker and father, his health and physical protection, security in work and finances, his emotional life and his faith and spiritual life. For our children the focuses are their physical, emotional and spiritual well-beings, their self-esteem, education as well as many other areas.

I have found both books enlightening and very easy to read. Each chapter is quite short and includes an example or some teaching, a useful bible-reference and a prayer.
Philippa C