7 prayers that changed my heart for my husband

I have known my husband for thirty-three years. We dated for four of those years, starting my sophomore year of high school and entering college. We had been engaged for less than a year. We have been married for over twenty-eight years. Add to that three kids, a pet zoo, a few major moves, and a son who's twice battled cancer, we've been navigating life together for what seems like a very long time. And most have been difficult.

During those early years of sporadic encounters, we always remained at least close friends. When we last got back together, my husband told me that he compared everyone he had dated with me, but none of them came close. It was me he was looking for from the start. Me he loved. Me with whom he wanted forever.

I hear your collective "awww". Because it sounds sweet and perfect and romantic, right?

Not if you've seen the other side of the picture. That would be my side. While we were building a relationship, my parents' relationship was falling apart, half a brick by half a brick. A slow, ugly death that involved countless lies and another woman.

When I met my husband, I had a father. When I married my husband, I didn't. Not only did my father spend a quarter of a century with my mother, but he completely abandoned me after nineteen years of what I thought was a wonderful childhood.

To say I was a mess doesn't begin to describe the consequences of their divorce. How someone who says he loves you. . . leave you?

On my wedding day, my husband walked down the aisle because he loved me. I walked down the aisle because I desperately needed love.

I'm sure you see the problem. I could not. And it showed in the same fights we had over and over again. Thirteen years old and three children, I had a choice. Stay with that guy I got “stuck” with or abandon my family like my dad did. No, I would never leave my children, but without their father, they wouldn't be the same. They would lose the security I so desperately sought.

I stayed because it was the right thing to do. But I wanted more than the mess of a wedding I helped make. Something had to change. I needed glue to keep my husband and I together. This glue turned out to be God. He is truly a redeemer.

I started praying for my husband fourteen years ago. I would have liked to pray the other fourteen. The road would have been so different. I would have been grateful instead of resenting the man God gave me.

It took me half my marriage to realize what I always had. I couldn't get past myself. I couldn't let the frustrations of the past pass me by. I couldn't "see" my husband for who he really was. My dad kept bothering me.

Today, my husband is my favorite date. My first choice movie pal. My favorite travel companion. My best friend. My refuge. My person. Sitting next to him calms me down. Sharing life with him strengthens me.

God did this. From the moment I stopped taking my frustrations out on my husband and started taking them to God, he began to develop a love between us that I never thought I would have.

Have you found the one your soul loves? Do you need to fall in love with your husband again? Or for the first time? Have you ever been married? A year? A quarter century ? Now is the time to pray. You do not know where to start ? Here is what helps me.

Download your own personal PDF copy of these beautiful prayers for your husband HERE. Print them out to keep by your bed, in the car, or at work to remind you of the power of praying for your loved one!

Lord, this first prayer isn't really for my husband, it's for me. I just want to thank You for giving him to me and me to him. You knew what you were doing from the start. His character traits that used to drive me crazy are now the forces that fill where I fight. Her features that looked like weakness are now the places where you allowed me to shine. We complement each other. When I let you be the glue, we're stronger together than we've ever been apart. Thank you for bringing my husband into my life.

You gave me and my husband. You have blessed our union. I know you want this to work even more than we do. Protect our link. Keep my husband's heart and eyes focused on me. Remove temptation. Stop all thoughts that might drive him away. Put a wall around our relationship that will keep it just the three of us. With You in the middle, we can withstand anything. Thank you for the man you are shaping him.

When my husband is tired and beaten, will you be his strength? Will you renew his spirit with yours? From the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep, give him what he needs to be husband, father, employee and...