hope yda
Uness otherwise indicated, a Scripture quotations are taken from the Hoy Bibe, New Internationa Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Bibica, Inc. Used by permission. A rights reserved wordwide. Verses marked GNT are taken from the Good News Transation in Today s Engish Version Second Edition Copyright 1992 by American Bibe Society. Used by Permission. Cover by Bryce Wiiamson ONE-MINUTE PRAYERS is a registered trademark of The Hawkins Chidren s LLC. Harvest House Pubishers, Inc., is the excusive icensee of the federay registered trademark ONE-MINUTE PRAYERS. Cover Image Diane Labombarbe / istock To Marc, a man of remarkabe grace and strength. ONE-MINUTE PRAYERS FOR WIVES Copyright 2005, 2017 Hope Lyda Pubished by Harvest House Pubishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepubishers.com ISBN 978-0-7369-6995-6 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7369-6996-3 (ebook) A rights reserved. No part of this pubication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieva system, or transmitted in any form or by any means eectronic, mechanica, digita, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the pubisher. Printed in the China 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 / RDS-GL / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents Gratitude 5 Joy 11 Grace 17 Whoeness 23 Seeking Wisdom 29 Heaing 35 Commitment 41 Patience 47 Dependence 53 Partnership 59 Sef 65 Life 71 Sharing 77 Support 83 Future 89
Agreement 95 Compassion 101 Forever 107 Give and Take 113 Listening 119 Sanctuary 125 Gifts 131 Forgiveness 137 Honor 143 Communication 149 Love 155 Beief 161 Faithfuness 167 For the Journey 173
GRATITUDE Gad for Beginnings The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a who foow his precepts have good understanding. To him beongs eterna praise. Psam 111:10 What woud I do without beginnings, God? When my vision gets coudy and I cannot ceary see the gifts of the present day or the possibiities for the future, I know that I need to start my movement aong the path You have prepared for me. It s the way of wisdom and understanding. It offers assurances of next steps and a forward direction even when I can t figure out what is unfoding. When my husband and I find ourseves at crossroads or dead ends, we know it s because we have been wandering in our own understanding. Each time is an opportunity to shed our fawed human perspective and ook ahead with Your eyes. And each new beginning with You is bright with hope. 6
JOY The Joy of the Harvest The Lord your God wi bess you in a your harvest and in a the work of your hands, and your joy wi be compete. Deuteronomy 16:15 I don t ti the earth, but I do pant seeds. I don t gather grain in the fieds, but I do have a ife that bears a harvest. You bess me, Lord, with work to do and seasons of growth. I tend to my marriage and watch it boom with ove. I make prayer a priority, and faith takes root. Each day s toi nourishes my famiy and they fourish as a resut of that investment of intention. With joy I anticipate the fruit of Your abor, not mine. I beieve that You have panted seeds within me that You re sti tending to. I know that I continue to grow and reach new heights in the warmth of Your sun. I am so gratefu for the harvest of Your ove in my ife. 12
GRACE A Positive Infuence When [Barnabas] arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was gad and encouraged them a to remain true to the Lord with a their hearts. Acts 11:23 Simpe graciousness is ost in the frenzy that buzzes around me and, I must admit, within me some days. And because of this, Your grace has even greater positive infuence. Peope are stunned when they receive a touch of it from someone ese. Lord, I want to be a woman who extends Your grace to everyone and who never worries about whether they offer it back to me. It s okay if others are fruga with their version. That shoud motivate me to shower those peope with more of Your mercy and ove. Nobody is immune to the infuence of Your sweet grace for very ong. It makes us fee hed and safe. And in these times of hyperconnection that resuts in frequent isoation, feeing hed and safe changes us inside out. 18
WHOLENESS Seeing God in My Marriage No one has ever seen God; but if we ove one another, God ives in us and his ove is made compete in us. 1 John 4:12 There are times when I can ist off the things my husband is doing wrong. What a terribe thing to admit, Lord. I am dropping that menta ist and ony keeping track of the ways that I see You in him. How is Your grace evident in his forgiveness? How is Your strength and hep made cear in his efforts to ead us? How has his own transformation in even sma ways shown to me the power of Your savation? I reaize now that this positive, faithfu ist can go on and on. I wi be a better friend and partner and over when I find the whoeness of Your ove within my marriage. Hep me to watch for You and Your ove in my husband and in this reationship from this day forward. 24
SEEKING WISDOM Thirsty Marriage You, God, are my God, earnesty I seek you; I thirst for you, my whoe body ongs for you, in a dry and parched and where there is no water. Psam 63:1 God, I seek Your sustenance for my marriage. Let Your ove and wisdom rain down on us. I don t want to et a hurting time turn into a dry season. Refue our connection so that we don t et sma tak become our ony conversation. Restore our first instincts to be tender with one another s heart and protective of our ove. I ong to fee Your hand on our marriage when we seem extra fragie. Refi us with Your iving water so we become aive again and eager to put in the work, effort, care, and commitment to buid on the foundation of ove we have and are gratefu for. Guide us to discover the deeper hope You have panted in our reationship. It wi not wither, but wi fourish in Your care. Refresh us, Lord. 31
HEALING Love Rising Rise up and hep us; redeem us because of your unfaiing ove. Psam 44:26 Redeem this marriage, God. Look it over from every ange. What aspects are to be eevated? Removed? Transformed? My husband and I offer our reationship to You for Your purposes. May You rise up in our ives. May others see Your strength in our strugges. Your unfaiing ove is the ony thing that can save our faibe, human ove. We trust Your heaing even in times when we harbor doubts about ourseves or the other. Thank You for aowing us to see our own faws more ceary so that we ook to Your perfection for our answers. There s nothing that we have created that can serve as our foundation. Ony You and Your heaing mercy provide that pace for us to stand together with hope and the great peace of Your promises. 37