If you are separated or
divorced, it is hard to do that “protecting” and “providing”. How can we protect a wife we are not
around? How can we provide for a wife we
do not have communication with?
Start
with prayer.
Pray to God asking how you can accomplish these duties in your
circumstances. Ask Our Lord to provide
opportunities to you which will allow you to protect and provide for your wife
and family.
Pray
more. There are some very good scriptures about
“protecting” in the Bible. I would first
suggest Ephesians 6:13-17: Therefore put on the full armor of God, so
that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and
after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of
truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in
place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel
of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you
can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Here is an example of
praying Ephesians 6 for your wife and family:
Heavenly Father, Your
warrior prepares for battle along with my wife and children. Today my wife claims
victory over Satan by putting on the whole armor of God!
She puts on the Belt of Truth. May she
stand firm in the truth of your Word so she will not be a victim of Satan’s
lies. My wife puts on the Breastplate of Righteousness. May
it guard my wife’s heart from evil so she will remain pure and holy, protected
under the blood of Jesus Christ.
My wife puts on the Sandals of
Peace. May she go out and proclaim the good news of the Gospel so your peace
will shine through her and be a light to all she encounters. My wife takes the Shield of Faith. May she be ready to deflect Satan’s fiery
darts of doubt, denial and deceit so she will not be vulnerable to spiritual
defeat. My wife puts on the Helmet of Salvation. May
she keep her mind focused on you so Satan will not have a stronghold on her
thoughts. My wife takes the Sword of the Spirit. May
the two-edged sword of your Word be ready in her hands so she can use it to
take authority over the Enemy. By faith, my wife, your warrior, has put on
the whole armor of God. My wife
is prepared to live this day in
spiritual victory.
This armor is
“spiritual armor”. Pray every day that
God’s armor be placed over yourself and your wife and children. Meditate on Ephesians 6 and really get to
know it. This armor is for protection –
you are placing a spiritual protection on your wife and family. This is your duty.
Pray
even more. I suggest
that you read the Book of Hosea. Hosea
was a man who married Gomer, the daughter of a prostitute. Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea and she ends up
being offered for sale as a slave. Hosea
buys Gomer and nurses her back to health.
While Gomer is still away from Hosea and chasing after her lovers, God says
that He will put a HEDGE around Gomer. "Therefore,
behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall
not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not
overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she
say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me
than now" (Hosea 2:6-7). Remember that the hedge is to be a wall of
protection from wrong outside influence. Gomer would not be able to fulfill her
own ungodly purpose. She would follow after her lovers but would not be able to
overtake them. She would seek after her lovers but not be able to find them. God
said that He would cause her to see that it was better with her husband than with
anyone else.
Here is an example of praying a hedge of
protection:
"Heavenly Father, I ask You in the name and through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to build a "hedge of thorns"
around my wife. I pray that through this hedge, any other lover, ungodly
friend, or anyone who speaks against our reconciliation, will lose interest in
my wife and depart. I base this prayer on Your Word which commands that what
You have joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19:6)
Praying in God’s will is something discussed
in the previous post. That same idea can
carry through to the ideas here. Praying
for God’s help in how to protect and provide for your wife is, I believe,
praying in God’s will, for those are our responsibilities as husbands.
