Prayers

[Clirxainarn]

Please pray for me about two things.


First, I would love prayer for the anxiety I still experience when presenting monthly trainings to my employees. I’ve been doing this for 5½ years, and although it’s gotten easier, I still struggle with anxiety and critical thoughts. I know it’s not because I’m unprepared or lack the skills. I really believe it’s an attack from the enemy on my mind.


I want to get to a place where I’m doing these presentations for God’s glory and not worrying about my own performance or what others think of me. I also want to stop feeling the need to watch and rewatch the recordings afterward, picking apart everything I could’ve done better instead of recognizing what went well. I want to be able to finish a presentation, feel at peace, and go about my day without needing a whole day to come down from the anxiety and adrenaline.


Second, I’d appreciate prayer about a conversation I want to have with my husband tonight. We’ve been married for 12 years, have two wonderful children, and have a really loving marriage. We rarely argue or even disagree, and we both love Jesus and try to keep Him at the center of our marriage.


Tonight, while waiting for our son’s baseball game to start, my husband started talking to a young, attractive woman who was sitting alone. They talked for about 10 minutes. I couldn’t hear everything, but nothing I heard sounded flirtatious. What bothered me was how long they talked and that he never acknowledged me or introduced me, even when they exchanged names toward the end. She was wearing pretty revealing clothing and seemed very interested in the conversation.


I didn’t say anything or even look over at them. I just prayed for Jesus to give me peace and self-control.


When we first started dating, my husband was more openly flirtatious with other women, and I struggled with insecurity because of it. He’s changed so much since then, but I think there’s still a little fear in me that those old behaviors could come back.


I don’t think this is about comparing myself to another woman. I love who God made me to be, and I feel good about myself. I’ve even lost 30 pounds recently and am close to the weight I was when we first met. I just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t think about how that interaction might make me feel. I also wondered how he would feel if I spent 10 minutes talking to a young, attractive man without acknowledging him.


I want to talk to him about it tonight because I don’t want to hold it in and let it turn into resentment. But I also don’t want to approach him with accusations or let old fears influence how I respond. I want to be loving and honest and give him a chance to share his perspective, too.


Please pray that God gives me wisdom, peace, and the right words. I want to handle this in a way that honors Him and strengthens our marriage.


Thank you so much for praying for me.

 

[Articles]

We have read your request and we are joining with you in prayer for both of these burdens, and we thank God for your heart that wants to honor Him in your work and in your marriage.

We hear how heavy this anxiety has been for you even after five and a half years of faithfully leading these monthly trainings. We agree with you that this is not about preparation or skill, but a battle for your mind, and we know the enemy wants to keep you focused on performance and the opinions of others rather than on the Lord. God tells us to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ in 2 Corinthians 10:5, and that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control in 2 Timothy 1:7. When we do our work heartily as for the Lord and not for men in Colossians 3:23, and whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, to do all to the glory of God in 1 Corinthians 10:31, we are freed from needing the approval of people. Your desire to stop watching and rewatching the recordings to pick apart every flaw is a godly desire to walk in peace and to rest in what God has already equipped you to do. We encourage you to cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you in 1 Peter 5:7, and to bring your requests to God with thanksgiving so that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus in Philippians 4:6-7. That peace is what allows you to finish a presentation, feel at peace, and go about your day without needing a whole day to come down from adrenaline.

We pray together for this, Father in the name of Jesus we lift this anxiety to You and we ask You to set our sister free from critical thoughts and performance fear. Renew her mind and help her take every anxious thought captive to Your truth. Let her present these trainings as an offering to You for Your glory, not for the approval of people. Fill her with Your power, love and self-control, and let Your perfect peace guard her heart and mind. Help her to see what went well and to rest in the grace that You have equipped her for this work, and to walk away in peace without condemnation. We ask You to silence the attack of the enemy on her mind and to keep her in perfect peace because her mind is stayed on You in Isaiah 26:3.

We also thank God with you for your marriage of twelve years, for two wonderful children, and for a loving marriage that keeps Jesus at the center. Marriage is a holy covenant before God between a man and a woman for life, and we strongly endorse and rejoice in the faithful and loving marriage you and your husband have built. We understand why this interaction at your son's baseball game troubled you. Even though you did not hear anything flirtatious, the length of the conversation, the fact that he did not acknowledge you or introduce you when names were exchanged, and the revealing clothing of the woman would understandably leave a wife feeling overlooked and uneasy. Your feelings are not about comparing yourself to another woman, and we praise God that you love who He made you to be and that you feel good about yourself. We also hear your wisdom in remembering how your husband was more openly flirtatious when you were dating and how that planted seeds of insecurity, even though God has changed him so much since then. It is loving and right that you do not want to hold this inside and let it turn into resentment, for we are told not to let the sun go down on our wrath and not to give place to the devil in Ephesians 4:26-27.

We want to gently encourage you both with biblical principles for guarding your marriage. A husband is called to love his wife as Christ loved the church in Ephesians 5:25 and to live with his wife in an understanding way giving honor to her in 1 Peter 3:7, and both husband and wife are called to have their marriage held in honor and to keep the marriage bed undefiled in Hebrews 13:4. Jesus taught that even looking with lust is adultery in the heart in Matthew 5:28, so a godly husband and wife both guard their eyes, their conversations, and their boundaries to be above reproach and to abstain from every form of evil in 1 Thessalonians 5:22. That includes being mindful of how a prolonged private conversation with an attractive person while not acknowledging one's spouse could appear to others and could make a spouse feel dishonored. We do not believe you are accusing him of wrongdoing, but it is right and loving for a wife to share how an action made her feel and to ask for reassurance and for clearer boundaries that protect your oneness.

For your conversation tonight, we encourage you to speak the truth in love in Ephesians 4:15 and to remember that a gentle answer turns away wrath in Proverbs 15:1. Approach him not with accusations but with honest vulnerability, sharing what you observed, how it made you feel, and asking for his perspective. It may help to ask him how he would feel if the roles were reversed, as you thought, not as a weapon but as a way to help him understand your heart. Perfect love casts out fear in 1 John 4:18, and we pray that old fears will not drive this conversation but that the security you have in Christ and in your covenant will.

Father in Jesus name we lift this marriage and this conversation to You. We thank You for twelve years of faithfulness and for a husband and wife who both love You. Give our sister wisdom, peace and the right words tonight. Help her to speak with gentleness, honesty and grace, and help her husband to listen with humility, understanding and love. Guard his heart and eyes and help him to honor his wife openly and to protect your marriage from even the appearance of compromise. Heal any old wounds of insecurity and let Your perfect love cast out fear. Let no resentment take root, but let this conversation strengthen trust, unity and affection between them. Let Your peace rule in their home and let their marriage continue to honor You and be a testimony of Your faithfulness. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our only access to the Father and our only hope of salvation, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved in Acts 4:12. Amen.

We encourage you to continue to bring every anxious thought to the Lord quickly in prayer before and after you present, and to intentionally thank Him for one or two things that went well instead of reviewing the recording to criticize yourself. And we encourage you to keep choosing open, gentle communication in your marriage, trusting that God who has brought you this far will continue to keep and strengthen your covenant.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for trusting us with both of these things. We can hear how much you want to honor the Lord in your work and in your marriage, and we are praying with you.

For the monthly trainings, it makes sense that after five years you would know the material well and still feel that rush of anxiety and then spend hours replaying it. That cycle of watching again to find what you could have done better often comes from tying our worth to how flawlessly we perform, even when we want to be doing it for God. One small step that helps many people is to give that review a clear boundary beforehand - for example, deciding you will not rewatch at all, or you will watch once with a single purpose like noting one thing that went well and one thing to adjust, then close the recording and move on with your day. It takes practice to let peace come from faithfulness rather than from a perfect performance.

For tonight with your husband, we appreciate your desire to not hold this in and also not to come with accusations. Waiting for a calm, private moment after the kids are settled, sharing what you observed and how you felt using "I felt" language, and inviting his perspective can keep the conversation open. You already showed self-control at the game, and approaching him with that same gentle honesty gives space for understanding.

We are praying for you:

Father, we lift our sister to You. Calm her mind as she leads and as she talks with her husband tonight. Give her clear words, a peaceful heart, and assurance that she is loved and valued in Christ. Guide her husband to listen well, and strengthen their marriage in love and trust. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Savannah20]

Praying for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your letter has been read with gratitude before the Lord, and we have carried your two burdens to the throne of grace.

Concerning the anxiety that still besets you when you stand before your employees, we understand the heaviness of which you speak. Though you have labored faithfully for five years and are not unprepared nor lacking in skill, the mind can yet be assailed with critical thoughts and a fear of man. You have judged rightly in desiring to do this work for the glory of God and not for your own performance or for the opinion of others. Wisdom is man's true path, and that wisdom is not found in trusting our own strength, but in trusting the Lord. Christ Himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and He planned and perfected the way wherein we may stand with confidence, not in ourselves, but in Him. When you glory in His power and not your own, you will find that power belongs unto God and He will keep you.

We will pray that the Lord will quiet the tumult of anxious thought, that you may offer each presentation as unto Him, and having done so, leave the fruit with Him. May He teach you to be faithful in the moment and then to walk away in peace, without the need to watch and rewatch and pick apart what is past. What is done for Christ, in dependence upon Christ, may be left with Christ. He does not require perfection of performance, but a heart that seeks to honor Him. May He give you that settled peace which allows you to finish your labor and go about your day without a whole day spent coming down from adrenaline and fear.

Concerning your marriage, we thank God with you for twelve years of loving covenant, for two children, and for a union where Christ is sought as the center. Marriage is not a mere convenience but a covenant cemented by mutual love, wherein husband and wife become one by holy choice. It is right that you guard it.

You acted with grace when you prayed for peace and self control rather than reacting in the moment at your son's game. And your desire now not to hold this within until it turns to resentment, but to speak lovingly and honestly and to hear your husband's perspective, is itself wisdom.

Know that there is such a thing as virtuous jealousy. Like holy anger, jealousy is not evil in itself when it is a pure and holy flame. Human jealousy rightly guards, like an armed man, the marriage covenant, for that covenant is tender and sacred. When love absorbs the heart, a jealousy will guard the object of affection. Only let a provocation occur, something of that guarding will appear. This does not mean your feeling was sinful insecurity, especially as the Lord has taught you to love who He made you to be. It means your love values the oneness of your marriage and is sensitive when that oneness seems overlooked, as when you were not acknowledged or introduced.

At the same time, love must speak with wisdom in the hidden parts. It is not enough to govern the tongue by silence, for there is such a thing as idle silence as well as idle speech. True wisdom will lead you to speak the truth in love, without accusation and without letting old fears write the script for this present moment. Your husband has changed much since your early days together, and it is good to give thanks for that growth while still honestly sharing how this particular interaction made you feel, and gently asking him to consider how he would feel were the situation reversed.

We will pray for your conversation tonight, that God will give you wisdom, peace, and the right words. May He help you to share not as one who accuses, but as one who loves and seeks to strengthen the covenant. May He give your husband ears to hear with humility and love, and may He knit you closer together through honest, gentle speech.

Our prayer for you is this. O Lord, our God, look upon Your daughter who seeks to honor You in her work and in her marriage. Give her power and wisdom in Christ to cast her cares upon You when anxiety rises, to labor for Your glory and to rest in Your sufficiency. Grant her peace that passes understanding when the task is done. And in her marriage, grant her and her husband grace to speak and to listen as those who are one in You. Let their covenant be guarded in holiness and deepened in love, and let all they do be done to honor Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

 

[Azoirpaertown]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name.

 

[Jonathan_M]

I prayed for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.