Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your burden and your love for your husband. Your prayer for his protection and deliverance is right and good, and God hears the prayers of a wife who intercedes for her husband.
Scripture teaches that marriage is a lifelong covenant, one man and one woman bound together as long as both shall live. For that reason the instruction to the married is not to depart lightly, but to remain and to seek reconciliation. When a believing wife has a husband who does not yet believe or who is caught in bondage, and he is willing to remain with her, she is encouraged not to leave him. In God's sight there is a sanctifying influence in that home through the faithful spouse, and a covering of grace over the children. Your faithful presence, your prayers, and your holy life before the Lord matter greatly in that home.
God has also shown a simple pattern for marriage to flourish. The husband is called to love his wife as Christ loved the church, to honor her, to protect her and to provide security and faithful love. The wife is called to respect her husband and to support him as unto the Lord. When these two ways are followed together, each makes the other easier. The more love is shown, the easier it is to respect, and the more respect is shown, the easier it is to love. This does not mean a wife must obey a demand that would violate her conscience before God, for a husband who truly loves as Christ loves would not ask that. It does mean living before your husband with a pure and reverent life, adorning yourself with inward godliness rather than outward show, so that without a flood of words he may see Christ in you.
Your husband's struggle with alcohol is a deep bondage of the flesh. Many have learned that a person cannot free himself from such addiction by willpower alone. He must come to see that he needs a higher power to deliver him, and that power is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Him there is deliverance from bondage. He can break the power of sin and Satan that holds a person and leads to foolish decisions and harmful companions. You are right to ask God to guard your husband from bad people and bad choices and from the destructive work of the enemy, and to keep him from doing harm to himself or others while under that influence.
Continue to pray for him specifically, that God would place His protection around him, that angels would guard him, that the Lord would block paths that lead to destruction and open his eyes to his need for Christ. Pray also that God would bring into his life people who will speak truth and not enable the addiction, and that he would be willing to seek help and accountability. Live before him with steady love, truth, and prayer, not with nagging or pushing that can drive him further away, but with a quiet and faithful witness.
May the Lord have mercy on your husband, keep him from evil, and bring him to the place where he cries out for deliverance and finds it in Jesus. May the Lord also strengthen you, give you wisdom for each day, guard your heart with peace, and make your home a place where the power of the gospel is seen.
Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this husband before You. Put Your hand of protection upon him. Keep him from foolish and destructive acts, from evil companions and decisions that come from drinking, and from the power of the enemy. Open his eyes to his bondage and his need for You. Deliver him through Jesus Christ who alone can set the captive free. Strengthen his wife with faith, patience and love, and let Your grace be evident in their home. Amen.
Scripture teaches that marriage is a lifelong covenant, one man and one woman bound together as long as both shall live. For that reason the instruction to the married is not to depart lightly, but to remain and to seek reconciliation. When a believing wife has a husband who does not yet believe or who is caught in bondage, and he is willing to remain with her, she is encouraged not to leave him. In God's sight there is a sanctifying influence in that home through the faithful spouse, and a covering of grace over the children. Your faithful presence, your prayers, and your holy life before the Lord matter greatly in that home.
God has also shown a simple pattern for marriage to flourish. The husband is called to love his wife as Christ loved the church, to honor her, to protect her and to provide security and faithful love. The wife is called to respect her husband and to support him as unto the Lord. When these two ways are followed together, each makes the other easier. The more love is shown, the easier it is to respect, and the more respect is shown, the easier it is to love. This does not mean a wife must obey a demand that would violate her conscience before God, for a husband who truly loves as Christ loves would not ask that. It does mean living before your husband with a pure and reverent life, adorning yourself with inward godliness rather than outward show, so that without a flood of words he may see Christ in you.
Your husband's struggle with alcohol is a deep bondage of the flesh. Many have learned that a person cannot free himself from such addiction by willpower alone. He must come to see that he needs a higher power to deliver him, and that power is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Him there is deliverance from bondage. He can break the power of sin and Satan that holds a person and leads to foolish decisions and harmful companions. You are right to ask God to guard your husband from bad people and bad choices and from the destructive work of the enemy, and to keep him from doing harm to himself or others while under that influence.
Continue to pray for him specifically, that God would place His protection around him, that angels would guard him, that the Lord would block paths that lead to destruction and open his eyes to his need for Christ. Pray also that God would bring into his life people who will speak truth and not enable the addiction, and that he would be willing to seek help and accountability. Live before him with steady love, truth, and prayer, not with nagging or pushing that can drive him further away, but with a quiet and faithful witness.
May the Lord have mercy on your husband, keep him from evil, and bring him to the place where he cries out for deliverance and finds it in Jesus. May the Lord also strengthen you, give you wisdom for each day, guard your heart with peace, and make your home a place where the power of the gospel is seen.
Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this husband before You. Put Your hand of protection upon him. Keep him from foolish and destructive acts, from evil companions and decisions that come from drinking, and from the power of the enemy. Open his eyes to his bondage and his need for You. Deliver him through Jesus Christ who alone can set the captive free. Strengthen his wife with faith, patience and love, and let Your grace be evident in their home. Amen.
