I (Kevin) hope most of you are like me and married up. You know what I am talking about - you married someone that amazes you everyday. I know I am truly blessed because I could have never been as picky to get all of the things I got in a wife.

Whether you know you are as blessed as I am or not, you can enjoy this gift even more by handing your spouse over to the Lord. Here are 10 things to pray for your wife taken from Proverbs 31. There are two extra items of prayer from the passage, but they are more items for you in regards to your wife. As you pray these things for your wife, look to how God answers your prayer. These are prayers He loves to answer because prayer is a way we can make our wife holy, care for her, and present her to Jesus without stain (Ephesians 5:25-29).

10 Things to Pray for Your Wife

1. Make her of noble character (v. 10).
2. Bless the work of her hands (v. 12-14).
   • Help me to always show my confidence in her (v. 11).
3. Give her compassion for the poor and needy (v. 20).
4. Lead her into what is best for the children (v. 21).
5. Help her love me, even when I don’t deserve it, to encourage greatness in me (v. 23).
6. Give her confidence in You, O Lord (v. 25).
7. Let the words of her mouth be wisdom directly from You (v. 26).
   • May the children and I never cease to praise her (v. 28).
8. Put in her a healthy fear of You (v. 30) and may she experience the joy of the Lord.
9. May the work she does give You honor and give her joy (v. 31).
10. May others see Your beauty reflected in her (v. 31).

image courtesy of The Nativity Story

Have you ever thought how Joseph must have felt through the Christmas story (Matthew 1:18-25)? Here he is engaged to be married to a teenage girl, and she turns up pregnant. A virgin birth was no more believable to him than it would be now. He may not have had the wonders of modern science, but he must have known how babies were created. How devastating this must have been for him. The Bible says Joseph was a righteous man, so he wanted to do what is right, but there was also a disgrace that went with his fiance being pregnant. We get a hint of this shame as the Jews slap the remark to Jesus insinuating that he was an illegitimate child (John 8:41).

In God's mercy He sends Joseph an angel to encourage him that Mary was telling the truth and she was carrying the Christ-child. We need to remember this. In our own wisdom the things of God will not make sense to us. We need to go to Him to allow Jesus to interpret our life circumstances. Only then will we have the wisdom to make it through life.

This Christmas, whatever circumstance you are going through, take it to Jesus. Allow Him to interpret it for you. The truth of any circumstance is only what Jesus says is true about it. We walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Happy Children image courtesy of Mary Beth Tyson Photography

My wife and I spent a year on staff at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Gainesville, FL. We learned decades worth of experience in ministry and life through our time there through the wonderful people in the church and the leadership of the priest and his wife, Ron and Susie Kuykendall. One of the many resources we received was this list of things to pray for your children put together by Susie. We did not have children during our time at this church, but I remember how important it was to pray for our kids' spouses early on which is a practice we do today. I believe that you will find this list extremely helpful as a guide to pray for your children.

Ten Things to Pray for Your Children

1. Soften their hearts, Lord, that they might be drawn to You and towards the things that please You.
2. Bring them to an early, saving knowledge of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
3. Help them love people and also help them not to resent their parents' love of people.
4. Give my daughter a loving husband who will love and cherish her all the days of her life. Be with this boy as he grows. Guard him and protect him. Help him to grow into a man of God.
5. Give my daughter good and kind boyfriends who will treat her well and teach her about relationships. Be with them now as they make early choices in their young lives. Help my son be a good boyfriend.
6. Provide a loving wife for my son, Lord. May she love and honor him all her days. Be with her, guard her, and protect her from all harm.
7. Protect my children, Lord, from the mistakes I make.
8. Give them a gentle spirit.
9. Protect my children from harmful people.
10. Protect my children from harmful spirits.

My church will be starting a campaign in the next couple weeks going through Bill Hybels' Just Walk Across the Room. I started reading it this morning and was once again reminded that I am a sucker for stories of changed lives. The youth group I went to in high school had the slogan that God is in the business of changing lives, and that has penetrated my view of God ever since. With all of this in mind, I wanted to provide a resource on what specific things to pray when praying for the lost or non-Christians. I received this list many years ago as a handout, if any knows the source of the information please send me the reference so that I can give credit to them.

1. That God Draws Them to Himself
   John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..."
2. That They Seek to Know God
   Acts 17:27 "God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."
3. That Their Hearts be Prepared for the Gospel
   Mark 4:8 "Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
4. That the Word Becomes Revelation Lifting of the Veil of Their Hearts 
   2 Corinthians 4:3-4 "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
   Ephesians 1:17-18 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."
5. That They Believe the Scriptures
   1 Thessalonians 2:13 "And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God..."
   Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
6. That Satan is Bound from Blinding Them to the Truth
   Matthew 13:19 "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart."
   2 Corinthians 4:4 "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, sot hat they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
7. That the Holy Spirit Works in Them
   John 16:8-13 "When (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment... He will guide you into all truth..."
8. That the Root of Pride Be Broken (in us and them)
   2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does... We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
9. That God Sends Someone to Lead Them to Christ
   Matthew 9:37-38 "Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."
10. That They Believe in Christ as Savior
    John 1:12 "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
    John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; He has crossed over from death to life."
11. That They Turn from Sin
    Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
12. That They Confess Christ as Lord
    Romans 10:9-10 "...if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
13. That They Come to True Repentance
    2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
    2 Timothy 2:25-26 "[that] God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they many come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."
14. That They Yield All to Follow Christ
    2 Corinthians 5:15 "And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again."
    Philippians 3:7-8 "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ..."
15. That They Take Root and Grow in Christ
    Colossians 2:6-7 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

"Definition of successful witnessing: to take the initiative to share Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God."
- Dr. Bill Bright

One of praytel's goals is to be a prayer resource for people. Today I would like to forward you on to Scripture-Based Prayers to Pray for Your Pastor (PDF) by Terry Teykl. While each point is supported with Scripture in the prayer card, the basic points are to pray for:

• Victory
• Protection
• Priorities
• Focus
• Holiness
• Knowledge
• Family
• Healing
• Worship
• Thoughts
• Time With God
• Preaching
• Lasting Fruit
• Fear of God

Praying for your pastor is of utmost importance. God has given you this person to lead you in your journey with God. He is there for your protection and for your guidance. While there is a God's favor on this position, your pastor is still just a man and needs your prayers. Because of the importance of his position, he will be attacked by the enemy, and just like us, he is not to fight alone. He needs the body of Christ. Your pastor may not ask for it, but he needs it. Print of the PDF about how to pray for your pastor. Use it as a reference, and pray for your pastor.