How to Pray for Your Husband instead of Trying to Change Him

Your husband will not change overnight. And perhaps, he might not change at all.

Will you trust God enough to accept that EVEN IF your husband doesn’t change, you will still trust that God is in control?

A beautiful story in the Bible depicts this even if statement in Daniel 3:8-30 where King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone to worship the gods and images he created. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to worship his gods, He became angry and said he would throw them into a burning fiery furnace. In verse 18, they replied to the King, saying “the God we serve is able to deliver us from the fire, but EVEN IF He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” 

They trusted in God to pull them out of the burning furnace. But trusted that EVEN IF God didn’t pull them out, that God was still in control and they will continue to serve him trusting His plan.

The reason we try to change our husbands is oftentimes correlated to our lack of trust in God. We don’t fully trust Him with what He is doing or not doing; therefore, we try to control and change our husbands ourselves.

Accepting who your husband is today, right now, without any changes, is accepting that God is in control. What if your husband today is the exact same husband he is on the day you take your last breath here on earth? What if all the love you give him, forgiveness you show him, your chaste conduct you exemplify for him has an effect of change on him later in life? Or not at all.

Will you still trust God?

It’s not our job to change our husband. But you have a starring role as his wife being a prayer warrior for him.

Every seed you plant, every offense you don’t pick up, every time you decide to wrestle your frustration out on God, and not your husband, your are planting seeds in your husband who is observing your behavior without a word.

And you may not see the change in him TODAY, but those seeds are planted in there, and God is doing a work. Remember--EVEN IF we don’t see it today, later, or in our lifetime, God is always working (John 5:17).

Photo Credit: ©Pexels/Luis Quintero