Stormie Omartian - The Power of a Praying® Husband

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture verses are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

All emphasis added to Scripture quotations is the authors.

All the stories related in this book are true, but most of the names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people mentioned.

Cover by Harvest House Publishers, Inc., Eugene, Oregon

Cover illustration iStock / enjoynz

Back cover author photo Michael Gomez Photography

THE POWER OF A PRAYING is a registered trademark of The Hawkins Childrens LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the exclusive licensee of the federally registered trademark THE POWER OF A PRAYING.

THE POWER OF A PRAYING HUSBAND

Copyright 2001, 2014 by Stormie Omartian

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-5758-8 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-5765-6 (Deluxe)

ISBN 978-0-7369-5759-5 (eBook)

The Library of Congress has cataloged the edition as follows:

Omartian, Stormie.

The power of a praying husband / Stormie Omartian.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-1976-0

1. HusbandsReligious life. 2. Prayer. I. Title.

BV4528.2 .O48 2001

248.8'425dc21

2001024262

All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of authors and publishers rights is strictly prohibited.

This book is dedicated to my husband, Michael, whose every prayer for me I have appreciated and benefited from far more than words can describe.

Contents

With special thanks:

To the many faithful praying husbands who told me about the joys of seeing their prayers answered for their wives. Especially to Pastor Jack Hayford, Pastor James Lowe, Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, Neil Anderson, James Robison, Michael Harriton, Mike Goldstone, Rodney Johnson, and Steven Curtis Chapman for your stories of answered prayer that you contributed to this book. I hold each of you in highest esteem for the kind of husbands, fathers, and men of God that you are.

To the hundreds of praying wives who shared with me the ways they longed to have their husbands pray for them.

To Susan Martinez, my secretary, life manager, sister, and friend, without whom I would never make a single deadline.

To my husband, Michael, for cooking all those great dinners and praying for me to be able to hear God as I wrote this book.

To my daughter, Amanda, for all the meals cooked, errands run, and rooms cleaned so I could have time to work.

To my prayer partners Susan Martinez, Roz Thompson, Katie Stewart, Michael and Terry Harriton, and Tom and Patti Brussat, without whose prayers I would not have survived this year, let alone written a book.

To my Harvest House family, especially Bob Hawkins Jr., LaRae Weikert, Carolyn McCready, Kim Moore, Terry Glaspey, Betty Fletcher, Barb Sherrill, and Peggy Wright, for all your prayers, e-mails, letters, calls, and support.

L ets face it, men, by the time we marry we bring many years of experiences, habits, personality traits, memories, preconceived notions, and personal ambitions with us into the marriage. Suddenly we are joined, for a lifetime, with a mate who has also brought many years of experiences, habits, personality traits, memories, preconceived notions, and personal ambitions into the marriage with her. We are faced with the need to communicate, compromise, submit to one another, and be unselfish. A tall order, to be sure. Either God has a tremendous sense of humor, or a desire to keep us continually growing. Probably both.

God intends each of our marriages to be a way for us to be totally fulfilled, but we have to live as an example of Christs love for us. Thats why a mans communication with his wife is dependent upon his communication with the Father. Praying specifically for our wives is a powerful thing. God is always listening. He considers every word. Yes, the God of all creation has His ear inclined toward us, and in Him we have the opportunity to defuse bombs the enemy has planted that are set to destroy what God has joined together.

Are there things about our wives we would like to see changed? Praying for those changes invites God to do great things in our lives. Without prayer, the success of our marriages depends on our own wisdom and effort. But what a resource for success awaits us when we pray! We see not only answers to our prayers for our wives, but things happen in us as well.

Throughout my marriage to Stormie I have witnessed miraculous answers to prayereverything from seeing bondage from her damaged past broken in her, to the saving of her life in a medical emergency, to the flourishing of her ministry as an author. The more I understand how my wife benefits directly from my prayers for her, the more I understand how God uses those prayers to build my faith and how He changes and blesses me in the process.

It is with this confidence in Gods answering the prayers of a husband for a wife that I recommend this book to you. And I know youll enjoy it, because I have been praying for my wife as she writes it.

Michael Omartian

He who finds a wife finds a good thing,

And obtains favor from the L ORD .

P ROVERBS 18:22

T hank you, sir, for reading this book. Im sure that no one is holding a gun to your head to make you do it, but if she is, tell her to put it down because you intend to keep going.

I dont want to be presumptuous in any way, but I believe it is quite possible that you fit into one of the following categories. See if any of these are true about you:

1. You found this book mysteriously placed on the seat of your favorite chair, on the floor next to the commode, on the pillow on your side of the bed, inside your briefcase or lunch box or toolbox, on the front seat of the vehicle you drive to work, or on top of your desk, worktable, or TV remote.

2. Your praying wife bought this book for you so that you would never again have to feel guilty about not praying enough for her.

3. You bought this book yourself because youve wanted to pray effectively for your wife, but you didnt know where to begin.

4. You have longed to see meaningful and lasting changes happen in your wife, yourself, and your marriage, and youre hoping this book will help.

5. You are already a kind, thoughtful, loving, praying husband, and you want to always be learning new and effective ways to further bless your wife.

6. A friend recommended this book, and although youre skeptical, youre willing to give it a try to see if anything will come of it.

7. Your life has been threatened, and reading this book seems like a small price to pay in order to preserve it.