It is time for a
FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between!
Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is:
and the book:
The Power of a Praying® Wife Devotional: New Ways to Pray for Yourself, Your Husband, and Your Marriage
Harvest House Publishers (August 1, 2011)
***Special thanks to Karri James of Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Stormie Omartian is the bestselling author (more than 13 million books sold) of The Power of a Praying® series, which includes The Power of Praying® for Your Adult Children, The Power of a Praying® Wife, The Power of a Praying® Husband, and The Power of Prayer™ to Change Your Marriage. Her many other books include Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On, The Prayer That Changes Everything®, The Power of a Praying® Woman, and The Power of Praying® Through the Bible. Stormie and her husband, Michael, have been married more than 37 years and are the parents of two adult children.
Visit the author's
website.
SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:
New from bestselling author Stormie Omartian is a book close to her own heart—The Power of a Praying® Wife Devotional. Following up on the insights and prayers of The Power of a Praying® Wife (more than 3.5 million books sold) 100 brand-new devotions, prayers, and supporting Scriptures offer a praying wife fresh ways to pray for her husband, herself, and her marriage.
These easy-to-read devotions will increase any wife’s understanding, strength, and peace, as well as provide her with perspective on the situations and challenges she faces. And each prayer will help both husbands and wives be more attuned to the Holy Spirit so they can do what’s right without allowing negative emotions or unclear thinking to get in the way.
A must-have for anyone wanting God’s best for this most important relationship.
Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736926925
ISBN-13: 978-0736926928
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
When I Desire Greater Persistence in Prayer
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
As a wife, you need the kind of prayer habit that doesn’t give up or allow discouragement to get in the way, but instead persists and keeps on praying and asking.
When God told Abraham He intended to determine if Sodom was deserving of destruction, Abraham then interceded, praying on behalf of however many righteous people might be there. He asked God if He would destroy Sodom if fifty righteous people were found there, and the Lord said He would not. Abraham then asked if He would destroy the city if forty-five righteous people were found there, then forty people, then thirty, then twenty. Each time Abraham asked, God said He would not destroy it for that many people. Finally Abraham said, “Suppose ten should be found there?” And God said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten” (Genesis 18:32). As it turned out, only four righteous people were there, so God destroyed it. But Abraham had stopped asking at ten.
We need the kind of persistence in prayer that causes us to continue asking as Abraham did. Too often we stop short. Perhaps Abraham stopped asking because he couldn’t imagine that there wouldn’t be at least ten righteous people in Sodom. Or perhaps by then God had proved His point and revealed His intentions. God knew the city was wicked enough to destroy, but He saved the four righteous people—which were Lot, his wife, and their two daughters (Genesis 19:29).
Your prayers are powerful to save too. So keep asking and continue seeking, and don’t ask for crumbs when God wants to give you the banquet. When it comes to praying for you and your husband and your marriage, ask God to help you persist in prayer for even what may seem impossible. Ask for your marriage to not only be saved, but to be good. Ask for it to not only be good, but to be great. God doesn’t say “No” to what is His will. If your husband has a strong will that refuses to submit to God’s will, persist in praying that God’s will wins out.
My Prayer to God
Lord, I pray You would help me to be persistent in prayer—to ask and keep asking for what I believe is Your will. I know anything less than love, selflessness, kindness, peace, and generosity of soul is not Your will in my relationship with my husband. Help me to persist in praying for nothing less than the high standard You have for our marriage. Give me a vision of how You want me to pray. Show me the way You want our marriage to be and help me to pray accordingly so that it becomes all that.
I know I cannot force my husband’s will to be anything other than what it is, but You can touch his heart and turn it toward You. I pray You would do that. May he welcome Your Lordship in his life. Help me to pray consistently and passionately, and to persevere no matter what is happening. I thank You in advance for the great things You are going to do in both of us and in our marriage.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
My Thoughts
Imagine my delight and surprise to learn that Stormie Omartian has published a new book on praying for your husband. I am very pleased with this book and keep it at hand to regularly select a prayer and pray over mu husband, my marriage or myself. This book contains new ways to pray to strengthen your relationship with him and your marriage together.
My husband recently started a new contract and in the midst of adjusting to this he also had to learn to be patient. Praying specific prayers for this situation has helped quite a bit and I have seen the difference between a day that I use one of the prayers in the books versus the day I didn’t pray about his work.
In the past two years I have participated to a special monthly “See How Much I Love You” with women from all around the world. The concept was to take the previous book The Power of a Praying Wife and go through it within a month praying every day. The second year was harder for me not because I wasn’t motivate but because I had gone through it twice already. So having new prayers is fantastic has it gives me more reason to participate next time that SHMILY comes around. I know the important of praying for my husband is a daily practice but knowing that you are part of a group of women from around the world doing it together during a selected month is very special.
Is you are looking for a special way to bless you husband in 2012, consider getting The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional. It would also make a wonderful Christmas gift for the newlywed of the year, your mom, cousin, sister or best friend who is married.
The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.
