I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say that being a military wife is an easy thing to do. (But if you meet that woman who thinks it’s easy, can you point me towards her direction? I want to know how she does it!!). It makes sense though! It’s not an easy role to have. However, to those of you who are a military wife, you have been given this role specifically by God. Which means that He is equipping you as He has called you. You don’t have to be “pre-equipped” for this role. But what you can do is P R A Y! And I am here to help you know what to pray about. In this post, I will give you 11 things to pray about as a military wife that will help guide you as you pray for this specific role you’re in. I will give you specifics (requests, ideas, etc.) under each topic of prayer. Friends, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working! So let’s get to praying!
11 Things to Pray About as a Military Wife
1) Your husband
I have this cute little sticker that my husband bought me that says, “Air Force wife: toughest job in the Air Force.” And while there is some truth to this saying, I can’t help but think that at times we wives have it easier. I watch my husband wearily go to work every day. I see how his job is taking a toll on him. And when I try to think about being in his shoes, I get exhausted!
We each have difficulties in our roles, so I don’t want to downplay our struggles. But our husbands need a lot of prayer. They are constantly surrounded by the world, nasty language, crude jokes, anger, and evil.
So pray for his:
-spiritual protection
-purity of his heart and mind
-strength to endure each day
-courage to remain faithful to God
-boldness as he exemplifies Christ through his words and actions
-physical well being
-rest (whenever he can get it)
-wisdom to know how to balance his time between his job, his family, you, and his alone time
These are just a few things that you can be praying for him. Ask him what he needs specific prayer for and focus on that too throughout the upcoming week. Make it a point to reach out to him in this area of his life.
2) Your kids
It’s amazing what these little military kids endure as they live this life with us. They didn’t choose this life for themselves, going long term without seeing there daddy. But God chose it for them and He chose you to be His vessel to help them along the way, including praying for them. So here are some things that you can specifically pray for your children:
-their salvation (if not saved yet) or their growth in their relationship with Jesus
-that they would make good Christian friends who are an encouragement to them
-friends that are going through the same types of things
-their emotions as they too deal with loneliness and separation
-that no matter what age, they will fully rely on Jesus
-that they would enjoy their time in each location
-that they would find an activity that they can focus on and find joy in
3) Those who God will have you meet
There’s never a bad time to pray for the future. The reason I put this one down is because I fully believe in heart preparation. I see the importance and wisdom behind praying for the people you have yet to meet. Because when the time comes for you to meet those people, God will reveal it to you and your heart will be ready to make yet another friend. I believe God is a God who changes our hearts when we ask.
So pray for:
-wisdom to know who it is you need to meet
-the courage to be bold and reach out
-people who God knows you need
-your heart as He prepares you to meet new people time and time again
4) Your husband’s job and coworkers
I don’t know about you, but I often think about what my husband does for his job and the people he works with. For many of the men who are in the military, their job takes a toll on their personality, their attitude, and their life. And it also requires that they wholly depend on each other. I remember when my husband and I were dating, he asked me to not let his personality change because of his job. But the fact of the matter is that he will change…and it is my prayer that he changes for the good. It is my prayer that his coworkers will not lead him away from Christ, but that he would lead them to Christ.
So pray for his:
-job, that it will strengthen his relationship with the Lord
-job, that it will cause him to rely on God in ways he hasn’t before
-coworkers, that they may see Jesus’ light in your husband
-coworkers, that your husband would rub off on them, not the other way around
5) Your daily plans
Girl, whether your husband is deployed or home, you’ve got things to do. But it is extremely important to lift up your daily plans to the Lord. Shifting your heart from yourself to Christ drastically changes how you go about your day and how you handle whatever comes your way. As military wives, we often hear that we need to stay busy to keep our minds from wandering to depression or discontentment. And while that’s good advice, we need to be aware that we can’t just fill our schedules with random things…they need to be filled with what God wants us to fill them with.
Here are some things you can specifically pray for over your daily plans:
-commit your day to the Lord in the morning, asking that He will guide you through your day
-that His will be done and not yours (which is a whole lot easier said than done!)
-that your plans will glorify God
-that your heart will be like the Proverbs 31 woman who fears the Lord as you go about your day-to-day tasks
-that as a military wife, you wouldn’t be so busy (as advised) that you forget to make time for Christ
6) Contentment and joy in your current duty station
I heard a military wife say one time that we’re always 1) wishing we were back at our last duty station, 2) hating where we’re at now, and 3) wanting to be at our next duty station pronto. When I heard her say that, I was truly discouraged that that’s a “rule of thumb” as a military wife. And I hate to say it, but I’ve most definitely fallen into that mantra. But as a Christian, I know the Holy Spirit is urging me to be set apart from this military wife typecast. Are you in the same boat of discontentment, struggling to be that different military wife who’s content with where God’s placed her?
I encourage you to pray these things then:
-you would find joy in where God has placed you
-God would reveal to you why you’re in this specific location and not another
-that your heart would be molded to be content with your situation and location
-you would rely on God as you get settled into your location, even if you’ve been there for many months now
-God would bring godly, Proverbs 31 women into your life to encourage you, mentor you, and challenge you
-you would be set apart from the other military women, not as a way to boast, but as a way to encourage other military wives
-you would see the beauty in the little things where you’re at
7) To be bold with all the new people in your life
I am an extroverted introvert…meaning that at my very core, I’m not one to enjoy meeting new people. But since marrying my husband, I have had to learn how to reach out to women, to go out of my comfort zone to find godly friends and couples, and to be extroverted. But not only to find like minded people, to also be a light to those around me who don’t know Jesus. It’s not easy friends! But as the name of my blog suggests, I want to boldly rise to the mission Jesus has given all who choose to follow Him, to go out into the world and tell of His wondrous name. And you are called to do the same:)
So if you’re struggling to have the desire to be bold, or you’re wanting to be bold but don’t know how, then here are some things you can pray for:
-God to reveal to you the people He wants you to talk to
-words when you have no idea what to say
-courage and boldness to speak of His name
-other military wives to see there’s something different about you (aka Jesus) and ask about it
-you to be aware of the opportunities God gives you to speak to those around you and that you’d have the boldness to act on those open doors
-an ease when talking about Jesus, just as talking about the other things in life you’re passionate about
8) To not grow weary of meeting new people/to not put a wall up
Throughout the couple years that I’ve been a military wife, I can recall the many times that I thought “what’s the point?” when getting to know new people or reaching out to new people. “We’re just going to move again…” Have you been caught up in this way of thinking? Have you withheld yourself from getting to know people, getting out of the house, and serving God’s people because “you’re just going to move again”? I SO understand this feeling! It’s hard to move past it.
I’ve been struggling with this very thought recently, but there’s been a couple things that I felt prompted to pray about as I understood the warnings of being a hermit. Here are some of those things you can pray about as you deal with the same struggle (or even to prevent this struggle in your life):
-that you would be wise to understand the warnings of isolating yourself
-God would stir in you a desire to continue getting to know people, regardless of when you move
-if you know you’re moving soon, pray that you’ll still reach out to people, that you wouldn’t shut yourself off to the rest of the world, and that you would have the strength to say ‘goodbyes’ again
-that you wouldn’t be afraid of goodbyes – that you’d see the value of getting to know people, knowing you’ll have to say goodbye at some point vs. the loss of not getting to know them
-God would reveal to you why you need to be in someone’s life and why you need a certain someone to be in your life
-if you don’t know when you’ll move again, pray that you’ll have the strength to start over again
-that you’d see the value of fellowship
-you and your husband would spur each other on to find other people to get to know
9) Your loneliness
Being a military wife can be overly lonely at times. I’m a homebody. So leaving my family, home state, and friends has always been difficult. When my husband leaves for extended periods of time, I feel the weight of his absence. I know I’m not alone in this. I hear many other military wives struggling with loneliness, not knowing what to do to get rid of that feeling (for more help in this area, click here!). In these moments, prayer is one of the best ways to start getting out of loneliness. Here’s some things you can pray for:
-friends and companionship (whether you’re with your husband or not)
-open doors for ways to resolve your loneliness, that God would open your eyes to these open doors
-opportunities to find joy in a new place or new situation
-God’s comfort
-a church community or bible study to find like minded women/couples
-activities to keep busy instead of dwelling on the loneliness…activities that would lead to friendships
10) Your marriage
Our enemy hates marriage, hates Christian marriages. But why? Because marriage is a representation of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33). And therefore, our enemy will do whatever he can to attack our marriages. In the military world, we see higher rates of dissolving marriages, abusive marriages, and lonely marriages. This is a HUGE cause for us to consistently pray over our marriages. We need the Lord at the forefront and the foundation of our marriages. As we struggle with being apart from our husbands, struggle to deal with their change in personalities, struggle to “get to know them” again after being apart, and struggle to navigate a marriage relationship in general, we need all the help we can get. So pray these things over your marriage:
-God would protect your marriage from the evil one
-God would help each of you selflessly die to yourself for the needs of your spouse
-you would have wisdom and discernment as you try to figure out all your emotions in this relationship
-for courage to communicate with your husband on everything
-for never ending love towards your husband
-you would enjoy your husband whether he’s home or deployed
-both of you would keep your eyes focused on Christ, constantly running to Him together with everything
-your marriage would defeat the odds of military marriages
-your marriage would be a light to those around you
11) Your heart towards God’s sovereignty, perfect plan, and trustworthiness
Being a military wife is HARD. Though it’s not always the toughest job in the Air Force, the daily challenges that this role brings can be burdensome. But as we strive to grow as a Proverbs 31 woman, we have the blessing to be able to rely on and trust in the God of the universe. He is the One who establishes our steps, who gave us this role as a military wife, and who helps us through each of our struggles. And as we’re challenged in different ways to trust God’s sovereignty and perfect plan, we need to be on our knees praying.
Here are some specific things to pray about:
-that your heart towards God would be trusting and fully relying on Him
-you would have wisdom to know that His plan for you is perfect and meant for your good AND to glorify Him
-that your heart would be inclined to run to His sovereignty when things are both good and hard
-for strength to keep going even when you don’t understand His plan for you
_____________
Friends, there are always so many things to pray about, and even more as we walk through our role as a military wife and as a Proverbs 31 woman. But I don’t want you to get overwhelmed with it all. I want you to see the value of prayer in life as we have the amazing opportunity to run to Christ about everything. I understand that it’s often hard to know what to pray specifically. Most of these ideas are one’s that I’ve heard other military wives pray or one’s that I’ve experienced in my own life. And after praying for many of these things, I’ve noticed God working not only in my heart, but in the hearts of those around me.
So besides wanting to give you a solid list of things to pray about as a military wife, I created a little prayer calendar for you. I don’t want you to see this list, get intimidated or scared by how much we can pray about, and then not pray because of the overwhelmingness of it. Take it one day, one category at a time. Pray about the things that are truly on your heart. Use this list and/or calendar as a guide when you struggle to know what to pray. But don’t neglect to bring it all to the Father who cares about every little thing in your life.
This calendar is free for you to download today (instructions below)! Print it out, hang it on your wall in your bathroom or kitchen or wherever you’ll see it daily. As you go about your day, pray through the daily category and patiently wait to see how God will work as He grows you in your role as a military wife and a Proverbs 31 woman.
Download the Monthly Military Wife Prayer Calendar below!
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