Power of a Praying Wife - Chapter 3

His Finances


Much of who your husband is and what he experiences in life is wrapped up in how he relates to his finances. Is he giving or miserly? Is he thankful or envious of others? Is money a blessing or a curse? Is he wise or reckless of what he has? Is he in agreement with you as to how it is to be spent, or does your marriage exhibit financial strife?
Nothing puts more pressure on a marriage than financial irresponsibility, lack of money and huge debt.
Only when we recognize that all we have comes from God and seek to make Him Lord over it can we avoid the pitfalls that money, or the lack of it, brings.

Although my husband has always made a good living, the nature of his business is "feast of famine" with regard to when and how much money comes in. One year there was a recession in the music business and everybody felt it. Even the companies who owed us money withheld payment because of their own lack of cash flow. It was a frightening time, but it would have been much worse if we hadn't had faith in the Lord and committed our finances to Him. Our comfort came in knowing that we had obeyed God in tithing our money to the church. "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse" and see if He "will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it" Mal 3:10. "Blessed is he who considers the poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth. "Ps 41:1,2. We also knew that those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. (Ps 34:10). We certainly were seeking the Lord. We believed that by looking to God as our source and living obedience to His ways, He would provide for us and we would have everything we need. He did and we do.

So many money problems can be solved by putting all finances under God's covering and doing what He says to do with them. That means giving when He says to give. When you do, God promises to deliver to you, protect you, bless you, heal you and keep you alive. When you don't, you will experience the same desolation the poor do. "Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard." Prov 21:13

To be sure, there are wealthy people who do not give, but if you were to check closely into their lives, you'd find that they are missing many of the Lord's blessings. The blessings of wholeness, protection, love, peace, health and fulfilment continually elude them and the don't know why. They gain wealth but lose the ability to enjoy it, all because they don't know that the key to life is knowing the Lord and living His way. This means, giving time, energy, love, talent and finances according to His direction.

Pray that your husband gets hold of this key to life and understand God's will for his finances. Pray that he becomes a giving person who is content to live within his means and not always strive for more. I am not saying he should never try to increase his earnings, quite the contrary. a Man deserves to earn what his work is worth and his wife should pray he does. Backbreaking drudgery that leads to gut-wrenching poverty and with it bitterness, anguish, sickness and envy should not be accepted as a way of life. By all means pray that the store houses of blessing will be opened upon him, but pray that it all comes from the hand of God. "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it" Prov 10:22

It may not be possible to use prayer to avoid every financial problem because God sometimes uses finances to get our attention and teach us things. But your prayers will certainly help protect your husband from unnecessary struggle and loss. God's desire is to bless those who have obedient, grateful and giving hearts, whose treasure is in the Lord. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Matt 6:21. 
God wants your husband to find his treasure in Him, not in his finances.

The Prayer:

Lord, I commit our finances to You. Be in charge of them and use them for Your purposes. May we both be good stewards of all that You give us, and walk in total agreement as to how it is to be dispersed. I pray that we will learn to live free of burdensome debt. Where we have not been wise, bring restoration and give us guidance. Show me how I can help increase our finances and not decrease them unwisely. Help us to remember that all we have belongs to You, and to be grateful for it. 
I pray that (husband's name) will find it easy to give to You and to others as You have instructed in Your word. Give him wisdom to handle money wisely. Help him make good decisions as to how he spends. Show him how to plan for the future. I pray that he will find the perfect balance between spending needlessly and being miserly. May he always be paid well for the work he does, and may his money not be stolen, lost, devoured, destroyed or wasted. Multiply it so that what he makes will go a long way. I pray that he will not be anxious about finances, but will seek Your kingdom first, knowing that as he does, we will have all we need. (Luke 12:31)

In Jesus Name, 
Amen.

Power Tools:

"Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you. Luke 12: 29 - 31"

"My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phill 4:19


(By the Book :The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian)