PRAYER FOR MY WIFE

                                         Prayed in the context of serving many children, youth, single mothers

                                                                  in Belize and still relevant in retirement.

Father in Heaven, I thank you for the one you have given to me, with whom I shall spend my life, until death do us part. You were wise beyond my comprehension when you paired her with me, for from our fellowship in life have flowed an endless array of blessings, often unrecognized until later. I thank you for your wisdom and ways in which you have brought us together.

Thank you that you have kept us together in all kind of experiences in life. You have kept her faithful to me, unworthy as I am. Lord, I thank you than I have never had reasons to doubt her commitment to me and to me alone. You have blessed me through her with this confidence far beyond that of many we have known.

I thank you for what you have taught me through her, taking me as a youth unlettered in true love, crude in my ways and language, and by her presence and interaction, have removed much of that which creates barriers with people, and have taught me kindness, gentleness, respect, and love.

I thank you especially that you have taught me love, to love and be loved. In my longing to be loved, she has shown me a deeper love, the way two persons can learn love through intimacy, as well as through the struggles of two minds and hearts, yearning to be of one spirit. You Lord, in ways beyond understanding, have given me a heart of love through the one you brought to my life. Thank you Lord.

Thank you for her partnership with me in all a life of service to you. She has accepted my call to ministry, careful not to undermine me in my imperfections, but being by my side as I served you as a pastor of your people. Thank you that she helped to nurture our children so that they all yearned to know you even as we know you.

Lord, I pray that you will bless her with all the blessings you have for your children. Give her courage to continue walking with me in the blessings of life with all its challenges. Make her strong in heart to walk with assurance of your presence in our everyday life. Grant her always a sense of your care, nearness and affirmation.

Lord, grant her strength to face the daily challenges of meeting people, that she may do it with joy, assured of the presence of your Spirit of power and strength. Grant her awareness that we serve you in your power, not the confidence in our strength. May she realize that she is never alone; and that you are always with us as we serve you.

Lord; I pray that you will give her joy in our daily life: That she will have peace when life is a challenge: I pray that she will have a sense of your approval; that you are pleased with our service to you. May she have a vision of what you will do with our efforts to be faithful to you in your calling. May she be content to walk in your will

Lord, fill her life with your love for her, that she may know she is precious in your sight. Let her know that you have loved her from birth and before. May she know that you planned for her to have a life in your love. Fill her with that love till it overflows from her heart more and more. May she always be a radiant fountain of blessing to those around her.

Lord, grant her a tender heart of patience and understanding to those who are weak. May she feel the pain of those who are helpless, who face life with so little strength, so little hope, so little confidence that life is in your hands. May she ever give courage to those who are weak; to lift up those neglected by their parents, who are slow to know the way of life in you.

Lord, you have not revealed our future to us, the prospects of getting older, and the strength you will give us in those twilight years. Grant us faith to walk in confidence that you will always be near, that you will give us strength for the tasks you have for us. Grant us the assurance that you will always provide for us, that according to your word, we will never lack any good thing.

Lord, grant us a vision of what you are doing in us as we serve you. Let us see some of the fruit of our labor so that we may be assured of your blessing in our life. Let the love we plant in others grow into love for you, that all we love may experience your love and reflect it in their daily lives, back to us and others. Grant us faith, not to minimize your work through us, but rather to rejoice in the fruit of our labor as you bless it.

Grant that our love for you may ever increase, that it will transform our lives in devotion to you and your will for us. May we grasp the heights and depth of your love increasingly so that we stand in awe and worship you with all of our life. Give us a vision of your majesty, your worthiness, your power, that we may also see who we are under your Lordship and always bow to you.

Grant us faith to believe in your work through us; that you are accomplishing something of your will, regardless how inadequate we feel, even as we fall short of the potential if we could only be as strong as we would desire to be. Help us to see a vision of the fruit of our work in the distant future, the lives that will be eternally changed by your love working through us. Help us to sense the investment we are making in your Kingdom as we give our lives and resources in your services.

Lord, grant us hope and confidence in you to believe that you who have begun a good work in us will bring it to completion for the day when you will return with your rewards with you, for all who love you with a sincere heart. We bow before you for your glory.