Want some sound advice to make your marriage flourish?
Here it is: “Shut your mouth and pray about it.“
A friend of mine shared that with me years ago and it’s advice I’ve held on to tightly, because it is wise! You see, sometimes the best thing we can do in certain situations is keep our mouths closed.
Easier said than done, eh?
She shared this advice in reference to some things my husband was doing that I wanted changed. Every chance I got to drive my point home, I did. I had become so vocal about wanting him to be different that it put a strain on our relationship.
But that wasn’t the kind of wife God wanted me to be.
He didn’t want me to be a nagging wife, He wanted me to be a praying wife.
Many times, the best thing we can do is… zip it up and lift it up.
So why don’t we?
I’d like to suggest that maybe it’s because we have a hard time trusting in the power of prayer. We think petty frustrations with our husbands are areas of our lives that we are capable of handling on our own. We consider that maybe God has bigger fish to fry and our frayed nerves are too far down on His to-do list.
Am I right?
And rather than ask God for perspective… rather than ask God to change hearts… we take matters into our own hands with time-tested tactics like:
- Guilt
- Manipulation
- Shame
- Nagging
- Anger
Sisters, these tactics didn’t work so well for me. They backfired. Caused arguments. Hurt feelings. Created tension. Divided camps.
Something needed to change.
Does it for you, too?
What if we decided to pray about it instead?
What if when your husband won’t step up and be the spiritual leader in your house… you pray for God to move his heart rather than remind him how he’s not measuring up?
What if when his work/life balance gets out of whack… you pray for better priorities rather than make him feel like a bad husband or father?
What if when he isn’t being helpful with chores… you pray for God to show him your need for help rather than constantly nagging him to pitch in?
Our words carry great power. But our prayers carry even more.
Proverbs 13:3 tells us “Whoever controls his mouth protects his own life. Whoever has a big mouth comes to ruin.”
So when we want to see some legitimate changes, this verse tells us to pray about it rather than risk hurtful, harmful, hateful words.
What do you need to be praying about more and nagging about less?
©2011 careyscotttalks.com
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