Hi. Happy Wednesday! I thought I'd post the portion of the prayer for "His Wife' that has been most meaningful to me these past few days. It is the fourth paragraph of the prayer for His Wife, on page 45:<P>I lay all my expectations at Your cross. I release my husband from the burden of fulfilling me in areas where I should be looking to You. HELP ME TO ACCEPT HIM THE WAY HE IS AND NOT TRY TO CHANGE HIM. I REALIZE THAT IN SOME WAYS HE MAY NEVER CHANGE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I RELEASE HIM TO CHANGE IN WAYS I NEVER THOUGHT HE COULD. I LEAVE ANY CHANGING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN YOUR HANDS, FULLY ACCEPTING THAT NEITHER OF US IS PERFECT AND NEVER WILL BE. Only You, Lord, are perfect and I look to You to perfect us.<P>It occurred to me that I, and possibly some of you, intend to pray through this book in an effort to change our husbands. I think it is important to realize that prayer is not a magic incantation by which we can create a better marriage or husband or even a different life. Prayer does change things, but not because we are so faithful, so pure (ha!) or so deserving when we come to God in prayer. Rather, we are putting ourselves in a place where God can change us, change our view of things, and soften our hearts to see things His way.<P>(Of course, the magic wand thing sounds so tempting, but we probably don't really know what would be best for us anyway!)<P>"May the God of patience and comfort grant us to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus." Romans 15:5.<P>I trust that we can provide encouragement and support to each other here, as we try to love our husbands as they are and make the changes in ourselves that the Lord wants to see.<P>Prayer request this week for us: joint counseling session Friday night, we are to share our 'strengths and weaknesses' lists for ourself and our spouse. I am nervous, because I know that my h. has said that his list was "almost a hundred" when he started his affair, because he wanted to find fault with me. I mean, I'm willing to make changes, but almost a hundred faults? Puleeeze!<P>How about the rest of you? <P>1. What you most got out of Chapter One, His Wife<P>2. A brief, clear prayer request for this week?<P>Later, Liz Pearl<P>P.S. I may not post everyday, so feel free to be the first one to post tomorrow on Chapter Two, His Work.<P>------------------<P>"I have found the Pearl of Great Price"<BR><p>[This message has been edited by POGP (edited November 17, 1999).]
