This chapter makes me so sad. I wish so bad I had of known of this book years ago. I have decided that this will be part of any wedding gift I give from now on.<P>My wonderful husband was caught in such a trap of bondage, he did not have the strength to get himself out and unfortunately he didn't trust the Lord enough to bring him deliverance.<P>How many of our husbands want out of their circumstances but cannot for what ever the reason verbalize that need?<P>How many of our husbands either don't know the Lord can deliver them or just can't trust the Lord to deliver them?<P>Thats where we come in ladies........I know that God used me to be instrumental in my h's deliverance. God is Sovereign and knew that I would keep on loving my husband in spite of the incredible hurt I was to go through.<P>My husband couldn't trust me enough to believe that I would forgive but God did! God knew His daughter through His power was able to do extrordinary things! <P>No! We can't do a thing in our own strength, but we can "..do all things through Christ Who gives us strength".<P>When you think you can't take it one more day , remember, you may be the very thing God is going to use to perform that miracle in you h's life!<P>Pg.178..."Even if your husband finds it difficult to admit he needs help-some men feel like failures if they can't do it all themselves-your prayers can still be instrumental in his finding deliverance. You can pray to the DELIVERER to set him free from anything that binds him".<P>That anything may be alcolhol, it may be drugs, it may be another woman in the physical form or one attached to the internet, or even pornography! Jesus can set him free....<P>Father, You have said to call upon You in the day of trouble and You will deliver us. I call upon You now and ask that You work deliverance in our husbands lives. Deliver them from anything that binds them. Set them free........IJN<P>

Taj,<BR>God is astounding.I was feeling great until I took my youngest to my husband's office to bring him his birthday gifts. I felt a little down afterwards. It burns me up that she gets to spend his birthday with him. But I didn't make his favorite cake, but I am sure she will (since it is her favorite cake also!) Sorry I couldn't help it. But walking back with my daughter from the subway we sang some praise songs. But the point is when I read your post, it reminded me again that God is the one in control and no plan of His can be thwarted. <BR>I too have thought I would include this book in any wedding gift. In fact in my Bible study there are two women who were married within the last year and I took them each a book. I've only talked to one, but she was so happy I had brought her the book. She said there were ways to pray for her husband that she had not thought of. I'm so glad when my pain can be channeled into good. I, like you, wish I had this book years ago for my own growth and as a praying guide. <BR>Well, hope your day is going well. Thanks for the inspiration.

I was thinking of something my H told me after discovery. He said that he cried out to God often to deliver him from the trap he had set for himself. He said he would shed tears of anguish to be set free from the bondage he put himself in with the OW.<P>That sounded real odd to me at first. I thought, "Oh ya, but you stayed in the situation and it took over a decade of our lives"! The interesting thing is I eventually began to believe him.<P>If you read testimonies of people in bondage to sin you will see a constant thread....they call themselves trapped! I didn't want to believe this simple reasoning but it came up way too often. It truly is a trap.....set by Satan!<P>This is the thing with deliverance. The person trapped needs to spring the trapdoor themselves. That means run, fast and furiously away from the thing which they are in bondage to.<P>In the book "Pilgrims Progress" there is a reference to being trapped, the man stayed in prison even though he had the key to release himself. When he realized this he of course used the key and let himself out.<P>Maybe our H's don't realize they have the key.....but we do!!!!! Our H's may not have the will to release themselves but we have the power to seek God's face on their behalf and find release. Pray ladies like there is no tomorrow.......<P>Again, I must say, I wish so desperately that I had had some insight into what my h was going through. It may be hard to know but if you see your h's situation clearly, thank God and pray with all the wisdom God has given you.<P>Blessings, Taj

This chapter gave me hope. Page 178, last paragraph especially: "You can pray to the Deliverer to set him free from anything that binds him. You can stand strong, through your prayers, against the enemy who seeks to put him into bondage." <P>My husband is in bondage to the sin of alcoholism and lust. This chapter made me feel better knowing that my incessant prayers on behalf of my husband are the right thing to do. No amount of talking, crying, or begging will <B>ever</B> get him to quit drinking, but through God the message will become clear to my husband that he must stop drinking. I will continue to pray for my husband to be delivered from his addiction. He has been a slave to his addiction since his teenage years, Satan has a tight stronghold on him, but our almighty God has more power. <P>Taj's statement "the person trapped needs to spring the trapdoor themselves" is very true. Unless my H wants to free himself from Satan's bondage for himself, he will always go right back to it if he quits because I told him to. This I believe is where the power of prayer is. Our Father will convict him of his sin, bringing him to repentance. I pray that the Lord will deliver him from his addiction, but I also pray that God lay it upon his heart to become a Christian. Until my H becomes a Christian, he will never have the strength to stop drinking on his own. That strength to overcome Satan's bondage will have to come from God. <P>Yes, my H is truly "trapped by Satan" right now, and has been for a long time. I think this is why Satan attacks me so much, because I am praying so hard for my H's deliverance and salvation. Satan doesn't want to lose him. I will never stop praying though. Our God is working on him..... I have faith.<P>Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for working in our husbands' lives, placing a desire in their hearts to be delivered from their addictions and bondage to Satan. Father, we ask that You would be their comforter during this time, show them that they should seek You in times of stress, not their addiction. Guide each husband in turning his bondage over to You, for You are the Deliverer. Please guide each praying wife in her prayers for her husband. Help us Lord, to be instruments in doing Your will. Thank you Lord for helping us pray for our husbands. IJN AMEN.<BR>

I think sometimes this Trap is also enhanced by devisions that Satan puts in our H's minds, concerning what is even right and wrong. My H even validated the affair thinking that love <we know it <I>wasn't</I> love> made it ok.... But we love each other, it can't be wrong.... Hmmmmm who but Satan could pull off that deception and devision in their minds????<P>I think they need to be delivered from themselves in alot of ways. They are so into being happy and feeling good that they have put themselves ahead of even God.. I pray that my H would come to the end of self and not lean on his own understanding and try in his own power to break the bondage of this affair, to come to believe completely in the literal word of God and come to conviction and repentance of what has occured in his life.... Amen...<P>------------------<BR>Jesus is the only answer!<BR>His blessings, Cozy