What to pray for when your husband is stressed and hurting

    On the day you said, “I do,” to your husband, you don’t always think about the implications of what it means to love one another for better or for worse. Before you know it, the “for worse” part becomes reality, and you realize conflict and pain are a natural part of marriage.  
    Your husband may experience a job loss, conflict in his relationships, career changes, an unexpected diagnosis, difficulty providing for his family, the loss of a loved one and more.
    Eventually, his stress spills over into your relationship. It’s difficult not to take on what he’s experiencing. How do you help him? How do you persevere through it? Sometimes we forget that our men are fragile too, even if they don’t always show their feelings.
    How can you come alongside him in times of great difficulty? Here are five ways to pray for your husband:
    
    1. Pray that God will give you a heart of understanding and patience. As wives, we determine the climate of our marriage in times of excessive challenges. Meaning, how we respond determines everything. It’s easy to complain, criticize, demean, get frustrated and feel like you’re not being paid attention to as his wife. I’ve done all these things to no avail.
    The most blessed times in our relationship are when I lean on the Lord for a heart of understanding and compassion. Your trust in the Lord is one of the greatest gifts you can give your husband. While it may take an act of God for you to love him unconditionally, don’t forget that he’s hurting and needs gentleness, respect and kindness.

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