How to Pray for Your Military Man
By Jocelynby Jocelyn Green, author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives
The Bible tells us that “The prayer of a righteous man [or woman] is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). So what are you praying for? Most, if not all of us pray for our husbands. But do you know exactly how to pray for your military man’s unique needs? I asked Chaplain (Capt.) Scott Koeman, currently in Afghanistan, for some specific things we can be praying for. Here is the insightful list he shared with me:
- Pray that he would have the Peace of Christ with him — especially if he travels outside of his Forward Operating Base (FOB)
- Pray that he will depend on the Love of God to keep him from bitterness at others (who needlessly make life difficult on their subordinates especially when they aren’t the most competent leader).
- Pray for Protection. Psalm I25:2 “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.”
- Pray for that he will be vigilant if he is called upon to fire upon the enemy. Psalm 144:1-2 “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”
- Pray that the enemy will be turned back. Psalm 40:14 “May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion: may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.”
- Pray that our Soldiers will be fulfilled in their jobs. Without purpose time out here is extremely long and difficult.
- Pray that Soldiers/their husbands will resist lowering themselves to low levels of conversations and instead seek to be examples of goodness and righteousness.
- Pray that Soldiers/husbands find “good and solid” Christian brothers to have fellowship with.
- Pray for the leadership in Platoons, Companies, Battalions, Brigades ….depending on what level the Soldier/husband works. Leadership can make or break a man. They have the biggest impact.
Chaplain Koeman is married to Benita Koeman, founder of OperationWeAreHere.com, a clearinghouse of resources for the military community.
The above blog post originally appeared at www.faithdeployed.com, a Web site of spiritual support for military wives.
Faith Deployed on sale now!
By Jocelynby Jocelyn Green, author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives
From now until Veteran’s Day (November 11, 2009), you can purchase Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives at a discount. Instead of the normal $9.99 retail price for one copy, I’m offering two books for $12 (plus shipping)! Yes, you can order just one copy and still get 40 percent off ($6 each), but I’m hoping the reduced price will encourage many of you to purchase one for yourself and one for a friend. And by all means, if you have lots of friends, order more than two copies! I will sign each one. Shipping is only $1.50 for the first book and $1 for each additional book.
For more information about the book, click here or read book reviews written by military wives like Alicia Smith, Lori MacDonald and Jessica Crow.
To order, use PayPal by clicking here and adjust the quantity before hitting the “Buy Now” button. In the comments box, be sure to tell me who to sign the books for and which address I should send them to. (If using PayPal is a problem for you, email me at jocelyn@jocelyngreen.com and we can arrange payment by check.)
Is God Trustworthy?
By Jocelyn
In remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001…
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8
On Sept. 11, 2001, Navy wife Deshua Joyce tried to think positively when she heard the news that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon, where her husband worked. She thought, “What are the chances that his office was hit?” Still, her heart was heavy with concern for her husband Tom and all others at the Pentagon.
In fact, the plane crashed through the building directly under his floor, completely destroying Tom’s office. Miraculously, he escaped unscathed and was able to notify Deshua of his safety within an hour. Deshua’s gratitude for Tom’s escape was tempered with grief for those who did not. “I remember thinking at the end of the day, ‘People’s lives are changed forever,’” she says. “I was devastated for the loved ones of those who never made it out.”
When Tom reunited with his family after the attack, he read Psalm 91 with his family, which seemed to be written just for him. His oldest son asked, “What are you going to do with the rest of your life that God spared today?” After Tom retired from the military, he became a pastor.
While many lives that could have been lost on that fateful day were preserved, we know the rest of the story. We remember the news broadcasts and the newspaper headlines. If you walked through Ground Zero, you saw all the photos pinned up by friends and family. Ready or not, 2,973 souls were sent to eternity that day.
On that day, and every day, how does God choose which lives to safeguard and which to call into the next life? I don’t know the answer. I’m sure no one does. The larger question is this: Is God trustworthy? Can we trust Him to be in control of every moment in every part of the globe? If we say yes, we admit that He presides over tragedy. If we say we cannot trust Him in all things, we cannot trust Him at all. If He is not all-powerful, He is not God.
God refers to himself as “Sovereign Lord” 303 times in the Bible. Jerry Bridges notes in Trusting God:
The sovereignty of God is asserted, either expressly or implicitly, on almost every page of the Bible. Rather than being offended over the Bible’s assertion of God’s sovereignty in both good and calamity, believers should be comforted by it. Whatever our particular calamity or adversity may be, we may be sure that our Father has a loving purpose in it. As King Hezekiah said, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish” (Isaiah 38:17). God does not exercise His sovereignty capriciously, but only in such a way as His infinite love deems best for us.
God’s sovereignty is also exercised in infinite wisdom, far beyond our ability to comprehend. God’s plan and His ways of working out his plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust when we don’t understand.
When we can’t figure out God’s plan for our lives or for those around us, we must rest in His sovereignty instead.
Ask
Does my belief in God’s sovereignty rely on my circumstances or on what the Bible tells me of God’s character?
Pray
Lord,
When I am tempted to believe that you are only a good God if your plan matches up with mine, remind me that Your thoughts, Your ways, are higher than mine. When I don’t understand what You are doing, help me dwell instead on who You are. Help me to lean not on my own understanding but to trust you with all my heart (Prov. 3:5-6).
Amen.
*The above devotion is an excerpt from the book Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (Moody Publishers 2008). Visit the Web site at www.faithdeployed.com, and purchase the book at Amazon.com.
Listen To Interview With Jocelyn Green
By PattiAsking for Help
By JocelynFor when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10
The weekly Bible study I hosted in my home was two hours away and my driveway was buried in snow. It needed to be cleared before people arrived.
I could just start shoveling, I told myself. But before my husband went underway, he had said, “Remember, if you need anything, the EO [engineering officer] is staying home this time. If it snows, he can plow out the driveway for you.” But I had never asked anyone for help when my husband was at sea before.
Once I finally asked the EO to plow me out, the job was done in about ten minutes. I was ashamed at myself for needing to beat back my pride and allow someone else to help me.
We are called military “dependents,” and yet we have to be extremely independent when our husbands are off serving the country. It’s fitting for us to be self-confident and competent women, ready to tackle the obstacles that crop up in our path. We wouldn’t survive otherwise! But I discovered that I was becoming overly self-reliant. In an effort to not appear “weak,” I was unwilling to humbly admit that I couldn’t do everything in my own strength. Pride was stealthily taking root in my heart.
There are times in every military wife’s life when she could use a helping hand—whether or not she wants to admit it and actually ask for it. Paul had the opposite point of view. “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). When we are weak, Christ can take over for and give us His strength, glorifying His name in the process.
We need to humbly invite God to enable us to live through His power (Philippians 4:13), and the way that we do that is by staying connected to Him as the vine, the source of life. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). If we were to cut ourselves off from the vine in order to prove just how independent we were, it would spell certain death for us.
We also must recognize that when we ask for help from God, he often meets our needs through the community around us. Most people are eager to help—I bet you are the same way. How often have we though, “I wish there was something I could do for that family,” but didn’t follow through because we didn’t know what to do? Nothing will happen unless you let the people around you know your specific needs. When you do ask God and your community for support, you will be amazed at the blessings that have been waiting for you!
Ask
Is my reluctance to ask for help a sign of pride in my own self-reliance?
Is there something I could be asking for help with this week?
Pray
Lord,
Forgive me if I have been trying to live life so much in my own strength that I have been denying You the chance to fill me with Yours. Remind me daily that You are the vine, I am the branch. Without You, I cannot live. Show me how you’d like to bless me through my community, and give me the humility to ask for it.
Amen.
*The above devotion is an excerpt from the book Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (Moody Publishers 2008). Visit the Faith Deployed blog and bookstore.
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