ChristianMilitaryWives

January 15, 2010 - Claire Shackleford is at it again! We have been blessed to have such a wonderful array of inspiring Christian guests on our talk shows.  The Lord is GOOD! We are happy to announce that Daryl Knudeson and Jody Mayhew will be on the show LIVE 1/15/10 at 9pm EST.  Join our show live, participate in chat... you can join us by going to our main website, ChristianMilitaryWives.Com and just click LISTEN.  It's that simple!

Daryl Knudeson, Women’s Representative

Daryl has been a pastor’s wife for nearly nineteen years, with the past six as an Air Force chaplain’s wife. Daryl ministers with her husband Jason through counseling and teaching adults in the civilian and military communities. She is passionate about leading women in Bible Study, and has written several Bible studies which have been taught mainly within the military community of Protestant Women of the Chapel (USAF), and in her home study group. She has been involved with IRM since 1993, first attending summits, then facilitating women’s and co-ed summits for the past eight years. Jason and Daryl have three children.

 Jody Mayhew, Special Representative

Jody ministers with her husband, Dan, in Summit Fellowships, a network of house churches in Portland, Oregon. During the last twenty years, she has worked as a counselor and teacher to women, as well as a director and consultant for women's ministries. God has equipped her with discernment and a passion for Himself that has been used in a variety of summit contexts. As more communities have expressed a desire for coed summits, Mayhew has played a key role in that arena, often facilitating with her husband. They have three children.

Today I learned about a wonderful new nonprofit Web site called PrayerCentral.net, which offers meaningful prayers for the troops. Read my brief blog post about it, or continue reading for the Web site's official news release:

A Christian Web site dedicated to prayer has launched the Afghanistan Prayer Patrol to help Christians around the world pray for the troops serving in Afghanistan.

 

Prayercentral.net founder Wayne Dillard is directing this global prayer effort in response to the rising casualty figures in this conflict. "August was the deadliest month we've seen in eight years," says Dillard. "I believe prayer can make a difference, so we are asking Christians to join us for just one minute a day to stand with the troops."

 

Those joining the online Prayer Patrol receive a daily e-mail assignment with a sample illustrated prayer. Participants also receive news updates, and satellite maps with close up views of Afghanistan regions designated as hot spots for prayer.

 

Dillard, an ordained minister of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, has seen what prayer can do. "In April 2007, when the Iraq war was almost lost, we launched the Baghdad Prayer Patrol, and saw dramatic results," he says. "It's time now for us to stand with our troops in Afghanistan and join together in prayer."

 

One special feature is the Troop Prayer Focus, which provides a prayer for the troops of a different base or outpost in Afghanistan each day. "This way we can focus prayer on those bases where the fighting is most intense," Dillard explains.

 

The Web site also allows participants to post their own prayers for the troops in Afghanistan, and agree in prayer with others. Information on the Afghanistan Prayer Patrol is available at www.prayercentral.net/patrols/afghan.

 

About Prayercentral.net

Prayercentral's online prayer tools help thousands each day to touch needs around the world in prayer. Founded in 2001 by Wayne Dillard a missionary to South Asia, and former vice president of Last Days Ministries. Prayercentral is a non-profit ministry with headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va. For more information visit: www.prayercentral.net

by 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.

Don't ya just love when God sends you a message that is so completely obvious you can't possibly miss it?  Like when you are in church and the pastor says EXACTLY what you were needing to hear at that very moment.  Or when you are talking to friends and just out of the blue one of them says something that is perfect for a situation you may be dealing with and your friend didn't even know.  This has happened to me several times recently.  One of those things happened just today.  Ironically, it's completely related to this subject too!   I know it's great when God gives us these obvious answers to what is plaguing us...but what about when God gives us the answers we don't want to hear.  You know the ones where we ask and ask and then tell him what WE want and in return we get the same answer over and over and it was NOT the answer we were wanting.  God just keeps giving it to us again and again.  We fight it and fight it.  We try every other possible solution, only to end up right back where we started.  It's a lot like when our own kids are wanting something from us and we tell them "sure, after you do your chores".  They do everything they can think of to get what they want EXCEPT their chores.  It's not really getting them anywhere.  Just like it doesn't get us anywhere.  Of course, just like we expect nothing else from our kids, God expects nothing else from us.  We are his children after all.  We do the same stuff relating to him that our children do when relating to us.  We always wonder why our kids don't just do it right the first time.  Why don't they just do what they are asked the first time?  Why don't we?  We are all human.  We all have our flaws and problems.  At the same time, though, we need to remember He is our Father.  He wants us to listen to him just as we want our kids to listen to us.  He tells us the same thing over and over because He is the Lord of ALL!  He knows FAR more than we know.  He's our Lord and our savior and our ever present help in times of trouble.  He is right there with us where ever we go.  He wants us to be still and know that HE is God.  He will be exalted among the nations and in the earth.  Psalm 46 tells us over and over how he takes care of us and assures us that the God of Jacob is our God and is with us.  All we need to do is listen to Him.

Power of a Praying Wife - Podcast Devotional Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1 focuses on us, the wife, and what our roles are and what we can do to accept and fill those roles.

 

Proverbs 31: 10-31    In Praise of a Good Wife

10    A truly good wife is the most precious treasure a man can find!

11    Her husband depends on her, and she never lets him down.

12    She is good to him every day of her life,

13    And with her own hands she gladly makes clothes.

14    She is like a sailing ship that brings food from across the sea.

15    She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and for her servants.

16    She knows how to buy land and how to plant a vineyard,

17       and she always works hard.

18    She knows when to buy or sell, and she stays busy until late at night.

19    She pins her own cloth,

20    And she helps the poor and the need.

21    Her family has warm clothing, and so she doesn’t worry when it snows.

22    She does her won sewing, and everything she wears is beautiful.

23    Her husband is a well-known and respected leader in the city.

24    She makes clothes to sell to the shop owners.

25    She is strong and graceful, as well as cheerful about the future.

26    Her words are sensible, and her advice is thoughtful.

27    She takes good care of her family and is never lazy.

28    Her children praise her, and with great pride her husband says,

29    “There are many good women, but you are the best!”

30    Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the Lord deserves to be praised.

31    Show her respect – praise her in public for what she has done.

 

The woman of Proverbs 31 is a model, for both men and women of a way of living that brings fulfillment and contentment.  She exhibits a lifestyle of work and love based on godly wisdom.

 

1 Peter 3: 1-5   Wives and Husbands

 

            1 If you are a wife, you must put your husband first.  Even if he opposes our message, you will win him over by what you do.  No one else will have to say anything to him, 2 because he will see how you honor God and live a pure life.  3 Don’t depend on things fancy hairdos or gold jewelry or expensive clothes to make you look beautiful.  4 Be beautiful in your heart by being gentle and quiet.  This kind of beauty will last, and God considers it very special.  5 Long ago those women who worshiped God and put their hope in him made themselves beautiful by putting their husbands first.

 

Ephesians 5: 21-33    Wives and Husbands

 

            21 Honor Christ and put others first.  22 A wife should put her husband first, as she does the Lord.  23 A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head of the Savior of the church, which is his own body.  24 Wives should always put their husbands first, as the church puts Christ first.

            25 A husband should love his wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.  26 He made the church holy by the power of his word, and he made it pure by washing it with water.  27 Christ did this, so that he would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws.

            28 In the same way, a husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself.  A husband who loves his wife shows that he loves himself.  29 None of us hate our own bodies.  We provide for them and take good care of them, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are each pare of his body.  31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife.”  32 This is a great mystery, but I understand it to mean Christ and his church.  33 So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband.

 

 Chapter 1 Prayer – Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian

 

            Lord, Help me to be a good wife.  I fully realize that I don’t have what it takes to be one without your help.  Take my selfishness, impatience, and irritability and turn them into kindness, long-suffering, and the willingness to bear all things.  Take my old emotional habits, mindsets, automatic reactions, rude assumptions, and self-protective stance, and make me patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.  Take the hardness of my heart and break down the walls with Your battering ram of revelation.  Give me a new heart and work in me Your love, peace, and joy (Galatians 5:22,23).  I am not able to rise above who I am at this moment.  Only You can transform me.

            Show me where there is sin in my heart, especially with regard to my husband.  I confess the times I’ve been unloving, critical, angry, resentful, disrespectful, or unforgiving toward him.  Help me to put aside any hurt, anger, or disappointment I feel and forgive him the way You do – totally and completely, no looking back.  Make me a tool of reconciliation, peace, and healing in this marriage.  Enable us to communicate well and rescue us from the threshold of separation where the realities of divorce begin.

            Make me my husband’s helpmate, companion, champion, friend, and support.  Help me to create a peaceful, restful, safe place for him to come home to.  Teach me how to take care of myself and stay attractive to him.  Grow me into a creative and confident woman who is rich in mind, soul, and spirit.  Make me the kind of woman he can be proud to say is his wife.

            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. 

            Teach me how to pray for my husband and make my prayers a true language of love.  Where love has died, create new love between us.  Show me what unconditional love really is and how to communicate it in a way he can clearly perceive.  Bring unity between us so that we can be in agreement about everything (Amos 3:3).  May the God of patience and comfort grant us to be like-minded toward on another, according to Christ Jesus (Romans 15:5).  Make us a team, not pursuing separate, competitive, or independent lives, but working together, overlooking each other’s faults and weaknesses for the greater good of the marriage.  Help us to pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another (Romans 14:19).  May we be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

            I pray that our commitment to You and to one another will grow stronger and more passionate every day.  Enable him to be the head of the home as You made him to be, and show me how to support and respect him as he rises to that place of leadership.  Help me to understand his dreams and see things from his perspective.  Reveal to me what he wants and needs and show me potential problems before they arise.  Breathe Your life into this marriage.

            Make me a new person, Lord.  Give me a fresh perspective, a positive outlook, and a renewed relationship with the man You’ve given me.  Help me see him with new eyes, new appreciation, new love, new compassion, and new acceptance.  Give my husband a new wife, and let it be me.

I'm getting to the place where ANYTHING that distracts me from God's plan for me is probably not good.  Like, okay, so God created us.  Jesus is our King and our soon-to-be husband.  He comes on a white horse, robes dripping in blood, etc (it's true, read Revelation), and whether that is literal or figurative, it's still INTENSE.  The Bible describes Him as being jealous for us, that means jealous for our love and our attention and our lives.  And He deserves it!  Everything that we have to give, and much more, He deserves, because He is the only one good and the only one who is faithful and the only one worthy of anything.  So, I’ve come up with some steps to help me accomplish my goal, to be obedient in God’s desire for me to be abandoned to Him, which I will share here with you!  Aren’t you lucky?

Our lives are NOT our lives.  We raise our children for God, we love our husbands for God’s sake and because He allows us to, everything we do we do unto God for God’s sake.  Or at least we should.
Step 1- Realize that your life is not your own.

The Bible says to pray without ceasing.  Now, I'm not at that place yet (I say yet by faith that I will be at some point), but I do know that I can pray while cooking, while cleaning, while taking care of my kids, while playing with them, while feeding them, even while surfing the web to some extent...there is very little I can't pray during EXCEPT watching tv and movies.  I don't know why, but my brain shuts down and nothing comes out or comes to mind.  THAT is the biggest indication to me that I shouldn't watch it much, regardless of what the show is.
Step 2- Limit “innocent entertainments,” as much as possible with whatever grace God gives you to do so.

God wants to be loved and needed by us.  The children of Israel were given Ten Commandments to follow.  What they should have done was fall on their knees, broken, and beg God’s mercy and tell Him that it was impossible and that they needed Him.  What they did was say, “oh, totally, sure, we can do that,” and they failed over and over again.  Only in their desperation did they turn back to God.  So, when God says, “pray without ceasing,” I know it’s impossible, I can’t do it.  So, instead of ignoring that verse or making light of it, I fall on my knees and beg mercy and grace, and His help!  We do not receive because we do not ask...so ask God for this Godly gift, to dwell in His presence!
Step 3- Ask God for the ABILITY to pray without ceasing.

There is a great book called “Practice of the Presence of God,” by Brother Lawrence that addresses this issue.  It’s a good read, and a VERY short one, and is available for free online.  It talks about the practicality of dwelling with God all the time, of praying without ceasing, and in a much better way than I can.  Really, though, just practice.  Pray, and when you realize that your mind drifted away three hours ago, repent and start up again.  Soon you will find you are dwelling more communally with God more often and with less distraction.  You will still accomplish your day-to-day tasks, but with the mind of Christ, which we are supposed to have anyway, right?
Step 4- Practice praying without ceasing.

Yes, this all does seem impossible, in fact, it IS impossible in and of ourselves.  But God told us to, so we should do it anyway!  Often, we read something in the Bible and think to ourselves, “oh, that’s not for me, that’s for pastors or church leadership,” or “that must be written for people who just lived in Jesus’ time,” but if the Bible directs us to do something, we should give ourselves to that thing.

What we feel is important is usually NOT important, not compared to what God’s plan is for us.  We work, shop, save, eat, watch tv, sleep...and in a few decades we are dead with nothing to show for all of that.  That’s why the Bible says to store up riches in Heaven...not that we should all quit our jobs and be pastors, that would be very impractical, but to live our lives as unto Him, to work as unto the Lord, to partner with Him to accomplish His purposes, and we accomplish that by dwelling with Him in our day to day lives.