How to Honor Your Husband: Pray Like You Mean It

by Marilynn Chadwick

A practical way to honor my husband is simply through the home environment I create. Our surroundings, daily routine, and health habits will either help build up my husband or weigh him down in defeat. Scripture instructs wives to be “keepers” of their homes (Titus 2:5 KJV).

The word keeper can be translated as “guard.” Not only do I pay attention to the physical surroundings of our home, but I am mindful of what happens here. What kinds of movies do we watch? What are our conversations about? Each family is different and so is each husband.

Surroundings do matter. However, if you were to ask me what’s the single most important thing you can do to honor your husband, I would simply say: Pray for him. Pray like you mean it. Pray like you believe God works through your prayers. And make prayer for your husband a priority.

I have seen many wives’ prayers encourage husbands who are already following Jesus. And I have seen prayer soften the hearts of men who have rejected God. I am mystified as to why prayer works when words fall short. I just know it does.

My dear friend Jane prayed for years for her husband to accept Christ. He continued to resist the gospel. My friend was wise. She refused to nag. But she set aside 15 minutes to pray for her husband every morning.

I don’t remember how long Jane prayed for him. But, a couple years later, I watched in amazement as her husband walked forward to accept Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in our city. During the invitation, I happened to glance to my right. I was startled to see this man who had stiff-armed God! There he was, wife by his side, resolutely heading to the front of the arena where he gave his life to Jesus Christ once and for all.

The ripple effect of that one influential man’s devotion to Christ was powerful. The impact he had on his family and community is evident to this day. All because of the quiet witness and faithful prayers of a strong wife. Like my husband always says, “If you don’t love Jesus and you have a praying wife or a praying mother, look out—you’re toast!”

This series is adapted from Marilynn Chadwick’s book, Eight Great Ways to Honor Your Husband. To download your free PDF copy of the book, please visit our website by clicking here!

How to Honor Your Husband: Fight for Him

by Marilynn Chadwick

I’ve discovered that honoring my husband in today’s culture requires something of a fight. It helps to realize that we have an enemy. Not just of our soul, but also of our marriages. In addition to waging a war with the devil, our battle for a strong marriage is also a battle against our own selfish tendencies.

Honoring our husbands sometimes goes against the grain of our flesh. If we truly want to honor our husbands, we’ll find ourselves resisting a world that degrades and disrespects marriage.

I’ve learned I can best fight for my husband and honor our marriage most powerfully by interceding for him in prayer. I believe deep within the heart of every good woman lives a warrior. Her fierce love can make even the most timid woman do courageous things. Maybe you’ve learned what it means to fight for someone you love.

My friend Ange is from Rwanda. Gentle and soft-spoken, Ange is a shining example of a woman who honored her husband by fighting for him.

Ange was in high school when the horrific Rwandan genocide broke out in 1994. She and Emanuel fled on foot. Soldiers attacked their refugee camp. Ange and Emanuel got separated as they ran for their lives. She searched frantically for him, hiding in the forest with no clean water, food, or shelter.

Ange made her way to Kenya. She looked everywhere for Emanuel. Eventually she enrolled in Bible college while she continued her search. For eight years! Even her closest friends tried to persuade Ange to accept that Emanuel was dead—and to remarry.

But Ange sensed the Holy Spirit was whispering to keep on fighting and to believe that Emanuel was still alive. Her lifeline became, “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:3-5 NIV).

While listening to a radio program which helped find missing family members after the war, she heard the amazing news that Emanuel was alive. “It was like a dream!” she exclaimed. “I stayed up all night praising and thanking God!” After eight long years, Ange and Emanuel were finally reunited—all because of a wife who kept fighting for her husband.

This series is adapted from Marilynn Chadwick’s book, Eight Great Ways to Honor Your Husband. To download your free PDF copy of the book, please visit our website by clicking here!

How to Honor Your Husband: Build Him Up

by Marilynn Chadwick

Showing respect is vital to any healthy marriage. But when it comes to honoring our husbands, it helps to understand that no two marriages or men are exactly alike. Words and actions which make David feel honored and respected might go right over the head of your husband.

I can choose to build up my husband or break him down with the words I speak to and about him. I also encourage David’s leadership of our family through my words. For example, the words I speak to our children influence what they think about their dad. Same with outsiders. Careless words can tarnish his reputation in the eyes of others. Proverbs 14:1 reminds us that a wise woman “builds her house,” but a foolish one “tears it down.” As wives, we sometimes forget the weight our words carry. The Bible has much to say about the power of our words.

I have been inspired by what the Bible teaches us about honor. As a result, I’m trying to be more intentional about showing honor to David. However, I’ve come face to face with an important realization: Honor demands far more from me than simply submission.

I fully appreciate submission in marriage as part of the biblical framework of love and respect (Ephesians 5:22). But to truly honor my husband, I have to set the bar much higher than submission. Honor requires self-sacrifice. Humility. It challenges me to bridle not just my words, but also my thoughts. It makes me bite my tongue. Honor confronts me with my sin.

Honor, even more than submission, is an imposing benchmark and a sublimely powerful target. For if I take aim and hit the bullseye of honor, I am probably covering all the other virtues that make for a strong marriage.

So in this way, honor conforms me to the image of Christ. In short, honor requires a strong walk with the Lord. I guess you could say that to truly honor my husband, I must first become honorable.

This series is adapted from Marilynn Chadwick’s book, Eight Great Ways to Honor Your Husband. To download your free PDF copy of the book, please visit our website by clicking here!