8 Powerful Ways to Pray for Your Husband

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Are you a wife or future wife looking to learn how to pray for her husband? Then you are in the right place.

As spouses, we have unmatched access to being able to pray for our husbands. We see their struggles and temptations more clearly and frequently than anyone else besides God. This also means we have the biggest responsibility to be covering them in prayer, every single day.

We can’t always solve their problems or cure their heart’s pain, but we can certainly be in prayer for them.

While this post is written from a currently married perspective, these areas are certainly applicable to praying for your future spouse as well. It’s never too early to learn how to pray for your husband or future partner.

Prayer Is A Skill

When my husband and I first got married, I did not prioritize praying for him on a daily basis. I did when I remembered or when something reminded me or he asked. I was a crisis prayer, not a maintenance prayer.

I viewed praying for my husband as something to do if things went awry, not something I needed to be doing every day, rain or shine.

Truthfully, I didn’t know how to pray for my husband so I just didn’t.

I didn’t know what to be praying for and didn’t know how to just ask him, so that kept me from pursuing growth in that area. Another reason praying for my husband and our new marriage was a struggle is that things seemed totally fine.

More than fine, actually.

I didn’t know exactly what to pray for because it seemed like he didn’t have any issues. (Spoiler: I was very, very wrong).

Even if they seem OK, or flourishing even, our husbands need our prayers. Their specific circumstances may change how we pray for them, but they need our prayers in all areas of their lives, all the time.

They likely won’t voice internal temptations or battles as much as we would like, but they are certainly under attack every single day. If they are actively pursuing God, you can bet they are facing spiritual opposition.

They need us to stand in battle with them.

The good news is, being a prayer warrior for your husband is a skill that can be learned. But that also means it takes practice and may feel a little awkward at first. Take heart, give yourself some grace if you stumble, and keep moving forward.

No prayer is wasted. Ever.

How to Start Praying for Your Husband

Ultimately, the idea is to create a new daily habit of covering your spouse in prayer. This is a big task. Doing anything daily takes a lot of discipline.

But as wives, it is vital to our marriages that we take the time to invest in learning how to pray for our husbands effectively and consistently.

A great place to start is by utilizing pre-written prayers or lists. These resources take the guesswork out of what to say and what areas to be praying for, making it much easier to get started.

This post, for example, is a very thorough list and even comes with a free downloadable cheat sheet!

There are also some really wonderful books out there that can help you get started. I personally have read through 31 Prayers For My Husband by Jennifer Smith and The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O’Martin. They were both wonderful tools for me when I was first learning how to pray for my husband.

In this post, I’ve rounded up the 8 most important areas of our husband’s lives that you should be praying for regularly. And I’ve also created a Cheat Sheet of these prompts that you can download for easy use!

Grab Your Free Prayer Cheat Sheet By Signing up for the Resource Library Below!

Pray for Your Husband’s Heart

Our hearts are the most important parts of us; they hold our desires, our attitudes and everything flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23) It is where Jesus lives in us and where the Holy Spirit dwells. It is vital to our relationship with God. 

However, it is also laced with a sinful nature and it is prone to stubbornness, pride, foolishness, deceit, and a whole list of other negative qualities (Mark 7:20-22). Your husband’s heart needs to be saturated by prayer and by truth. 

While we aren’t responsible for our husband’s spiritual walk, we are responsible for praying for it.

Pray for their heart to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, that they would be aware of His convictions and leading. Pray for any hardness to soften, for them to be aware of their feelings, but not controlled by them. Pray against pride and stubbornness and against temptation to the sinful nature of the heart. 

RELATED: Helping Your Husband Battle Temptation

Pray for Their Walk With Christ

The relationship we have with Christ is the most important one we have. How deep and intimate our relationship with Christ affects all our other relationships. It takes a lot of tending and care on our end, not because of God, but because of us. We create distance with our busyness and by prioritizing other relationships and worldly things. 

Actively drawing closer to God is like going against a heavy current; the world pulls us one way naturally and we have to fight to go the other way. The reward is far better than what it costs, but that does not mean the enemy isn’t fighting to keep our Bibles closed and our mouths silent.

How your husband conducts himself in all aspects of his life stems from this relationship. It is only through true intimacy with the Holy Spirit that we are changed and can bear its fruits (Galatians 5:22-23). Your husband cannot be the best version of himself without Christ.

Pray for him to always have a deep desire for scripture and prayer. Pray his devotional time would be fruitful and without distraction. Pray that he would have stillness in his heart and a quiet mind so that he might hear from the Lord. Pray he finds direction from God and is sensitive to his teaching. 

Pray he would be aware of the Holy Spirit as he goes throughout his days, sensitive to prompting and leading.

If your husband is not following the Lord, pray fervently and unceasingly for his salvation.

Pray for Your Husband’s Mind

Our minds are where the desires and workings of our hearts are manifested into thoughts, words, and actions. Our minds are where we find our willpower, where we think, reason and make decisions. 

Pray that your husband’s mind would be “set on things above” (Colossians 3:2) and that his decisions would reflect God’s will for his life. Pray that he would work to fill his mind with truth and not lies from the world. (Romans 12:2)

Pray he would seek and have wisdom and clarity in decision-making and reasoning. Pray he would have the strength to take “every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Pray that he would daily set his mind on the things of the Spirit, as that is where he will find life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6) Pray against negative thoughts and attacks from the enemy on his mind.

Pray Over His Work, Calling & Purpose

Pray for God to bless them in their work, whether that is at home, in ministry, running a business or in a secular workplace. Pray for the work of their hands to multiply and provide. (Psalm 90:17) Pray they would be Jesus to their coworkers and customers, displaying patience, kindness, and self-control. 

Pray they would have a strong work ethic and that they would have an attitude to work for the Lord, whatever their job may be. (Colossians 3:23-24)

Pray they would receive the recognition and appreciation they need in their workplace. If they are not getting it, pray they would know their work is not in vain, for they labor for the Lord and not for men. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Pray they would earnestly seek God’s will for their work and calling, pursuing whatever direction the Lord leads. While also true of women, men are especially prone to putting their identity in their work. Pray they would be cautious about doing this, and instead place their identity in who they are in Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Pray for Your Husband’s Body & Health

Fitness, nutrition, and health may seem like trigger words for fad diets and get-skinny-quick programs, but really, caring for our God-given bodies is a spiritual issue. Of course, we want our husbands to be healthy for selfish reasons, like being with them here on earth longer. There are also spiritual reasons our husbands need to care for their bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This is a very clear call to care for the body God has given us because it is where the Holy Spirit lives. He deserves the best of accommodations. Jesus literally bought our bodies with His blood on the cross, so caring for them should be a priority.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal this to your husband, convicting him of any areas where he is not caring for his body well. If there are ailments or sicknesses, pray for healing. (Psalm 103:2-5) Encourage him to seek prayer for healing when it is offered in places of corporate worship. (James 5:14)

Pray for protection over his physical body as he travels and that he would feel no fear, trusting in the Lord’s protection. (Psalm 4:8)

Pray for His Marriage

While your relationship with God comes first, your marriage is next in line in terms of importance.

Marriage is a beautiful representation of Jesus’ relationship with the Church and has the ability to refine you and glorify God greatly. However, that also makes it a target for attack from the enemy. Our selfish, prideful, stubborn nature is never more clear than it is within a marriage. 

While each of you has your own role and direction for marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33), you can only control your own actions. You cannot control what your husband does or nag him into being a better husband. But you can pray diligently for his role in your relationship. You can cover your marriage in prayer, asking God to refine your husband and yourself, molding each of you to look more like Christ. 

Pray for God to bless your marriage, to keep it strong and Christ-centered. Pray for open communication and affection to flow freely from each of you. Pray for a spirit of humility to dwell in your hearts, with serving selfless attitudes toward one another.

Pray that each of you would be quick to listen, slow to anger (James 1:19), and quick to forgive one another’s faults. (Colossians 3:13)

Pray for your husband’s role in your household, that he would lead you (& your children, if you are parents) into a deeper relationship with Christ.

Pray specifically for a desire for one another and for the opportunity for sexual intimacy. (1 Corinthians 7: 2-5) If this is an area of your marriage that is struggling, pray for healing and seek practical help and wise counsel.P

Marriage 365 has some wonderful resources regarding this issue. 

Pray for Their Relationships With Others

Your husband is also possibly a son, a brother, a friend, an uncle, a cousin, a colleague, a father and/or a leader. He wears a lot of hats, just like you do. Each of those relationships requires time and energy from your husband. And they may or may not be fruitful, edifying relationships.

Pray for his family relationships, that there would be closeness, respect, and love within the family. If there is strife in any of his family relationships, pray for reconciliation, healing, and peace.

Pray over his friendships and social influences. Pray he would be an encouraging, serving friend and that he would choose his company wisely. (Proverbs 12:26 & 22:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:33)

Pray there would be peace and love in all his relationships. (Romans 12:18)

If he does not have a close, Godly friend to encourage him, pray he finds one. If he has one, pray that the relationship strengthens and they continue to sharpen one another (Proverbs 27:17)

Pray Over Your Husband’s Fatherhood

Here is also where you can pray over their future or figurative fatherhood if you do not have children.

If you and your husband do have children (or close “child” like relationships), this is where you would pray over his role in those. Parenting and fatherhood are extremely important roles in a man’s life. He has so much influence and can be such a blessing to his children. But he needs your help, your grace, and your prayer in order to do so.

Pray he is patient, understanding, steadfast, kind, and loving toward his children. Pray that he would seek God’s instruction and guidance for his fatherhood. Pray he would not be prone to anger or frustration, but would patiently and gently correct and guide them. (Ephesians 6:4)

Pray that he would take great care in disciplining his children, knowing that to correct and rebuke is to love them well. (Proverbs 13:24) Pray he would find a balance between his roles as a father and husband and that he would always see each of his children as an immense blessing (Psalm 127: 3-5).

Are you regularly praying for your spouse? Is this an area you struggle in? What resources have you used in the past? Tell me about them in the comments!

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Your Sister in Christ,