The Pastor’s Wife is a Pastor’s Wife
Great reminder.
I really appreciated this post by David Murray.
I’m not sure that I buy this. But it’s interesting nonetheless.
Reading for Pastor/Elder Development
Helpful compilation of books for pastor/elder development. My list would be similar.
This is for you grandma:
Day Eight: That She would be blessed with a close friend(s)
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! –Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
True friendship is a great blessing. Our wives need godly friendships. They need others ladies in their life that will lift them up when they fall and will be bold enough to “wound” if necessary (Proverbs 27:6). Today let’s pray for our wives to have a close friend (or friends) and that the Lord would use these friendships for his glory. Pray that he would protect their fellowship and use any relational difficulties to strengthen our wives. Let’s pray also for the close friends that our wives do have.
Lord, thank you for the friends that you have given to my wife. I pray Lord that you might cause these relationships to deepen even more. Help her to have a “friend who sticks closer than a brother”. I pray for my wife’s friends that you would bless them and keep them and enliven their passion for Jesus. I pray also that you would help my wife to be a great friend as well. May her friendships be used to further your kingdom in the world and in her heart. Amen.
I hope that when my children are older they hear voices. And I hope those voices proclaim the gospel to them.
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. –Proverbs 6:20-22
This verse teaches us a very important principle; namely, our children will carry our teaching with them. Or at least they will have to actively deal with them at some point. Knowing that my children will carry around my voice (and their mother’s) with them for all the days of their life is a humbling truth.
I pray that when my children are out making decisions on their own that the voice they hear from us is grounded in the gospel. God has graciously given us parents, disciplers, pastors, etc. to give us another voice in our head that is not our own. We need that voice. And we need that voice to be saying the same thing as the voice of God.
As a daddy Proverbs 6 challenges me to continuously speak the gospel to my kids. It urges me to tell them who God is and what godliness looks like. When my children are older and faced with decisions that require wisdom I hope that they hear the voice of mom and dad saying something like, “What does God say”? And then I hope that they are equipped with knowing God’s Word.
Your children will hear voices when they grow up. We determine whether they will be biblical or not.
Day Seven: That she may be sober-minded
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. –1 Peter 5:8
Men, the battle for our wives affections must include the battle for her mind. Our wives are bombarded with information every day from a myriad of voices. These voices tell her who she is as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, and as a disciple. Many of these voices come from a forked-tongue. Without a sober-mind her head will be spinning, not knowing which message to believe. With a sober-mind even her prayers will be hindered (1 Peter 4:7). Therefore, let us pray that the Lord would remove the fog and help our wives to hear and heed the voice of the Good Shepherd.
Father, I thank you that you speak to us. I also thank you that your Word and your voice is powerful. Mountains melt like wax before you, and at the same time the sheep hear your tender voice. Speak to my wife, through the fog. Help her to hear your voice and know it. Quiet all of the other messengers that cloud her brain and keep her from being sober-minded. Ground her in your truth. May she grow in her ability to hear her faithful Shepherd. It is in his name that we pray, Amen.